DAVID BURCAR, VANADO
In a company’s development, the greatest undertaking is choosing the right partners and collaborators.
Aware that they are not the best but that they learn quickly and give their best to meet all client demands, the software company Vanado says they strive to become the best. Their decisive business move was switching to new technologies and essentially rewriting their code, and the turning point came last year when things really took off. They see the greatest potential in the domestic market, where a long-awaited digital transition is finally underway.
“Track, analyze, save, and control” are not randomly chosen words for the software company Vanado — they are the foundation of their existence and business. Vanado’s smart solution for real-time production management, planning, and monitoring is named PAUK, an acronym derived from the first letters of this slogan. With increasing awareness of such systems, the company’s co-owner and director David Burcar is optimistic about the future. His main goal is to raise product and service quality in the upcoming period and secure more consulting resources, which he sees as crucial for gaining new clients.
Where money is lost
Vanado’s software is intended for all manufacturing companies regardless of size, and is directly connected to the warehouse of materials and raw goods. Information flow, says Burcar, in real time enables proactive action and problem resolution before issues even arise.
With PAUK software, Burcar’s goal is to identify points of financial loss by monitoring production in real time — increasing productivity and competitiveness while lowering production costs.
“PAUK offers four main modules, but the emphasis is on PAUK MES — the manufacturing module that allows real-time production tracking, directly connected to machines and equipment using Internet of Things (IoT) technology. There is also the accounting module PAUK ERP, the energy consumption monitoring module PAUK NRG, and the basic module for simple business processes PAUK OS. Without solutions like PAUK, it's impossible to stay competitive because the most important thing is to know, in real time, what stage production is in, the difference between calculated, sales, and production prices, and how productive and efficient the factory is. Earlier this year, we also launched a new PAUK version, based on the latest technologies. We rewrote and cleaned up the old code, meaning we essentially redeveloped the application from scratch and created documentation. We also introduced a new design and new modules developed over the past ten years with clients — especially planning modules for production and procurement,” says Burcar.
Local is essential
They are especially focused on innovation, continuously working on it due to the complexity of the market and rapid tech development. Burcar says they are currently developing new modules for machine operation tracking and a device for measuring and monitoring electricity consumption. Since this is software, custom solutions are a great challenge for Burcar but allow for dynamism and agility. This drives Vanado to improve every day, he emphasizes. Each production process requires a different approach and brings new challenges, even when dealing with almost identical factories in the same sector offering similar products.
“We have a specific product and primarily implement PAUK MES. We collaborate with both foreign and domestic companies, integrating with other software like accounting systems, business intelligence (BI), and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. We are primarily focused on the Croatian market, where we see the greatest potential due to the long-awaited digital transition now finally occurring. We are also active in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and aim to expand to Austria and Germany by the end of next year. Most of our business comes through referrals. Our solutions are backed by mechanical and computer engineers as well as economic experts who understand our clients’ challenges,” explains Burcar.
Wife as the initiator
Burcar previously worked at cable factory Elka, where he conceived the idea of creating software for quicker, clearer decision-making and real-time process control. Having climbed from intern to plant maintenance and energy manager at Elka, his experience helped turn his ideas into reality at Vanado. The company was actually founded in 2012 in Zagreb by his wife, Marina, who started with strategic and marketing efforts. Later, a mutual friend and programmer, Mihael Župančić, joined her. Only after Župančić — now development lead and co-owner — did Burcar join. He explains that while managing improvements at Elka, he developed the software initially used there. But after a management change, the job no longer satisfied him, so he quit and joined Vanado full-time.
He and his wife invested their savings to start Vanado, but funds quickly dried up, so a friend’s loan helped the young company survive. Living on minimal income, the early days were extremely challenging, but they never lost faith, Burcar recalls — giving up was not an option.
“We broke into the market through dedication and flexibility, knowing we're not the best but learning fast and giving our all to meet clients’ needs. We want to become the best. Our key business decision was switching to new technologies and rewriting our code, and last year was the turning point when everything started going well. After the pandemic, people understood the value of remote work and real-time production monitoring software. In our company’s development, choosing the right partners and collaborators has certainly been the greatest challenge — and I believe we succeeded. We are also in the process of implementing ISO 20000 and ISO 27001 standards, which we expect to complete by mid-2024,” says Burcar.
Confirmed deals
Last year, Vanado earned €597,727.52 in revenue — an increase of €119,342.49 over the previous year. Net profit was €126,436.92, up from €106,000 in 2021. Revenue rose by 24.95%, and profit by 19.28%.
“We’ve become recognized and operate stably, which has reassured our partners — we're now developing new modules with existing clients. With the amount of knowledge and experience reflected in our reference list, we're able to convince new partners that together we can significantly improve their business processes — and we’ve succeeded. Hard work and continuous learning directly impact revenue growth. We’re very satisfied with our ongoing growth, and we're reinvesting everything back into development. This year is going well so far — we’ve expanded capacity and are booked with projects through the end of the year. Our biggest investments are in people and capacity — that’s what we rely on most. Continuous salary increases, better working conditions, and new product development with new technologies are the foundation of our growth. And it’s paying off — our company is a desirable place to work and produces excellent products,” Burcar assesses.
Vanado currently has twelve employees, which Burcar considers sufficient for now. They have no issues with hiring, and he hopes it stays that way. He believes their salaries are fair and realistic, adjusting them every six to twelve months based on individual performance. Bonuses are also awarded for excellent work, and Vanado uses the Moontop platform for employee rewards and incentives.
Made in Croatia
During the COVID crisis, Vanado was fortunate, according to Burcar, because they had many active contracts. Since the company’s app and nearly all operations are cloud-based, working remotely posed no difficulties. They maintained business stability and growth without any interruptions — though Burcar still prefers working in person.
“We’ve all felt the impact of inflation — it’s very high — but I believe it will stabilize by year’s end. We weren’t significantly affected by the energy crisis due to the nature of our business,” Burcar emphasizes.
Vanado also collaborates with the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture in Zagreb and the Chair of Production Management, providing software and hardware for lab use. The faculty is currently undergoing renovation, so the lab is temporarily unavailable, but Burcar expects cooperation to resume next year.
“The goal of this collaboration is to give students access to Vanado’s system so they understand the importance and potential of software tools that can significantly boost productivity and efficiency in their future factories. Of course, we also want them to know that such solutions exist in Croatia. We’ve also managed to launch a partner company, IEMA d.o.o. (Industrial Engineering Management Academy), where starting this autumn, we’ll conduct training sessions on production management, employee productivity, and process efficiency. We believe we have enough knowledge and experience — this will be a big success. As for the EU commercialization of innovation grant for Vanado’s real-time machine monitoring solution and PAUK IoT software — unfortunately, the results are still pending. Nevertheless, we’ve already begun developing the new software and acquiring equipment because we simply can’t afford to wait,” Burcar stresses.
