Implementation of strategic goals in the area of innovation and research and development is coordinated by Investments, Research and Development Department. The Department is to coordinate and supervise the activities aiming at development and implementation of innovative products and technologies and optimization of costs related to the existing production processes. The Department coordinates also the process of obtaining and settling the aid funds for the projects related to the Group operations.
The main areas of activity of the Investment, Research and Development Department headed by Tadeusz Stokłosa are:
Innovation, Research and Development
CIECH Chemical Group has concluded long-term framework cooperation agreements in the area of implementation of innovation and research and development projects with five largest research and development centres and seven universities with large scientific and research potential which specialize in the areas convergent with the operations of Group production companies.
- Institute of Heavy Organic Synthesis „Blachownia” - Kędzierzyn
- Fertilizers Institute – Puławy
- Instytut Chemii Przemysłowej – Warszawa
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry – Gliwice
- Institute of Organic Industry – Warszawa
- University of Technology and Nature in Bydgoszcz
- Poznań University of Technology
- Wrocław University of Technology
- Warsaw University of Technology
- West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin
- Rzeszów University of Technology
- Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
The frame agreements are one of the activities which aim at closer cooperation between science and industry. They indicate possible common areas of research and innovation as well as define precisely the scope of cooperation in the area of teaching. On the basis of those agreements, the institutes and universities implement concrete research projects which can have a key significance for the technological development and new products at companies.
Capital investment
The Investment, Research and Development Department performs actions aiming at implementation of a system of review and evaluation of capital investment projects effected at the Group companies for compliance with the Group strategy goals and market profitability of individual projects. The implementation of projects included in the investment plan is continuously monitored in terms of finance and performance.
Cost optimization
Ciech Chemical Group has taken actions to optimize the OPEX. Presently, such actions are carried out in two areas:
- Energy costs optimization
The goal of the projects is to reduce the costs of energy purchased by the Group companies by using the potential of the TPA system. The Ciech Group companies have performed a necessary modernization of measuring instruments. From 2010, the electric energy purchase will be consolidated on the Group level. This will the annual saving in excess of PLN 10 million. Presently, actions are being taken for further cost optimization in this area.
- Optimization of current maintenance and repairs costs
The goal of the project is to optimize the costs of current maintenance and repairs by introducing uniform management rules in this area on the Ciech Group level. Preliminary analyses indicate that savings in this area may exceed 20%.