When performance matters Noratel

WHEN

PERFORMANCE MATTERS

NORATEL Ltd in Poland belongs to the international NORATEL Group, specialising in a wide and impressive range of transformers and reactors. The Group brings together 16 companies in 13 countries with nearly 3000 employees. Piotr Sadowski writes about the most recent activities and developments in the Polish unit.

NORATEL was created in Poland in 1993 and is today the largest manufacturer of low-voltage appliances in the country. The company is the market leader in its sector of activities both in terms of the volume of production and number of staff, as well as the widest possible offer of standardised products. “We continuously modernise our production facilities in order to ensure better flows of materials, achieve better parameters of cooperation with customers and always guarantee timely deliveries of orders,” says Małgorzata Żytkowiak, sales director at NORATEL in Poland. “Our growth is of course part of the ongoing development of the entire international NORATEL Group and as a result we are delighted to be working with leading global clients who need to work with a global company. Our Polish company, for example, works with renowned producers such as Siemens, particularly its medical operations area, and GE. We strive to always meet customers’ expectations and we understand the need to invest in gaining new excellent staff, both technical and sales.”

Investment in all areas of operations

The company is currently working on introducing a fourth production hall to its factory, which will increase the manufacturing space from 8,000 m2 to 10,000 m2. This activity is dictated not least by the fact that NORATEL is producing increasingly larger items which in turn require a larger manufacturing space. “The machine park is being continuously upgraded, with newer and faster machines, while at the same time, since July this year, we are implementing the Lean Manufacturing policy to ensure a better overall efficiency and effectiveness of all of our processes,” explains Ms Żytkowiak. “We are proud to be offering a really wide range of products and therefore are always working on introducing new products to meet our clients’ needs. For the Polish market specifically, our latest addition includes low-voltage current transformers, for the production of which we have hired a significant number of specialist technical staff. For our foreign customers, we have embarked on developing individual long-series constructions which have a significantly increased operating life.”

Over the period 2011-12 NORATEL has also been working on ensuring that any bottlenecks in the production of transformers are minimised. As Ms Żytkowiak explains,

before reaching customers, transformers have to be tested and undergo 100 per cent control. Some current transformers have to be checked even up to five times in order to ensure their absolute reliability. This is where potential bottlenecks can arise and so the company’s R&D department is continuously working to ensure even faster processes in the entire manufacturing chain. “Furthermore, when working on large-series products, there is also a need to introduce higher levels of automation, which is precisely what we do at NORATEL in Poland and across the entire Group,” adds the sales director.

Looking for new partners

NORATEL works with a wide range of customers, both large and smaller, in a wide range of industrial sectors, including installations, automation, medical equipment, renewable energy, machinery and shipbuilding. Ms Żytkowiak says that the most important markets for the Group are those where its companies are located. “Poland is certainly a crucial distribution market for us and for the Group,” she adds. “As part of the Group our products reach customers across the entire world. At the moment, all emerging markets are of particular interest for NORATEL Group; they are very dynamic and offer us many opportunities for establishing new partnerships.”

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The Group and its companies look for customers who are interested in an international cooperation. For example, in 2011, the Group opened a sales office in the USA to serve North American clients. In order to forge additional partnerships, NORATEL ensures its brand is present during leading international trade shows, which is the role of Ms Żytkowiak and her colleagues from across the Group. “It is a key priority for us to react to customers’ needs, so that we can distribute our products throughout the world,” she says. “With increasing numbers of orders, there is of course the need to ensure that output capabilities are adequate. In Poland it is still possible to further increase the output capacity, as well as in China, where three factories are currently being merged into one mega-production unit. Similarly we have units in locations such as India or Sri Lanka, which can be grown further and even better serve customers in dynamic emerging markets.” n