Jedrzej Kowalczyk

Chairman of the Board at Fanuc Polska Ltd.

Nowadays, more and more often company managers put emphasis on the fact that their organization fits into a broader social context and undertakes initiatives related to corporate social responsibility. What activities do you carry out in this area, how is it implemented, what does responsible leadership mean to you?  

Responsible leadership is constantly looking for opportunities for development and removing obstacles that interfere with it. This philosophy is particularly close to our company, which, as an expert in the field of industrial automation, has been present on the global market for over 60 years. The distinguishing feature of FANUC is the constant pursuit of combining professionalism with care for the customer and his needs. By listening carefully to the voices of our partners, we are able to offer them both top-class products – within three product streams: CNC, robots and robots – as well as specialist advice, full support of local engineers, guarantee of product care (service and spare parts) throughout its entire life and wide opportunities to improve competences.

Our business model is based on three core values. The first of these is Man – the main recipient and, above all, the beneficiary of the benefits resulting from the increase in the number of intelligent machines in production. The second is sustainable development – understood as action respecting the circular economy, ecology, green energy, and most importantly meeting the needs of modern people without adversely affecting the ability of future generations to meet the same needs. It is worth noting that more and more people are beginning to see how important it will be to fully exploit the potential of AI in optimizing the consumption of goods. The third is resilience – to geopolitical changes, crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and challenges arising from the sensitivity of globalized production.

FANUC as a creator of modern technologies, he attaches great importance to social issues, starting with the people who create the company. Since the beginning of the organization, we have remained faithful to the belief that the basic factor of success is the creation of stable working conditions, in which each of our employees will have the opportunity to develop their potential and actively support the process of creating innovations tailored to the real needs of the industry.

More and more investors and financial institutions choose as their partners those organizations that operate in accordance with ESG recommendations. Do you think that is right? How does the company you manage go beyond the so-called business as usual? What is it doing for the climate, local communities, diversity or what would you like to implement in the near future?

The pursuit of excellence is part of the FANUC corporate identity. It is based on the constant desire to look for areas for improvement, non-standard thinking about the product and its role In the factory, as well as in the creation of innovations, solutions are created that stand out in terms of life, energy efficiency and availability. By supporting people working in almost every industry around the world, we are addressing the planet’s greatest climate threats.

The demand for factory automation will undoubtedly accelerate, and FANUC will play a significant role in this process. Due to the fact that such a responsible goal cannot be achieved without taking an active attitude and full responsibility for our actions, we already create new value today and work on solving environmental problems, such as climate change or other important social issues, m.in. the need to modernize the education model or improve ergonomics and people’s working environment.

By the way, it is worth adding that FANUC has been undertaking various initiatives in the area of searching for answers to the challenges of sustainable development for many years. Among them are m.in cyclically prepared reports on individual activities, constituting guidelines for formulating medium- and long-term goals at the management board level, risk analysis that may adversely affect business continuity,  increase in company value or sustainable development of business activities, initiatives to strengthen the cybersecurity system, ongoing reporting status reports, etc. In addition, we continue to seek best practices and take decisions on the implementation of key health and safety policies and measures.

A strong motivator for our activities is the concern that FANUC remains a company that fully deserves trust. Both from stakeholders, customers as well as members of local communities. Each of these groups expects specific values, and we deliver them in the form of reliable technology and reliable social responsibility as part of our business operations.

Every company creates its corporate culture that embodies the values that customers see externally. Do customers prefer to choose this particular company because it does something good with which the customer identifies or is it mainly price-driven purchasing decisions? What is your opinion, what trends have you observed, is something changing in this area?

FANUC’s roots lie in Japan, which is why our philosophy is based on timeless Japanese values. Genmitsu – in Japanese meaning accuracy, accuracy i perfekcjonizm oraz Tomei – symbolizujące szczerość i przejrzystość. To właśnie one od zawsze były

i są głównym bodźcem wyznaczającym kierunek naszych działań w obszarze udoskonalania produktów oraz procesów, które leżą u podstaw ich sprzedaży na całym świecie.

When it comes to the criteria for selecting a company, and in particular a technology partner, our experience shows that price is an important factor, but not the most important one. Customers value more value   the quality of the product more than the price value for money, reliability and durability of the product, as well as the scope of support offered after its purchase. What counts is the care that the user can count on during long-term operation of the machine or robot.

In the era of galloping production costs and staff shortages, the industry also attaches particular importance to the possibility of expanding systems, m.in robotization of machines or production processes, introducing intelligent IoT systems for remote production management or preventive diagnostics, as well as paying a lot of attention to the issues of energy efficiency of machines and their daily operation.

The development of values and ethical principles in many organizations may indicate that awareness in this area is growing. Many managers declare that they put ethics at the center of their activities. Is compliance with the principles of fair play in management a guarantee of stable development of the company?

The principles of fair play were born in sport, but today they are present in all areas of our lives. Wherever there is competition, including in business. Fair play rules flow

out of deep and sincere respect for the other person and respect for the norms in force. Personally, I am a supporter of this approach not only in the professional sphere, but also in the private sphere. I highly value people and institutions who, like FANUC, put ethics at the heart of their activities. My experience so far only confirms my belief that gaining the reputation of an honest person helps to succeed – even if one is not aware of it.  

The world needs wise and good leaders who want to have a positive impact on their environment. Was there a moment when you started to look for a deeper meaning in your work, an opportunity to do something good for your communities or country? What has been achieved?

As a technology company, we are focused on providing solutions on the threshold of the next industrial revolution, related to the use of artificial intelligence, ensuring both the possibility of transforming current production lines into efficient, flexible and at the same time energy-efficient production systems, as well as contributing to the humanization of work. Based on knowledge and effective cooperation, we contribute to the development of Polish manufacturing companies, including engineering companies that design robotic stations for the needs of local production plants.

With human resources competencies in mind, we have created the FANUC Academy, which offers industry a range of upskilling opportunities – from initial training programmes for beginners to courses tailored to the needs of experts and specific applications. We are constantly developing our training offer to provide knowledge in the field of modern methods of automation and robotization of production and constantly adapt the form of training to the needs of participants.

In addition, we support schools, organize workshops for young people and generally work to raise general awareness of the benefits of robotization.

Thanks to the fact that we have a well-equipped laboratory, we can perform proof-of-concept applications, as well as widely cooperate with partners and technical universities in the area of research and development. We also run our own development programs.

Jędrzej Kowalczyk is customer oriented business unit executive with strong engineering, sales and marketing experience. His interest in science and technology began in the early childhood thus the choice of the university was a simple matter. Jędrzej Kowalczyk is a graduate of robotics and automation at the Gdańsk University of Technology. He started his professional career at FANUC, as a Technical Specialist, in 2009. He was then quickly promoted to the position of the Service Coordinator (2010), Customer Service Coordinator (2012) and a number of new challenges and opportunities opened for him. In 2014 was appointed as the new Office Manager of FANUC Polska and one year later took office as General Manager of FANUC Polska. His main goal is to deliver the latest technology used in automation of production to Polish factories with full support of FANUC local staff.

Last Updated on January 10, 2023 by Valeriia Honcharuk