"It’s a Long Game," Says LEVEL Systems’ Michal Hojný on Rail Business Reality at ERS Summit

At the ERS Summit conference in Warsaw, the Czech-based company LEVEL Systems presented its Smart Wagon® solution. Following the presentation, we spoke with Michal Hojný, Business Development Leader, about the importance of the event and the realities of doing business in the railway sector.

What is your impression of this year’s ERS Summit?

I have a great feeling about ERS Summit, just like last year. It’s a very well-organised event, which is why we decided to come again. We originally planned to attend the Prague edition as well, but it ultimately didn’t take place.

For me personally, ERS Summit is mainly about meeting a lot of new people, building new contacts, and taking away new ideas. I would definitely recommend this conference to anyone in the industry. In my opinion, it’s one of the better ones, both in terms of topics and participants. And above all, it is truly international, which is not always the case with events that present themselves that way.

Are you able to turn conference contacts into real business?

Yes, definitely. For example, last year we found a partner for Denmark here, and we are still working together today. So far, it hasn’t led to a major deal yet, but the communication continues.

At the same time, we also meet existing clients here. This year, I spoke with a Finnish manufacturer to whom we supply our sensors. I also spoke with representatives of ČD Cargo, which is an interesting direction for us, as we would like to supply our solutions for their fleet in the future. Every such contact is a step towards making that happen.

On the other hand, it must be said that the rail business is a long game. We have a partner in Greece with whom we discussed installing our technologies back in 2022, and the order only came this year. That just shows that projects of this kind often take years.

So is it mainly about building relationships and awareness?

It’s about collecting contacts and making sure the market knows about you. When someone sees you for the second, third, or fourth time, they begin to associate you with a specific solution. Even if they don’t need anything at that moment, they may remember you in the future.

It’s largely about visibility. That’s why we attend these kinds of events—we need to be seen where industry professionals meet.

What kind of feedback are you receiving on your Smart Wagon® solution?

The feedback is mostly very positive. I try to keep the presentation more general so that it is understandable to a broader audience. Those who are more interested then come to me afterwards, and we discuss specific technical details.

It often happens that companies approach us that are doing something similar, but for example focus only on locomotives or do not have their own wireless sensors. That’s exactly where opportunities for cooperation arise. We had such an experience last year with a partner from Denmark, and this year it is happening again with another company, this time from Germany.

You are attending several events in Poland in a row. Is that a deliberate strategy?

Poland is a very important market for us, not least because of its geographical proximity. At the same time, there is a large number of railway companies here, including private players, so the potential is huge.

We have been actively focusing on this market for several years now—around four to five. We regularly attend various conferences and trade fairs here, such as TRAKO in Gdańsk, which is one of our key events. Alongside InnoTrans, it is probably one of the most important for us.

The fact that we are currently in Poland for several events in a row is more of a coincidence in the calendar. But we would come anyway, because the market is strategic for us.