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36
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36 (131) 2018
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Manufacturing

Bodycote – in Poland and around the world

By Dariusz Podgórski, vice president AGI Eastern Europe (North)
Header bodycote

 

Bodycote is the world’s largest and most respected provider of thermal processing services, which form a vital link in the manufacturing supply chain.

Operating an international network of facilities and serving a wide range of industries, Bodycote is a specialist in value-adding, proprietary technologies which offer unique solutions for a variety of applications.

At first sight, the name is misleading. The word ‘Bodycote’ suggests the coating of (car) bodies – but actually the name comes from the company’s founder, Arthur Bodycote, who founded the company in 1923.  A FTSE 250 listed company, on the London Stock Exchange since 1972, Bodycote PLC has over 180 plants in 24 countries around the world.

Bodycote has a great many successful, mutually beneficial partnerships with leading international companies. The advantages such cooperation is able to bring include improved productivity, lower equipment maintenance costs, lower capital expenditure, reduced energy costs or a better carbon footprint

Bodycote operates in two major areas: the aerospace, defence and energy business and the automotive and general industrial business sectors, including the automotive, construction, machine building, medical and transportation industries.

Bodycote’s presence in Poland began in 2005. After 13 years, the Polish business is well-established on the market and following the example of the Bodycote Group, it provides the largest share of heat treatment services in the country. Poland’s strong economic situation has encouraged the firm to continue its expansion.

Bodycote’s two greenfield plants, in Siechnice near Wroclaw, opened in 2015 and in Zaczernie near Rzeszow, established in 2017, testify to the growth. The Zaczernie plant has already obtained the required certificates for the aerospace industry, including the NDCAP specification. Three more Bodycote plants in Poland, earlier acquisitions, have been approved for the automotive industry, which has been confirmed by IATF 16949 certification. All our plants have implemented the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 as their standards.

Three years since the Siechnice plant was started, its production line has already been extended with new equipment installed in August this year. After the start-up and commissioning, the firm plans to begin operating the new furnaces in November. Bodycote is prepared to make further investments should the need appear.

Bodycote is a good example of a British company that has successfully developed its business on the Polish market. Today, the firm has seven plants across the country, mainly in the south, five of which have been acquisitions, two are greenfields. For the last few years, Bodycote has recorded a significant increase in the volume of orders. The firm would not be able to pride itself on its achievements without the commitment, passion and expertise of its Polish workforce and managers.

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