Croatian Robots: DOK-ING Opens Company in South Korea
As Novac/Bernard Ivezic writes on the 6th of November, 2020, the Zagreb-based company DOK-ING, a manufacturer of Croatian robots, is one of the world's ten largest manufacturers of demining robots. It has opened a company in South Korea and the new subsidiary, which will support and maintain Croatian robots for customers on the South Korean market, is part of this company's strategic plan to expand its operations across Asia this year and next year.
DOK-ING plans to open a branch in China after South Korea, and dicsussions surrounding entering the Chinese market, as has since been learned, have progressed. Gordan Pesic, head of sales and business development at DOK-ING, says they have opened a new company with a strategic partner.
''We're constantly looking for strategic partners. This is how we build a distribution and sales network, and this is especially interesting for us at the moment in Asia, where the demand for robots is growing, and by entering the South Korean market, through partnership, we have opportunities for new collaborations,'' explained Pesic.
He stated that DOK-ING sold its first MV-4 demining robot to the South Korean army last year and delivered the same back in May this year. It was their first job on the market there. In the meantime, he added, DOK-ING won a new tender in which the army ordered two more Croatian robots for the purpose of demining. The value of the first contract stood at a massive 5.3 million kuna, and the value of the new one is around the 12 million kuna mark. These two new Croatian robots will be delivered next year.
DOK-ING's Croatian robots are part of the beginning of a new unit within the South Korean military whose goal is to deal with remote and robotic demining methods and other engineering jobs. In addition to delivering robots, the job involves education. The first Croatian robot is already in use in the demilitarised zone between South and North Korea.
''We entered South Korea strategically, considering that we sold several robots there last year and this year. As a development company, the closer we are to the customer and the better we can understand their plans and needs, the better we can offer solutions and robots,'' noted Pesic.
Along with South Korea, DOK-ING has been cooperating the most with the United States this year. And there, their biggest customer is the army. Last year, the Zagreb manufacturer delivered six Croatian robots to the US Army, and by the middle of this year it had delivered three more.
Pesic says that they are recording good results in other business segments as well, especially in ore mining robots. This year, the Zagreb company received special recognition in Russia, where, thanks to the XLPD robot, the efficiency of ore extraction rose up to 43 percent in hard-to-reach-areas. These hard-to-reach locations make up a third of uranium deposits, so new contracts are likely to keep on coming to this successful Croatian company.
''We expect that 2020 and 2021 will be record-breaking, because we will have large deliveries,'' concluded Pesic.
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