In a four-language information brochure, Bolesławiecka Fabryka Fiołek i Ampułek in Bolesławiec presents its showcase very sparingly: it manufactures drug packaging made of glass, plastics and aluminium, as well as disposable medical equipment such as syringes and injection needles. And also colourful photographs of finished products and the interiors of the four main production departments: glass, metal and plastic packaging, and syringes and needles.
I have known this factory for several decades; I described its history in the pages of Wrocław’s “Gazeta Robotnicza”, following its development step by step and its progress towards modernity. Today it is experiencing another stage in its history, a “second youth”—much richer and fuller than during the years of the bygone era. Almost everything here has changed, even the name: Bolesławiecka Fabryka Materiałów Medycznych “Polfa” S.A. And yet these are still the same old “Ampoules”, bound up with the history of the town. Let me recall the account of the late director Michał Pawłowski, who created the modern plant from the very beginning.
“We sowed heaps of rubble, piles of scrap metal, stacks of shells disarmed by sappers, and countless dangerous unexploded ordnance. In front of what was meant to be the gate stood a wrecked tank. There was a lack of water, lighting and sanitary facilities. The makeshift gatehouse was an ordinary recess in a wall, beside which two old men sat warming themselves by a so-called ‘goat’ stove salvaged from scrap and bound with wire. It was an old-fashioned iron stove worthy of the nineteenth century and not very efficient, but there was nothing better nearby in a city still constantly repairing the damage caused by the war.”
It was still the pioneering year of 1951. The factory began operating the following year.
We are speaking with director Stanisław Kozłowski, who is also the president of the joint-stock company. The surroundings alone—an expansive office, modern computer equipment, functional furniture, carpets and flowers—testify to the company’s sound financial condition and its “Europeanisation”. These are undisputed facts: the company has expanded its range of basic products, is constantly modernising its production facilities and is adopting the most modern technologies available worldwide. Machines—automatic equipment from the 1980s—are undergoing major modernisation or replacement. Today, the technology and raw materials meet global standards; otherwise, there would simply be no chance of competing in the sale of products with renowned major players and fierce competition. Ampoules are therefore made from imported Western tubes, because domestic ones are of poorer quality. Those purchased in Krosno are characterised by increasingly higher quality, so losses among customers are becoming smaller. Syringes have already reached European standards and are exported mainly to the German market. This export is highly profitable.
This is why the company is in good economic condition: in the first half of the year, it sold 100% more products than during the same period last year. There are payment bottlenecks, it is true, but this is an affliction of the entire Polish economy. Unfortunately, this also affects trade with Germany. The plant is taking advantage of its proximity to the western border: for example, assembly of medical equipment—transfusion and infusion devices—has been launched to order for its neighbours across the border. In practice, services are being sold, with 40 additional people employed. The low cost of domestic labour determines competitiveness, while the quality of work is exceptionally high. Our employees are no less capable than their German colleagues; there is no need for inferiority complexes here. So far, we have been successfully winning in direct competition.
Technological modernity matters at this company. This means, for example, installing air conditioning, sterile air filters and maintaining sterile cleanliness when handling products used in medicine. This, in turn, requires constant investment in the most advanced solutions. The workforce understands this, although it is, in a sense, financing it at its own expense. It will provide substantial benefits in the future, but people simply need to know this, consciously participate in decisions and play an active, empowered role. That is precisely how things work at the Bolesławiec factory.
So can we speak of an idyll? Nothing could be further from the truth.
Director Stanisław Kozłowski is concerned about the lack of balance in the order portfolio. The plant operates continuously, even on Sundays, but counteracting fluctuations in market conditions requires enormous efficiency, effort and persistence. It is a kind of “struggle” that causes headaches. On the one hand, sales on credit must be increased; on the other, new machines ordered as part of modernisation investments must be paid for on time. The most important issue remains money—capital. Today, the most valuable commodity is thought; it determines ultimate economic success. Sailing into the broad waters of business involves risk. But there is simply no other way.
A good team works here, with people emotionally attached to the company for many years. Specialists of a new generation are still needed—people with higher education and knowledge of foreign languages, engineers and marketing experts. Such people can always count on employment. The company’s ambitions reach very high, but are nevertheless grounded in reality. BFMM “Polfa” S.A. is seeking certification associated with the ISO-9000 quality-control system. It is the international credential of a truly elite club of manufacturers operating at the highest global level of quality-control systems: a guarantee that defects will be eliminated and that the “culprit” responsible for imperfections can be identified even months after a small ampoule was produced. In short—a leap into the future, towards automated systems, robots replacing people, computers and factories seen in science-fiction films. Incredible technological progress has already been made, but the greatest changes still lie ahead for this dynamic company from Bolesławiec.
There is a real opportunity for cooperation and close economic ties with a powerful US corporation that operates 40 factories scattered across the globe. A division of influence in the global production and sales market for this industry among three corporations is taking shape. Both the Americans, who have an almost identical factory in their country—glass, plastic and metal packaging for medicines—and the Germans are interested in Bolesławiec. The latter would like to divide the company into several independent parts, because not everything interests them, and only then provide capital. The Ministry favours a mixed company, preferably Polish-American, so that the new owner would have significant capital enabling investments extending into the coming twenty-first century. While these strategic issues and the international corporations’ struggle over a “discovered” company—an enticing morsel for a non-Polish firm—remain unresolved, 940 people emotionally attached to their factory work here calmly, harmoniously and efficiently. They are content with pay within the national average and feel secure in their stable jobs and the prospects for the development of a modern company that firmly established itself during the political and economic transformation, as confirmed by its selection for NF1. There are no outrageously high “palace chimneys” here, hence the almost family-like harmony and lack of conflict. How much of this is personally due to director Stanisław Kozłowski will remain his secret. People appreciate his composure, kindness, calmness, openness and competence—this is the result of a mini-survey conducted outside the factory gates. Keep it up!