History

The first Pieskovec tiles were made in domestic conditions in 1981 during the construction of a family house and the requirement for a non-standard tiles of the plinth part. Since then, the technology has improved and until 1989 the tiles were made for non-commercial purposes. In the following year, 1990, the company VASPO was established, the building of the company starts, as well as the production on a larger scale and further improvement of the technology used.
 

• 1981 Production of the first Pieskovec tiles 
• 1990 Establishment of the company VASPO and start of commercial production and sales 
• 1995 Start of production at our own premises, at the premises of the former cooperative

• 2000 Golden plaque at the exhibition “CONECO Bratislava” 
• 2001 Expansion of warehouse area 
• 2002 Golden helmet at an exhibition in Poland 
• 2003 Start of construction of the office building 
• 2006 Introduction of ISO 9001:2002 quality management system 
• 2007 Prize for the exhibit at the exhibition “Tatra EXPO” 
• 2008 Technology change for bulk materials 
• 2011 Honorary certificate for responsible business activity and contribution to the economy and employment from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Labour. The honorary certificate was personally delivered to the company's management by the Minister of Economy Juraj Miškov and the Deputy Prime Minister Jozef Mihál.
• 2011 Expansion of warehouse area 
• 2013 Prize for the exhibit at the 28th International Exhibition “BudEXPO”, Lviv - Ukraine

• 2014 Change of legal form VASPO - Ježík František to VASPO STONE s.r.o.
• 2014 Extension of services for the delivery of goods throughout Slovakia and the Czech Republic
• 2015 Expansion of production with fence systems
• 2015 - 2017 The company is awarded by the National Information Centre of the Slovak Republic as a SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMPANY, RELIABLE MANUFACTURING COMPANY and FINANCIALLY STABLE COMPANY.
• 2016 Expansion of the product range with wood imitations
• 2017 Launch of our own photovoltaic power plant with an area of ​​approximately 1,500 m2, with an energy storage capacity of 1 MWh which covers a large amount of our total energy consumption. Our products are made with the help of green energy.

• 2019 Extension of operations in Hungary.
• 2019 Car fleet expansion. The company owns three new trucks and lorries with a capacity of up to 3.5 tons which are used for own and commercial purposes.

HISTORY OF ORIGIN
 
1981 - 1990 
Beginnings under socialism.
 
The whole idea originated in 1981 due to the finishing work on a family house in 1981. Mr. František Ježík was looking for suitable tiles for a fence and a plinth. The natural stone was too expensive. He therefore made his own moulds for tiles which were later sold under the name Sandstone version 1. Slowly, little by little, he began to pour concrete blocks. The production of tiles for the whole family house took 3 months. The concrete tiles on the house looked, and to this day, still look very good. People thought it was classic natural sandstone.  Due to the great interest in the tiles, they began to make them for acquaintances with the permission of the municipal office, as there was no private business under socialism. The family house thus became a factory, a warehouse and a dispensary at the same time. A mixer and a picking table were operated in the old clay barn. The moulds were produced in the cellar of the family house. The tiles were laid on iron wires from which the “known customer” had to transfer them one by one to the car, and traditional “barrows” were used as a pallet truck. The whole process took place in the courtyard where minor children were still hanging out.
 
1990 - 1995
After the Velvet Revolution and the arrival of the market economy.
 
With the arrival of the market economy, business was finally possible, beginning a whole new era. Due to the increased demand for concrete sandstone, which perfectly replaced the expensive and less available natural stone, the production was relocated to larger premises. During this period, Mr. Ježík united with his sister Mrs. Božena Daňová. In 1990, he rented an old house in the middle of the village, nicknamed “Hulajovec”, and an old iron hangar in the premises of the united agricultural cooperative where agricultural machinery was repaired at the end of the village. The beginnings at these premises were difficult as the product was attractive and loans were unavailable or with very high interest rates. Therefore, he also had a several-month waiting list for the tiles.  New employees were hired and a lot of paperwork was added. A small office in the building of the Cooperative Cultural House was rented. All papers were handled by hand or on a typewriter. The only timeless technique at the time was the fax machine. But the business was progressing fast. Demand increased and so did the requirements. There were advances in technology - the first T602 desktop computer was bought and operated by Mr. ježík' daughter Andrea. A huge technical/economic/production boom was experienced at that time. Orders, invoicing, phone calls, wages, operation at 3 locations, which is why so many kilometres a day were driven, trainings in Word, Excel, Sunsoft software, internet, website, purchase of new packaging machines, pallet trucks, forklift. The tiles were sold in packages as more expensive or cheaper in bulk. the trucks were loaded on Saturdays, often on Sundays. The Sandstone versions 2 and 3 and Slate standard and Stripes tiles were added. They were distributed throughout the former Czechoslovakia by a forwarding company. In 1993, the land in “Starý Majer” was bought which was slowly reconstructed. This year, Czechoslovakia was divided and imports to our neighbours became complicated. The truck had to be escorted in person through the national customs. Sometimes it took half a day to process the papers.   

