Introduction / Company / History

History

History

The history of Kerkotherm started at the beginning of 1992 when works were launched within the Ceramic Plant of Košice on introduction of production in a new plant called KACHLE (STOVE TILES) Košice. At that time the company had more than 30-year experience in production of ceramics.

Stove tiles were produced from fireproof stoneware by manual moulding into plaster moulds, after-touch, drying, glazing and single-burning.

In 1965, as a part of Košice Ceramic Works, we have started production of expanded perlite in a new plant in Košice Barca.

1992

beginning of production using the technology of stove tile moulding by means of presses

1993

stove tile calibration, significant improvement of dimensional accuracy

1994

reduction of the range of products to three basic patterns of moulded pieces resulted in the increase of productivity

1995

strengthening of our position on the domestic market and expansion to markets in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and the Ukraine

1996

as the first company in Slovakia we started to produce round quoin pieces that helped the company to get a solid position on the market and further major customers

1997

fusion of plants producing stove tiles and perlite

1998

partially automated glazing in production

1999

establishment of an independent joint-stock company Kerkotherm covering the production of stove tiles, perlite and insulating boards for metallurgical industry

2000

launched production of stove tiles using a new technology of drain casting

2001

a new shop of stove tiles and materials for construction of stoves opened

2002

strong demand resulted in full use of production capacities

2003

use of a new moulding material enabled the use of identical glazing on cast as well as moulded wares and improved the flexibility of the range of products

2004

the company significantly increased its marketing support, made a decision for a new logo, new corporate identity, new price and discount policy that helped to keep the leading position on the market

2005

investments into technical equipment of laboratories and production capacities resulting in better quality of stove tiles

2006

enlargement of production capacities due to heavy demand

2007

beginning production of large size stove tiles Grande and Bambus in modern design

2008

we provide delivery to place around Slovakia included in price

2009

thanks to sales success we enlarged production of large size ceramic Max, launched production of stove tiles using technology of drawing

2010

changes in price policy, we canceled some surcharges to make our stove tiles more affordable

2011

start of production of multilayer glazes, cooperation with next large producers of stoves in Czech Republic

2012

installation of muffle kiln in production of stove tiles, so we can produce new types of glazes

2013

finalization of investment in new line for production of perlite, reconstruction of next hall for stove tiles casting, new design of stove tiles Atlantik and Lamela were added in assortment

2014

launching of new pipeline system in production of casted stove tiles, new design of stove tiles Quatro were added in assortment

2015

releasing of new catalog of ceramic tiles and logo "Handmade in Slovakia"

2016

significant expansion of the range of multi-layered glazes with hand applied additional layers

2017

end of regular production of insulating boards for metallurgy industry

2018

expansion of the range of ceramic stove tiles with new design and new glazes

2019

we started cooperation with new industrial customers in Poland and Hungary

2020

we managed the complications caused by the Covid pandemic and production continues at full capacity

2021

we started the reconstruction of the halls for the production of ceramic stove tiles in Barca

2022

we successfully completed the reconstruction of the halls and installed a new kiln, the demand for ceramic stoves and fireplaces is breaking historical records

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