In Poland, Xella has taken over existing production facilities and subsequently modernized them technically. In some plants, considerable investments had to be made for this – including in Teodory. There, extensive modernization work was most recently carried out on the entire infrastructure in January 2019, including a refurbishment of the buildings.
 
Tomasz Wiśniewski, CTO of Xella Polska: “We also want to show that we are a stable and reliable employer in the region. In addition, Xella Polska attaches great importance to acting as a partner to the local community. We want to actively participate in the life of the region and cooperate fruitfully with the authorities and our neighbors.”

Plant Manager Dariusz Chankiewicz pointed out the great importance of the second investment step, which included the renovation of the plant buildings and their energy refurbishment through a comprehensive improvement of thermal efficiency. “The plant's employees actively participated in this process of revitalization and modernization. They helped renovate and repaint the facilities, participated in cleaning work around the buildings or renewed the fences. Through this work, we have grown together into a strong team,” explained Chankiewicz.
 
An important aspect of the modernization was to increase occupational safety by using even more advanced systems. Work areas on the machines were secured by barriers and the introduction of a key exchange system. A lean manufacturing tool was also successfully introduced with the 5S method. This involves better organization of the workplaces, which is already being reflected in noticeably higher efficiency and occupational safety.
 
Since the modernization, the factory has been working in three shifts. As a result, a new production record was set just a few days after the introduction. Moreover, since the renovation, the plant has achieved high results in external audits for CE mark and the highest product quality among all six Silka plants in Poland.