FIRM ALBO^®

FIRM ALBO^®

Noted Czech producer of high quality wooden EURO windows and doors... Customized production takes place in a modern workplace with an emphasis on high quality and aesthetically pleasing appearance of the finished product.

Company History

The Alois Bouchal Company draws on the long tradition of the Zemánek family, a family of Czech cartwrights, who laid the foundations of this craft as early as in 1880, with Hynek Zemánek being the first one to engage in the business. In the past centuries, the craft of cartwrights was of great interest, producing mainly wooden wagons and handles. It was a technically challenging craft, but very innovative. At that time, all the wooden components of a wagon were made using hand tools. During the war, Josef Zemánek became chairman of the guild of cartwrights in Moravia. Unfortunately, in the mid-20th century there was a great decline in the cartwrights’ activity as a result of the boom in cars and the abandonment of small-scale farming.

After the war, between 1945 and 1948, Josef Zemánek began to make ice-hockey sticks for the ASO department store in Olomouc; all the sticks were exported to Canada. Furthermore, the company made wooden playground equipment and roundabouts for kindergartens. At that time the company had 10 employees. In 1948, the workshop was nationalised, but Josef Zemánek managed to retain the ownership of the machines. Thus Josef Zemánek supervised his nationalised workshop, where his machines were being used. He never submitted his machines to public ownership. The machines were inherited by his grandson Alois Bouchal; some of these machines are still situated in the Osek nad Bečvou plant and are fully operational. Josef Zemánek trained his grandson Alois Bouchal to be a cartwright; Alois then completed his education in the wood-processing industry by studying at the secondary school in Hranice that specialised in the wood industry, which he completed with a school-leaving examination in the field of the wood- processing industry, taken in 1984. Alois Bouchal also worked in an agricultural cooperative, in the associated production, as a carpenter and subsequently as the head of the workshop.

In 1991 Alois Bouchal established his own carpentry workshop and a company called Alois Bouchal, ALBO - JOINERY (the company has been operating ever since; the product brand name ALBO is an abbreviated compound of the name Alois Bouchal), using machines which were largely inherited from his grandfather Josef Zemánek. It was on precisely these machines that he began to make construction carpentry products, such as windows, doors and stairs; furniture was also manufactured. In 1992, Alois Bouchal took on the first of his employees; back then the production focused mainly on construction carpentry products and furniture. In 1994, Alois Bouchal moved the original workshop to new premises in the courtyard of his family home, back in the barn, which he had completely reconstructed and rebuilt for the needs of a joinery workshop. In 1996, the company had 10 employees and specialised exclusively in construction carpentry products, namely windows and doors; because of its specialisation in a single field, furniture production was discontinued. In that year, the company was joined by Alois Bouchal’s wife Irena Bouchalová.

In 1997, Alois Bouchal purchased his first singlepurpose machine to produce wooden EURO windows, expanded his facility in Osek nad Bečvou, and began the production of what was then the latest type of windows. In the same year, the company was joined by Alois Bouchal’s son Martin Bouchal, who had just graduated from the secondary school in Hranice na Moravě that specialised in the wood industry.

In 2000, the manufacturing facility in Osek nad Bečvou was again expanded, with the company employing 40 people. In that year, the company purchased its first fully automated machining centre for the production of EURO windows; the company’s product range was also expanded with the addition of conservatories. In 2004, the company purchased two more automated machining centres for the production of EURO windows, and the production continued to expand and modernise. In the same year, a modern paint shop and product assembly shop were built in Osek nad Bečvou. In 2007, a new facility housing offices and space for customers were built in Osek nad Bečvou. The latter features a display of all the products and a shop. In that year, the company was joined by Oldřich Bouchal, Alois Bouchal’s younger son, who had just completed his economic and legal education.



Osek nad BečvouNové Dvory

In 2008, the company purchased a manufacturing facility in the neighbouring village of Nové Dvory, which was a former agricultural cooperative, where a new production plant for the production of interior doors, entrance doors and atypical windows was subsequently built. The plant was opened at the beginning of 2011. The Alois Bouchal Company, ALBO - JOINERY currently has over 100 employees who work both in Osek nad Bečvou and in Nové Dvory. There are 70 employees in Osek nad Bečvou and 20 employees in Nové Dvory; the remaining 10 employees work in the branch offices, which are located in Olomouc, Brno and Prague. There is an exhibition centre and a shop available to customers in Osek nad Bečvou displaying all the products made by the company. On a smaller scale, the same may be seen at the company‘s shops and dealerships, i.e. at our company’s partners. All the contact details of these partners are listed on our website, in the Contacts section. The company currently manufactures its products for customers coming primarily from the Czech Republic. Only about 25-30% of production is exported, namely to England, Ireland, France, Austria, Germany, Sweden and, last but not least, Slovakia. The company is now focusing on launching the operation of a new manufacturing plant in Nové Dvory, where it is planning to employ 30 new staff.

Since its foundation (in 1991), the company has served a total of 5000 satisfied customers, who are taken care of by a dedicated customer attention department. Today, the company also has its own transport, trying to reduce the outsourcing of transportation services as much as possible in order to ensure the timely and problem-free delivery of products to its customers.


ALBO - Joinery motto:
Helping people to have better, nicer, economical and healthy lives.

MAIN ALBO PRIORITIES

• Highest product quality
• Highest service quality
• Top-notch equipment
• Long-term product durability
• Emphasis on detail
• Customer satisfaction
• Great service

ALBO® is a certified producer in compliance with ČSN EN ISO 9001:2001