Karin Punning
CEO, Englo LLC
Ever since its inception, Englo has been a leader in the development, design, and manufacture of intelligent electromechanical devices for military, safety and security, civil and road construction, mining, environmental, and other applications. Englo’s diverse product portfolio provides a single stop for different project challenges and customer needs. At Eurosatory, Englo is banking on this expertise to expand its business, clientele network, and global footprints. “Eurosatory 2024 is a very important platform for us to show our devices to the representatives of defence forces, and institutions responsible for the surveillance of security, and civil defence. There has been no better time to develop the whole range of national defence systems than now,” said Karin Punning, CEO, Englo LLC. In an interview with Arabian Defence, she talks about Englo’s latest operations and expansion plans.
What inspired the founding of Englo, and how has the company evolved since its inception? What are the core values that guide the company’s operations?
The desire for freedom and independence in decision-making. It is always calming if everything depends on your own decisions. If you make mistakes then it’s your fault, which makes you more responsible. And if you make a mistake, you will learn from it and next time you will be more careful! The expertise grows over the years and you know where to stop and what way to choose and go. It is an exciting time, new thoughts and ideas are always waiting, and there is no downtime!
The main factor in the management and direction of the company is taking into account your employees, their experience, and the fields that suit them. It is very important that each employee can operate in the field that suits him, where his skills and experience support him and the company the most. It is mutual understanding and cooperation between everyone that creates a very hardworking, understanding, and friendly atmosphere where you feel that nothing is impossible. You can feel it every day with us.
Could you talk about Englo’s flagship products in the defence sector? How strong are your clientele and export operations?
As we are dealing with R&D every day the topics will change very quickly. There are so many factors from outside that will direct you forward to new applications and with that to new devices to make it all possible. Our customers know that they can order from us solutions for very different applications.
At the moment the hottest products are the devices needed in military actions and for your country’s defence and security right now. From this group of production, we can bring out our devices designed for controlling activities and obtaining information from a distance. We have remote traffic surveillance and alarming systems, remote blasting machines and line ohmmeters, remote side mines activating systems, remote or vehicle-mounted radiation detectors, etc. In critical situations, it will be most important to know what happens around you and act according to the situation. But certainly, all the time we have in production the devices that will be needed for a wider group of customers too. You can see it on our website www.englo.eu.
Englo has a wide range of products for surveillance and inspection. Could you talk more about it?
This is one of our core focus areas. We offer surveillance and inspection systems for not only military and defence actions, but also for building and road construction purposes.
We have in production the devices for area surveillance, including traffic surveillance systems for alerting about unexpected or unwanted vehicle movement, indoor and outdoor radiation surveillance systems for raising alarms about increased radiation levels dangerous for people, parking sensors for alerting you while parking or taking off the vehicles from the parking area, sensor systems for intrusion detection, etc. There are quite many applications where our devices could be of help to guarantee timely actions for security and protection.
What is Englo’s approach to innovation and research and development? How do you cater to the evolving technological requirements of clients?
Innovation and R&D are the most exciting, stimulating, interesting, and leading tasks in the company’s activities. This has been our everyday life starting from the very beginning.
There are many possibilities and events how we will get either the information about the requirements or already direct orders of entirely new developments. As our company is already quite well-known the customers know what are our areas of activities and therefore they directly turn to us with their problems and needs. We will discuss the problem, and the task, offer the solutions best suitable for the customers, perform R&D, and prototyping, and make the necessary tests to be certain that it will fulfill the customers’ requirements. Everything relies on thorough cooperation and understanding.
How does Englo collaborate with clients and industries to tailor solutions to their specific needs and challenges?
This is our usual way of working, all the time together with the potential users, making the tests together to be entirely certain that the characteristics will meet the requirements of the customers. We are very flexible and attentive to the customer’s wishes so that the result meets their requirements. It is certain that sitting in your office without speaking to your customer very often takes you to the wrong results, not acceptable to the customer.
What are the highlights of Englo’s participation in Eurosatory 2024? How do you look at the expo as a platform to expand your business in the region?
Eurosatory 2024 is a very important platform for us to show our devices to the representatives of defence forces, and institutions responsible for the surveillance of security, and civil defence. Our systems and solutions assist them to trigger quick and immediate actions in case of threats. There has been no better time to develop the whole range of national defence systems than now.
Looking ahead, what are Englo’s goals and aspirations for the future, particularly in terms of growth, market expansion, and exports?
At the moment, our immediate goals are to show the visitors, companies and delegates our devices, especially the devices for remote acting, to find new customers and companies willing to cooperate with us and produce our devices in bigger quantities, and willing to present us in their country. There are many possibilities to explore and we are looking forward to that.