  
  

1995 - 2019
Large relocation and reconstruction of our own premises.
 
In 1995, Majer was only ready to move the production. The offices remained in the old place for another year. In the 1996, everything was finally concentrated in one place. The land was large enough with old buildings, all of which were gradually renovated.
The new offices were used for administration, but also as a shop with the first sampler in the interior. New computers, software, but also more work were added. The enlarged premises enabled the expansion of production with new types, which were Stone quarry and Stone MIX. The tiles were protected by an industrial and utility model in the territory of the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic. In 2000, our products were awarded the Golden Plaque at the CONECO Exhibition in Bratislava. Later at the exhibition in Poland with the Golden Helmet, at the Tatra EXPO exhibition with the prize for the exhibit. The production increased and the warehouses were enlarged. In 2003, the construction of new administrative and exhibition premises began, and in 2005 we underwent another large relocation to new spacious offices with a large store. To improve the production and sales, an ISO quality management system was  introduced which is updated annually.  The quality of production, transport or packaging machines gradually improved. In 2011, we received the Honorary Certificate for Responsible Business and the Contribution to the Economy and Employment from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Labour. The honorary certificate was personally delivered to the company's management by the Minister of Economy Juraj Miškov and the Deputy Prime Minister Jozef Mihál. We started to test our own transport and bought vans, lorries and later trucks. In 2014, we expanded our services to include the delivery of goods throughout Slovakia and the Czech Republic. That year, the legal form changed to VASPO STONE s.r.o. 
The company placed great emphasis on RESPONSIBILITY.  In 2015 and 2017, the company was evaluated as a SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMPANY.  Based on this evaluation, the company was awarded the seal “Socially Responsible Company” in the attestation and information system, which was obtained by only 9.4% of the 248,389 evaluated entities. We are thus among the 3.2% of companies meeting the economic aspects of socially responsible businesses. The National Information Centre of the Slovak Republic, a.s. confirmed the result of the evaluation focused on the reliability of the company VASPO STONE, s.r.o. in the industrial production sector. The company thus obtained the mark “RELIABLE MANUFACTURING COMPANY”. It also confirmed the result of the evaluation of the financial stability of companies operating in the Slovak Republic and was evaluated as a Financially Stable Company. 
The company pays attention to ecological operation, self-sufficiency, safety at work, improvement of working conditions. In 2017, the company launched its own photovoltaic power plant with an area of ​​approximately 1,500 m2, with an energy storage capacity of 1 MWh which covers a significant amount of total energy consumption. The products are made with the help of green energy. 


 
The product range has grown to 55 types of tiles perfectly imitating natural sandstone, slate, stones, rocks, travertine, brickwork, decorative stones and tiles imitating natural wood.  The production of fence systems was also added.
The company's scope of business is mainly on the Slovak and Czech markets with partners in Germany, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland. In addition, there is a need to maintain up-to-date product samples at each point of sale. A small number of large orders became hundreds of small orders at short intervals. It became increasingly difficult to record the consumption of basic materials and prepare documents for the remuneration of workers in production. Therefore, in 2018, the company switched to the ONIX corporate information system.
In 2019, the efforts were focused on expanding operations abroad. An agreement with the STAVMAT building network in Hungary was concluded and entry onto the Austrian and German markets were prepared. The car fleet also expanded. The company owns three new trucks and lorries with a capacity of up to 3.5 tons which are used for own and commercial purposes.
 
Today, the company VASPO STONE s.r.o. has 60 permanent and 10 seasonal employees. We speak of it as a family business, as 11 family members work on its development and some employees have remained in the production process since the establishment of the company and they taught their children or relatives.