Newsletter for employees and residents living near the Škoda Auto Vrchlabí plant 2/2026

„For us, safety is not just an empty slogan, but a fundamental part of our corporate culture.“

Lars Bürger, Plant Manager, Škoda Auto Vrchlabí

IN BRIEF

Employees lend a hand

During the traditional Clean Up Czechia campaign, employees from Vrchlabí and other volunteers worked with the Krkonoše National Park Administration to collect litter and clean up the countryside around Špindlerův Mlýn.
Thanks to the clean-up events in Mladá Boleslav and Kvasiny, around 175 Škoda Auto volunteers collected a combined 7 tonnes of waste.
 

Through the eyes of new starters:
Lenka Flanderová – project engineer for DQ transmission automation projects

Lenka Flanderová joined the Vrchlabí plant in logistics just under two years ago after graduating from university. She was keen to work at the plant and accepted the only available shop-floor position. Before long, however, she was able to put her education to use and moved into camera systems.

What does your role as a project engineer involve?
At the moment, we’re focusing heavily on camera-based inspections to make everything run more efficiently, with fewer delays, lower costs and higher quality. Thanks to new camera solutions, we now have technology in various parts of production that helps prevent transmissions from having to be returned for rework. Camera systems are already well established at Vrchlabí, and we are now using them more widely to raise quality even further. For example, the readers we use allow us to check deliveries from individual suppliers.

What areas do you focus on specifically?
I don’t work just on camera inspections, but also on readers – in other words, smart technologies that reduce the risk of something going wrong in production. My work also includes selecting suitable cables, lighting and other camera components for installation on the transmission and mechatronics line. So, I’m responsible both for configuring the readers and setting up the cameras.

Which automation projects are you responsible for?
As part of my specialist role, I recently had to choose one camera-based inspection system that we’re now introducing. It’s a station where we check the presence and correct position of shift forks. This was not previously inspected, but the camera will now automatically check that they are in the correct position. The request came from Production, and the aim is to avoid the need for rework, which is relatively time-consuming and costly.

How did you get into this role?
My husband is from this area and decided to work at the Vrchlabí plant, so I was interested in working here, too. I started as a shop-floor worker in logistics, even though I have a university degree from the Faculty of Transport, because no other position was available at the time. Six months ago, I noticed a new vacancy, decided to apply, and I’m very happy here.

There are many women working in Vrchlabí, but still relatively few in technical roles. How do you feel in a mostly male environment?
I have to say that the mostly male team is excellent. The men here are always willing to help and give advice. I feel very comfortable. I have been in male-dominated environments since studying at the Škoda vocational secondary school, and it was the same at university in Pardubice, so I am not only used to it – I actually like this kind of environment.
I’m also surprised by how much I have come to enjoy technical work. You’re not just sitting at a computer. You have to go to the line and check whether the right camera has been chosen for a project, whether the lighting is suitable, and whether everything can be installed reliably without interfering with the line. I also know that I can turn to my colleagues whenever I’m unsure about anything. We work as a team, and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy the job.

What do you think of the Vrchlabí region, and what are your plans for the future?
I’ve really grown to like the area. There are also a lot of sporty people in our office. They run, cycle and go cross-country skiing in winter, and I like the fact that the local area is so well suited to an active lifestyle.
As for the future, I used to think my place was in logistics, but now I feel I belong here. I’d like to continue gradually developing, gain a deeper understanding of the field and stay in this area of work.