How does the BUDMA Fair support domestic manufacturers in conquering foreign markets? Interview with Impel Group representatives

Impel Group operates in the field of business services. It provides outsourcing for companies and institutions in almost all sectors of the economy. It creates solutions for basic services, such as cleaning, security and technical maintenance of buildings, but also supports clients in handling business processes and provides highly specialized services for industry, using new technologies and proprietary applications to streamline service management processes. Sylwia Krasoń-Kopaniarz, managing director of international development for the Impel Group, and Kamil Wachowicz, commercial director of the construction segment, told us about the Impel Group's development plans related to expansion into neighboring countries and the role they believe the BUDMA fair plays in international relations.

 Photo: Sylwia Krasoń - Kopaniarz - International Development Managing Director

 Photo: Kamil Wachowicz - Sales Director of the Construction Segment

Editor: How do you perceive the role of the BUDMA international trade fair in establishing business relations and company development in foreign markets?

Kamil Wachowicz: For Polish companies, such as Impel, which operate on the domestic market, but also go out to foreign markets, it is a good forum for exchanging experiences and practices. The fair not only shows that certain technologies are being developed in the Polish market and are eagerly applied outside our borders, but also allows us to observe foreign solutions and adapt them to our market.

Editor: With which countries do you cooperate?

Sylwia Krasoń-Kopaniarz: Impel has been active on the Ukrainian, German or Latvian markets for many years. As a Group, we have a much broader experience in large foreign projects, such as in Scandinavian countries, Israel, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan or Lithuania.

The markets where we are present on a daily basis allow us to be part of the economic ecosystem and keep abreast of changing trends. It is worth mentioning that the Impel Group, as a service provider for almost all sectors of the economy, has cross-sectional access to the leading market trends in a given country.

Editor: Can Ukraine be considered a passive market, seen mainly in terms of reconstruction?

Sylwia Krasoń-Kopaniarz: Although the overall Ukrainian market has shrunk sharply, it is still active, and Poland is one of Ukraine's key trading partners. For us, the Ukrainian market is very important and certainly cannot be described as a passive market. First of all, those Polish companies that were already operating there before the war have stayed there, but new entities interested in trade have also appeared, and hence the increase in the balance of exchange between our countries, which is reaching record results. New investors remain in the waiting phase of the recovery, with limited opportunities to operate under wartime conditions. But even these companies do not remain passive - they organize themselves into associations or societies, participate in economic missions, are active at conferences, present themselves at fairs and seek business contacts. It is worth noting that in the reconstruction process the latest solutions and technologies are expected to be used, because Ukraine is to be rebuilt better than it was built for the war, and this is one of the guiding thoughts of the whole process.

Kamil Wachowicz: Companies from other countries are also interested in the new technologies. It is worth mentioning, for example, that recently we have been receiving more and more requests for security services from neighboring countries, from Lithuania and Latvia. And this is a completely different security model than the traditional one related to the operation of security personnel. These are solutions based on analytics and AI, such as our mobile monitoring towers. We aim to provide complete protection to our customers, which in industry jargon is referred to as creating a security ring. For the past six months, we have been manufacturing uninterruptible power supply units, shortening the supply chain. Now, directly from the Impel Group, the customer can buy not only the services we are associated with - such as security, cleaning or technical service, or equipment along with the service, such as mobile monitoring towers, but also finished products - work clothes or uninterruptible power supply units. There is no other company on the Polish market with such a wide range of services as the Impel Group. Partner companies that develop their operations in neighboring countries are accustomed to our solutions and expect them in their new places of operation.

Editor: Can you point to specific investments where we can find Impel Group solutions?

Kamil Wachowicz: Since mid-March, there has been a contract in Lithuania for the protection of wind farm investments, which we are securing with our monitoring towers. We are also in advanced talks in Latvia for securing the construction of a railroad line, which is part of the Trans-European Transport Corridor. The general contractor will be a consortium of three general contractors, and we are in talks to protect this entire section.

Interview Team: To neighboring countries, do you directly implement solutions developed in Poland?

Kamil Wachowicz: Security companies operating in these markets often do not have the solutions and functionalities that Impel Group offers. Practically overnight, we can transfer our solutions and offer services based on advanced technology. At the same time, the implemented systems are effective because they have been tested on thousands of facilities in Poland. An example of the high effectiveness of our solutions are the statistics for one of the largest railroad contracts in Poland. Thanks to the use of a mobile monitoring tower generating voice messages in case of violation of the facility's security zone - 95% of potential perpetrators fled after hearing the warning. There was no destruction or taking of property.

Sylwia Krasoń-Kopaniarz: In the foreign markets where Impel has been operating for years, we are talking about Germany, Ukraine and Latvia, we are implementing solutions in the field of broadly understood business management on an ongoing basis. We are also implementing technological solutions developed on the basis of the Group's many years of experience, in particular those in the area of robotization and automation of processes within the Facility Management services provided.

Editor: And how does BUDMA rank in all this?

Kamil Wachowicz: It is thanks to events such as BUDMA that a technological dialogue takes place. We are after an industry evening to which we invite clients. It's a meeting place with the biggest general contractors with whom we already cooperate or want to start cooperation. We hold discussions and ask about needs. Based on such meetings, our design department prepares appropriate solutions. Often it is at BUDMA that the first acquaintance, the spark for the next project, takes place.

Impel Group is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. We have known each other for a long time with many business partners. And it is here, at the Budma trade fair, that we have the opportunity to talk about something different, something new. And this is coming to fruition.