SOLO SIRKÁRNA, a.s.
SOLO SIRKÁRNA celebrated its 170 anniversary in the year 2009 since production began. The fundamental of marketing strategy is based on Supply the maket by flame. Based on this strategy, SOLO SIRKÁRNA a. s. offers a wide range of safety matches, fire starters and lighters in order to fulfil the strategy.
History
The production of matches was started in a primitive workshop in 1939 by Vojtěch Scheinost, the local carpenter who returned from Vienna. He established a famous tradition that brought a prestige to Susice's matches. The quality products were soon well-known to the local market as well as to foreign markets. With support of Fürth's family the primitive workshop turned to an industrial production line in a few years. Pre-war joint stock company SOLO was a world producer known to the international market.
| 1839 | Vojtěch Scheinost produces the first hand made match in Sušice |
| 1840 | Bernard Fürth, a local business man becomes Vojtěch's partner |
| 1844 | Fürth Match Factory is founded at the lower suburbs of Sušice, and the first Production line started at the location of today's company headquarters. |
| 1847 | Expansion of production facilities, so called wing of the old building is added to existing facilities. |
| 1849 | The Old Building is expanded |
| 1876 | First steam power engine is installed |
| 1849 | B. Furth dies and Anežka Fürth takes over the company |
| 1865 | V. Scheinost leaves the company to start a new match production in the upper suburbs |
| 1895 | KEY the first trademark is registered |
| 1903 | Austro-Hungarian Stock Company by the name of SOLO is started in Vienna. |
| 1910 | The end of production of the igniting material made out of the dangerous white phosphor. |
| 1921 | Foundation of the Czechoslovakian united match works and chemical factories with its headquarters in Prague. |
| 1932 | The uptown match production founded by Vojtech Scheinost is closed down |
| 1935 | Concentration of Czechoslovakian match production to four locations at Solo Sušice, Helios Lipník nad Bečvou, Banská Bystrica, and Cinadeva (Ukraine). |
| 1938 | "SOLO" joint-stock company becomes a member of Association for chemicals and steel manufacturing. |
| 1945 | The production line in Sušice is modernized and starts running to its fullest potential. |
| 1946 | An independent state company is reestablished in Susice under the name of "Solo Sušice" |
| 1958 | Merging of match production in Lipnik nad Becvou with Solo Sušice |
| 1969 | The beginning of modernization of production with the emphases on "automatization" |
| 1970 | Automated line Hering is installed and put to work |
| 1980 | Older machines for the wooden box production are slowly being remodeled or replaced. A new era of paper boxes begins. |
| 1982 | Automated line Arenco is installed and put to work. |
| 1984 | An old era of wooden boxes is ended |
| 1988 | The Lipník nad Bečvou production plant is being sold to Moragro Slušovice |
| 1990 | Founding the SOLO SUŠICE, a.s. |
| 1997 | Founding the Stock company SOLO SIRKÁRNA, a.s. with its headquarters in Sušice. |
| 2001 | More automated lines ARENCO are being installed |
| 2002 | Automated line SEITA for the production of household matches is installed |
| 2008 | Production of matches was stopped in Sušice |
| 2009 | Company SOLO SIRKÁRNA, a.s. have been transformed to trade |
The hand-made match production by Vojtěch Scheinost from 1839 had a significant impact on the history of the small town Sušice. The hand-made production has turned to an industrial production through investments of businessman Bernard Fürth with headquaters in Vienna, afterwards in Prague and recently in Sušice. The match production in this company is still progressing, even though the company have changed its name, owners and headquaters many times. The twentieth century has been a marginal period in production development, automatization of the production and increase in demand for matches. It is a period of last inheritor Ernst Fürth, grandson of founder Bernard Fürth, who stood in the management of SOLO Company. Through Mr. Ernst Fürth's business strategy, matches from SOLO Sušice became world-known for their quality on all continents. Soon after the Second World War, SOLO Sušice, the national company, had extended its production of safety matches by production of fiberboards SOLOLIT, wood-working industry and machinery industry. SOLO Sušice have employed at that time more than 2000 employees from Sušice and surrounding area. The export policy has been a priority of the business strategy that led to a successful distribution to eastern and western markets of quality matches. Modern history began in SOLO Sušice by installing a German automated line, produced by the Hering company, to the production line in 1969 and 1970. In 1981, a new, improved, higher capacity automated line was installed, from the Swedish company ARENCO, to extend the production. Other machinery was installed to complement to the safety matches production in the same year. A major increase in production capacity occurred during 2002 and 2003 when another ARENCO line was installed for safety match production and SEITA production line for household matches. Parts of these investments were also investments to machinery that complemented match production in order to cover capacity of production. On behalf of these major investments to automatization of production, SOLO Susice produces quality matches in paper boxes with best quality prints according to tough requirements of European Union. The final products comply with all legal resolutions, norms and regulations of European and wold markets. The customers' satisfaction is fully quaranteed that they receive the best quality products.
SOLO today
Production of matches was stopped in Sušice in the end of 2008. This epochal decesion have been taken on long term trends bases of reduction consumption matches at European market as well as strong competition at world market.
Production cost became so high that manufacturing matches lost profitability.
Share holders of the company took decesion to close production and turn company to trade. That is the way to keep SOLO matches on market.
Types of matches
- Standard: 40 - 43mm long matches in boxes of 36 - 45
- Household: larger box of 100-250 matches, 47-55mm long, these matches are designed for lighting gas range burners or gas ovens
- Fireplace matches: the longest matches, 90-200mm. Filled in boxes of 10 - 100 matches
- Commercial: filled in boxes or matchbooks made of paper or wood, offered with possible different colours of match head ranging from white to black.