Happy Birthday iST Roznov!

In 1994, Swiss Start-up Innovative Sensor Technology IST AG was still in its infancy when one of its founders, Pavel Knytl, decided to move back to his home country. Not wanting to lose Pavel, iST decided to set up a subsidiary in the Czech Republic to take over certain assembly works for iST’s fast growing sensor portfolio.

Rožnov pod Radhoštěm 
Located in the east of the Czech Republic and near Ostrava, Roznov was the ideal choice of location, as the area was known as the “Silicon Valley of the East” hosting a well-established semiconductor manufacturer, other high-tech companies serving the automotive industries as well as access to highly skilled personnel thanks to its technical college nearby. 

Growing capabilities
When Pavel left iST in 1998 to focus on his own company, Václav Folvarčný took over the business and remained the company’s managing director until his successor Martin Huba took over in 2023. Ever since its establishment, the production facility in Roznov has worked closely together with iST’s headquarters, supporting the Swiss manufacturer in assembly and sensor adaptation works often requiring skilled manual labor. The two production facilities have grown parallel and organically to around two hundred employees each. Nowadays, iST Roznov also has an engineering and custom sensor solutions team who oversees various sensor developments after the clean room process, which is still covered solely by the Swiss facility. 
The Czech subsidiary also develops and manufactures thick film glass pastes. The whole production chain is managed by the Czech facility, from purchasing raw materials to the production and delivery of the pastes, which are used in many iST sensors.

Expertise through committed employees
While iST strives for innovation and embraces modern technologies and ideas, the company also builds on the expertise of its long-term employees: Czech-born Jiri Polak was among the first employees and looks back on 33 years of service at iST in Switzerland. He remains a member of iST Group’s management team to this day. Or Václav Folvarčný stayed on at iST Roznov and is now responsible for the new building project while semi-retired Jiri Holoubek, also a man of the first hour, held the role of CTO in Switzerland until 2017 and now supports iST Roznov in an advisory role.

Outlook
Continuing the path of growth, iST Roznov has ambitious plans for the future: “With the growing demand for tailor-made sensors and serial production, our current facility in Roznov is reaching the limit of its capacity. Therefore, we are in the final planning stage of a brand-new production plant which will be located just a stone throw away from the current building, which will enable us to hold on to our valued employees in Roznov without inconveniencing them with longer commutes,” says Jörn Lützen, Managing Director of the iST Group and adds: “The new facility will have around a third more production space. This will enable us to increase our production capacity for customized as well as high volume projects.”