Procter & Gamble Rakona
Procter&Gamble started to operate on the former Czechoslovakian market in 1990. In September of the following year P&G bought the Rakona plant located in Rakovnik for 21 million dollars from the State Property Fund. This was the beginning of the successful operation of Procter&Gamble in Central and Eastern Europe.
The foundations of the Rakona plant were laid in 1875, when Mr. Frantisek Otta started to make soap in the house on Rakovnik‘s square. The enterprise was successful, so in 1900 the production moved to a new building, which stood in the place of nowadays Rakona. As the time went, the soap production was augmented by the production of glycerin and soda; in 1934 the production of margarine. The plant was nationalized in 1946 and the name changed to Rakona. Two milestones in the plant’s history were the start of laundry detergent production in 1965 followed by the start of liquid detergent production in 1978. It was the laundry and liquid detergents that became the key production program after the arrival of the new owner, Procter&Gamble.
Today’s production program of Rakona covers several categories: laundry detergents, dish care products, household cleaners, fabric conditioners, deodorants and antiperspirants. Laundry detergents are mainly represented by Ariel, Tide, Bonux, Alfa and Vizir, dish care products by Jar and Fairy, household cleaners by Mr. Proper, fabric conditioners by Lenor; deodorants and antiperspirants are produced since 2004, mainly under the well-known brands Old Spice and Secret.
Rakona exports more than 85 % of the production to thirty countries not only in Central and Eastern Europe, but also to Germany, Italy and other western countries; less volume is exported to the Middle East. Thus, Rakona is one of the most important exporters in the country. Procter&Gamble has invested more than 150 million dollars into modernization of the plant and into increasing the capacity and Rakona has become one of the biggest Procter&Gamble plants in Europe. Investments safety, hygiene and protection of the environment alone exceeded 10 million dollars. It is one of the biggest employers in the Rakovnik region.
One of the fundamental principles of Procter & Gamble is to contribute to the development of the society in the place of its operations. The company has supported the city of Rakovnik and a number of regional non-profit organizations working in the field of education, health, environment and culture with more than three million dollars.
Engineering center in Rakona – new opportunity for graduates of technical universities
Besides being one of the most important production sites in Europe, Rakona is also home to a newly established Technical center for the region of Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The Technical center was established in 2007 with the scope of supporting production sites in the region. Engineers from this team are supporting Design and Delivery of the projects in more then 15 production plants located everywhere from as far east as Pakistan, to as far west as Morocco, with the majority of projects happening in the Czech Republic, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Romania.
The Technical center today has more then 40 engineers specialized in Mechanical & Chemical engineering, Automation, Power & Utilities, Modeling & Simulation, Civil Engineering, Materials & Process optimization and Safety & Environmental protection. The focus of the team is turning from execution of the projects towards development of new technologies, processes and building new manufacturing facilities in the region.
The Technical center has a very specific diversity of people including 17 nationalities from all over the world and average age of approximatly 26 years which makes the integration much easier for young engineers joining the team!
