Modřice puts Maracanã bums on seats

Almost 150,000 fans cheered on their teams during the first two matches of the World Cup at the legendary Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. More than 27,000 of them were sitting on seats made in Modřice u Brna. The Czech subsidiary of Irish company Mergon manufactured 13,690 blue and white seats for the reconstructed stadium, with the rest of the order made in Ireland. The overall supply was 35,600, i.e. almost half of the stadium’s capacity, in a delivery worth EUR 400,000.

Mergon obtained the order from German company Eheim Möbel, which won the tender to refurbish the stadium. “We had cooperated with a German customer before. The Maracanã project commenced in October 2012 and lasted for six months. The seats meet stringent criteria for UV and fire resistance. A high degree of durability is a matter of course as this is ensured by the blow-moulding process,” said Hanuš Hudousek, director of Mergon Czech.

Eheim Möbel had been looking for a local manufacturer capable of supplying the requested number of seats within a relatively short time. The company consulted Mergon thanks to the latter’s experience in the blow moulding of plastic parts.

The Mergon plant in Modřice, which besides seats specialises in the manufacture of suction pipes and air ducts, plastic parts for the automotive industry, tool boxes and toner cartridges, was unable to fulfil the complete order. The majority of the seats were therefore made in Castlepollard, County Westmeath, Ireland.

Mergon Czech employs 110 people. It operates its own R&D centre where the company trials new materials before applying them in manufacturing. “During the manufacture of the Maracanã seats we successfully tested a biodegradable material that will be used for similar projects in the future,” said Hudousek. The company reported a turnover of EUR 11m last year.