One of the most advanced steel structure manufacturers in Hungary strengthens its position with patents

There are few domestic companies that provide a complex service to the construction industry with their own products. In addition, Orha Művek, which started as a one-man business, has invested billions of forints in development in recent years, resulting in significant efficiency gains in steel structure construction.

The road to steel structures

Orha Művek Zrt. has been in the industry for almost 15 years and with its affiliated companies is the leading group of companies in the Hungarian construction, contracting and manufacturing market.

Unique in Hungary, they almost completely cover the entire value chain of the construction of lightweight industrial facilities.

Although their core business had previously been general contracting, the founder József Orha became the official warehouse and trading partner in Hungary of Salzgitter AG, a company listed on the German stock exchange, by launching steel trading as a new business line. He quickly established a stable position in the market, supplying mainly the counties of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Hajdú-Bihar with steel raw materials; by 2023, the number of steel trading customers had already exceeded 200.

From 2020 onwards, they narrowed their profile and specialised exclusively in the manufacture and construction of chassis and complete shells.

From the outset, the focus in the sale of building components and the construction of industrial facilities has been on minimising supplier risk, primarily through in-house product development. The activities required for the construction of industrial facilities and the manufacture of elements are covered by a broad spectrum of activities with their own capacity and technology, which is unprecedented in our country.

On the road to progress

From the outset, the Group's guiding principles have been to maintain quality, reliability, reputation and a good ratio of profit to sales growth. This is shown by the fact that Orha Művek invested the profits generated until then in the purchase of its own premises as early as around 2012, and that by 2023 the investments had exceeded HUF 4 billion.

The group has its own production design for steel structures. Production is carried out at the two-hectare Nyíregyháza site, where the cladding elements and Z/C secondary supports are also manufactured.

At the Nyíregyháza site, 10,000m² are already being manufactured: the building complex's 12-metre ceiling height, 5-15-tonne bridge sections and energy-efficient design make it possible to manufacture tower structures, tanks or machinery. The design workshop works with Tekla X-steel software, so the production drawings can be sent directly to the CNC controllers of the FICEP machines, minimising human error. The material handling and machining machines are also in excellent technical condition, as the company has acquired only new equipment in recent years.

Through its mild steel and plate machining technology, the company builds on its raw material business to sell drilled, fluted and cut materials, and is also able to engrave the location of joining plates, saving customers time and money. In addition, the production of TR20, TR35 and TR153 high rib trapezoidal sheet, fence profiles, corbelled roofing sheets or solar panel supports, even the rolling of wall cassette profiles, and the slitting and slabbing of sheet coils are all carried out in a plant equipped with the most modern machinery. The state-of-the-art machinery gives the company a significant competitive advantage, as only the Orha Művek offers complete machining in Hungary for the raw material trade. By 2023, the group will also be in charge of the design and manufacture of steel structures and the rolling of cladding elements, in addition to the construction work.

They support other players in the construction industry with their own patents

The Orha Művek also has a patent: the internationally patented technology is a structural steel node solution that can be formed with significantly less welding costs than previous solutions thanks to its unique design shaping.

For industrial halls up to 18 metres in width, this node can achieve cost savings of up to 80 %.

A patent for a TR 153 high-braced load-bearing trapezoidal sheet roofing design is also in the process of being patented by the group, and Orha Construction Kft., founded in 2014, is also planning to patent their innovative idea to produce a high-braced load-bearing trapezoidal sheet roofing profile that is equal in load-bearing capacity to other products on the market, but has been proven to be significantly better in thermal performance. This element can be used to build logistics halls, green roofs and flat-roofed houses in a more energy-efficient way than competing TR153 sheet products on the market.