Digital transformation in Polish enterprises still remains a challenge. The barriers to this process are m.in. uncertainty of return on investment in new technologies, or fear of change. During this year’s European Economic Congress, Marek Klusek, Director of the Guarantee, Innovation and Contract Conditions Branch at Budimex SA, talked about how to stimulate the culture of innovation and the best practices of applying Industry 4.0 solutions in companies.
During the 16th edition of one of the largest economic events in Poland, the discussion on the implementation of Industry 4.0 solutions in business was attended by the speaker of Budimex SA – Marek Klusek, and was attended by: Ireneusz Borawski – Country Manager Poland
at Dassault Systèmes, Ilona Garanty – Vice President of mLeasing, Artur Pollak – President of the Management Board of APA Group, Robert Purol – General Manager NB-PL in the VELUX Group and Anna Timofiejczuk – Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Silesian University of Technology.
One of the main topics of discussion was the reasons for the insufficient interest of companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the development and implementation of innovations. According to the data presented during the panel, 44 per cent. of companies in Poland Industry 4.0 is not a priority.
According to the representative of Budimex SA, the construction industry is one of the industries in which the development process of solutions such as automation and robotisation is still at an early stage. At the same time, he pointed out that the existing shortcomings should not be seen as limitations, but as opportunities. At this point, he gave the example of the financial industry in Poland, which, after the arduous process of entering the path of digital transformation, “leapfrogged” many competitors from Western European countries in terms of technology.
Dean Anna Timofiejczuk, sharing the perspective of the academic community, drew attention to the role of experience in convincing people and companies to innovate. The benefits of the actual implementation of advanced solutions by market leaders are presented m.in. through the prism of the Budimex Group.
Marek Klusek, Director of the Guarantee, Innovation and Contract Conditions Branch at Budimex SA, emphasised that the construction site, due to its diversity, is a much more difficult space for implementing new solutions than a production hall. However, he added that Budimex is actively looking for repetitive processes that can be automated and adds a digital component to them. As examples of innovations developed in the company, he pointed to the digital twin technology, used in the construction of the Military Clinical Hospital in Krakow and the so-called “Military Clinical Hospital”. cobots – collaborative robot. He talked about the potential of using the virtual version of the building in employee training in the field of health and safety, as well as the functionalities of the robot created as part of the CONCERT project. He emphasized, m.in, its compatibility with other technologies, the autonomy of movement or the use of AI elements in it, which is often, as he pointed out, mistakenly limited only to language models. Technological processes take time. “The entry of robots into the construction site is a perspective of the next 5-10 years, but it will be progress, not a revolution,” predicted Marek Klusek.
During the discussion, the participants and the moderator repeatedly mentioned the topic of employees – their fears of automation and the degree of preparation for cooperation with new technologies. The panelists drew attention to the need to “open their heads” and change training processes so that they familiarize future employees with innovations.
Marek Klusek also pointed out that digital transformation begins within the organization – from educating the team and inviting them to actively participate in development processes. He talked about how introducing a robot to a construction site, which is able to cooperate with humans and make their work more effective, allows them to convince employees to new solutions. “We are afraid of technology, but in fact it is the fear of what we do not know. Once we include it in our activities, we will see the benefits” – he emphasized. He also assured that in the case of construction, it is not possible to completely replace people: “We absolutely do not seek to eliminate people from construction sites. At Budimex, we are open to all kinds of solutions that appear and that can support the robotisation process. We really want to be the ones who give real support to our employees through the solutions that Industry 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 offer.”
The “Industry 4.0” panel took place during the European Economic Congress in Katowice as part of the thematic path “Digitization
and technologies”.
