With more than € 12 million invested in over 1,000 employees and 140 branches, a year with 365 challenges has turned into a race and a result to remember
When the year through each of its days looks like an unpredictable race, and each lap seems to be the last, then it is clear that only the departure through the “finish” is awaited. However, this “finish” in Tokić’s everyday life is never the final goal, because we are immediately starting a “new turn” and the next race. The conclusion of the calendar year, therefore, makes us happy – not because of the end, but because of the exceptional results and achievements of all employees, the entire team. The big Tokić family that has tripled in the last six years and now for the first time exceeds 1000 employees; a collective that covers over 140 branches and in which over 90 million HRK was invested in 2021 alone.
Heart on the move and pedal to the metal
Tokić used all 365 turns of the “2021 race” to the maximum, and we could have guessed how tense the year will be at the beginning of the year in Hrastovica. However, even with the shock of the earthquake in Banovina, we caught on in Tokić’s way. We jumped immediately and by volunteering we realized that the one who provides gets more than the one who receives, hoping that we have helped the damaged families and individuals at least a little.
That is why every act of help fulfills us even today and the opportunity to continue to do good, both for the earthquake-ravaged areas and all others that we will not list here, just like every colleague, subordinate or superior, in a human way. That is how we in Tokić do our job and that is the reason for the guaranteed victory in every race. Giving!
From Kranjska Gora, across Sava to Biokovo
The flying start of the year was opened by the acquisition of the distributor Prpić Commerce in Slavonski Brod, which gives Slavonia a new impetus and service to customers and partners under the Tokić brand. Higher levels of availability and distribution of parts, and more efficient logistics bring the east of Croatia a new standard when it comes to vehicle maintenance service, as Slavonia deserves.
Despite the difficult business and organization, especially at the international level, the Tokić Group in Slovenia successfully drove its first concrete consolidated kilometers. At the beginning of March, the first and largest Bartog branch office will open in Ljubljana, in the Šiška business zone, thus introducing the well-known Tokić business concept to the foreign market. With an open sales area and a large stock in warehouses exceeding 30,000 different items, with 11 new employees, for the first time in Ljubljana, an exhibition space dedicated to tools and service equipment was highlighted in the sales area.
In Croatia, on the other hand, the northern part is being strengthened – Bjelovar will become the address of Tokić’s first greenfield investment at the beginning of spring. A magnificent branch was designed and built from the ground up, and by opening its doors it set the standard for all the new branches of this type that follow. With its capacity and orientation, the large Bjelovar facility on over 750 m2 and with eight employees directly affects the development of economic opportunities in the region. In addition to the standard rich assortment of auto parts, it is also equipped with very rich economic and agricultural programs, but also an industrial assortment.
Between the knowledge generator and the delegation
Before the beginning of the summer, Tokić, through his TEC training center, made a notable appearance at the World Skills competition as a co-organizer, sponsor, and member of the judging panel, and a gathering with bankers was organized in the premises of the Management Board as “Finance Day”, deepened cooperation with the German-Slovenian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where we hosted the event.
Tokić was also recognized by the business magazine Lider as one of the best Croatian companies, and the cooperation with AmCham – the American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia – was deepened. At the same time, due to the notable results in the field of digitalization and robotics, Tokić’s employees are guests and present their experiences at numerous conferences and panel discussions. As members of the Association for Artificial Intelligence (CroAI), we continue to promote the importance of the knowledge and opportunities that AI provides to society as a whole.
In Slovenian – „Posel ustvarjajo ljudje“
In Slovenia, the Tokić Group is growing rapidly – Bartog with Saša Šimec at the helm, along with the President of the Management Board Ivan Gadže, is steadily raising its position as one of the leading Slovenian brands to an ever-higher level. The Slovene language is taught in the administration building on Tuesdays and Thursdays in order to transfer and exchange knowledge even better, but the confirmation that we are on the right track is the experience of new reinforcements in Mirna Peč – leading staff of renowned Slovenian companies recognized Bartog and Tokić Group as a corporation in which they can contribute to the maximum with their knowledge and where it will return to them many times over.
