“20 years – that sounds proud. 2019 is a special year in the history of our company – two decades ago the founding act of the Polish branch of the company was signed in the notary’s office. Two decades of activity are hundreds of stories and anecdotes to tell, dozens of successful collaborations and one main character – Metroplan Polska.
The history of the company is strongly connected with the economic changes in Poland in the years 1989-1999. The political changes, liberation of enterprises from the fetters of the centrally controlled economy allowed to develop the entrepreneurship of Poles, but also a wider opening of the Polish economy to external markets.
The end of the 20th century was fruitful for many companies and investments. The Hamburg branch of Metroplan looked closely at the situation in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland. The long-term client of company, Wabco, the automotive industry manufacturer, was looking for new regions for its investments.
Metroplan uses its proprietary methodology for surveying areas with undiscovered economic potential – internally called “hidden champions” – discovered over a dozen such regions in Poland. One of them was Wrocław, where Wabco company directed its steps – locating a production plant.
Metroplan’s search for hidden champions has guided and continues to follow a number of principles, including investment attractiveness and an absorbent labour market, but also the prospects for the future of the region – thanks to in-depth analysis carried out in accordance with an in-house methodology, it has been able to provide its customers with long-term success. This is what happened with Wabco. One of the first hidden champions drew the attention of the other clients in the company’s portfolio, who asked for regional analysis for their investment plans. The area of Lower Silesia is full of promising economic regions – one of them is Legnica and the surrounding Legnica County. Metroplan’s recommendations contributed to the creation of new investments of such companies as Voss, Faist or Oetiker. The result of this was a significant development of the company and the number of investments in Poland. The inflow of foreign direct investments on behalf of Metroplan’s customers significantly influenced the development of entire regions.
Despite the passage of years and the gradual saturation of the Polish market and economy, Metroplan was able to search for new undiscovered regions with economic potential. An ideal example is the city of Nowa Ruda, which has been the site of Umicore’s investment since 2014. The investor has located its production plant in the city, 5 years after the start of the investment, it is at the stage of completion of the next stage of development and plans the next one. Such bold actions and effects were noticed by other customers of Metroplan, who, using the experience of a pioneer in the region, also decided to locate their capital in the area of hidden champion – Morat Swoboda and Morat Swoboda Motion. In 2019, they are completing the first stages of their investment in the region.
Following the spirit of the times and comprehensive customer care have always been the driving force behind our company. For several years now, there has been considerable interest in topics such as Industry 4.0, Big Data, or the automation of production plants or warehouses. Metroplan actively develops its skills and knowledge in order to offer its customers the best services and to protect them from dead ends or excessive costs – as early as during the feasibility study.
The flexibility of the Metropolitan Plan is the answer to the needs of our customers. The range of our services is growing gradually, so we remain a leader in professional services – in the jubilee year, we were again appreciated by the “Professional Service Provider” award presented by CEE Manufacturing & Logistics Awards, beating more than 120 competitors.
The last 20 years have been a great experience of our team, dozens of successfully completed investments, as well as thousands of conversations with our customers – about their plans and dreams. We are proud to have been able to work with so many companies to deliver the best possible solutions. We look to the future with courage because it is clearly drawn.”