Professionalization of management continues on every issue, and the headquarters in the business zone of Mirna Peč, near Trebnje, is visited by numerous delegations. From eminent business associations and chambers, foreign companies to the Chief of Municipality and Ministers of Economy Zdravko Počivalšek and State Secretary Andrej Čus, County Prefect Andrej Kastelic, but also Robert Drobnič from the Directorate for Regional Development, Gregor Umek from the Directorate for Internationalization, Entrepreneurship and Technology, Tomaž Kordiš from the Chamber of Commerce of Dolenjska and Bela Krajina and the director of the municipal administration Sonja Klemenc-Križan.
Every month we make business easier by 400,000 sheets or 2,000 kg of paper, and by the end of the summer, we are recording almost 400,000 completed tasks with about 170 automated robotic processes. Tokić thus enters the club of companies that perform over 3 million RPA processes a year. At the same time, the range of tires offered through Bartog’s integration into business was never bigger, and special programs are being launched, such as the industrial program and the offer of chargers for electric and hybrid vehicles. All this can be read in the new Slovenian magazine “Bartog info”, which we started publishing.
Play “over” borders
Before the official start of the summer, the flags of Tokić and Bartog appear, along with Ljubljana and Bjelovar, in the south of Zagreb (V. Holjevca) and in the new center of auto parts in Split in the famous area of TTTS. On an area of 2250 m2, with 18 employees and over 40,000 items in stock, which is also a logistics HUB for Dalmatia, the new branch in Split has currently raised the quality of service and business, and most importantly, the availability of quality products throughout the region.
Customers and drivers have almost immediately felt the new business leverage that ensures the continuity of business for all transporters. With the grand opening in mid-June, an exceptional team of people behind the new Split branch has set an unprecedented level of business and sales experience for every customer.
Soon we are moving from Croatia again to Slovenia, to Kranj, where the legendary Bartog branch has been operating for years. Great results, we concluded, deserve to be followed by new clothes and new wind in the back brought by Tokić standards. The new organization on 450 m2, with 9 employees and over 20,000 items, joined the branch office in Ljubljana and the beginning of the renovation of the network of 38 branches strategically located in Slovenia. Autumn brought a fruitful harvest, renovated branches in Ptuj, Postojna, and Cerknica, where Bartog connected with the local community through cooperation and donations, just as Tokić does. The big machine has gained momentum, and the results of the introduction of Tokić standards in everyday business are becoming visible in both countries.
Sports finale and prize at the finish line
At the beginning of the year, the redefined vision and goals of the Tokić Racing Team, through new clothes and visual identity, refreshed us on the weekends with the great results of our juniors. The results of the young Stefani Mogorović have been noticed both in Croatia and in neighboring countries, where she has participated in circuit competitions, and Matija Jurišić has shone wherever he has appeared. He has set a track record in the class in numerous races, and will ultimately remain notable as the vice-champion of Europe in the class. For the same reason, he was presented with a plaque at a large internal T1 Meetup sales conference held at Kupjak Mountain Park. A large workshop, conference, and panel led by Ivan Gadže, opened a new perspective on the future of business, all with guest strategic suppliers in front of whom stood: Patrick Moritz and Dejan Todorović (ATE), Zoran Prlić (Bosch Croatia), Günther Riepl (Falken Tire) and Milorad Jovanović (ZF).
Perhaps because he played football at the beginning of the year in Tokić’s premises, Zlatko Dalić took the national football team to the World Cup in Qatar. However, Tokic did not lose his rhythm at the very end of the “2021 race”, just like the footballers against Russia. Moreover, they squeezed the gas to the brim. We were visited by a delegation from ATR International AG, an International Distributors’ Association led by Warren Espinoza, President of the Board of ATR, and hosted by Advantage Austria, a foreign trade organization of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce.
And while the last days and hours of the biggest global race in which we all participate are counting down, the list of achievements and victories has not stopped. The promise of further business development made in Split by board member Ivan Šantorić was realized by the acquisition of the well-known Split company Donit and the opening of another branch office on the Split-Solin border with a special focus on the economic program.
In the new season with new contracts and old values
Tokić does not stop there either, so just as he entered the acquisition of a Slavonian distributor in the last days of last year, so at the end of 2021, he can announce further business development and take a new position as a technology company. At the new stage of the race, in addition to Robert Kopal, as the executive director of research and development, Tokić will be joined by new, very interesting staff.
We welcome all new colleagues and a lot of success, and we congratulate all the old ones on an excellent ride and race. Tokić is ready for another challenging section with a top car, excellent drivers, and even better telemetry, but he is also aware that the key is in connecting the individual and understanding his team at all levels.
