A Recipe For Development In The Food & Beverages Industry

Sławomir Kluszczyński, Chief Operating Officer, LOTTE Wedel

A Vision for our Organisation

People Who Say No to the Status Quo 

The management of manufacturing teams has always had its challenges; and these days we may talk about an array of simultaneous challenges. Indeed, managers are having to deal with the realities of VUCA, which is Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. However, clear focus will always lay the groundwork for the paths that should be followed. Ideas such as ‘Keep it simple’ or ‘Less is more’ are concepts known to work in business; and for certain the imperatives of Agility and Flexibility must also be embedded in our adaptive planning.

Being all about productive teamwork, we at Lotte Wedel have always looked to challenge the status quo at every level of our organisation.

This is part of our culture, endorsed by our winning of the 2022 Award of Top Employer. The pride of being part of such a team can inspire both our co-workers and those who would like to join us.         

The keys to a successful organisation are employee trust and a work environment where leaders lead by example; where they possess digital skills, and retain an ability to change and develop. And perhaps most importantly, where they always uphold the values of the company.

Impact and Development Perspective 

Global players or market segment leaders have the advantage of attracting talent. However, other companies are not in an unfavourable position.

They can also offer their employees scope, flexibility, dynamism, and direct appreciation and praise. This is what the young generation need and expect; and these expectations have also filtered upwards. After all, a career is not simply about promotion but about being part of a rewarding and impactful experience.

Let me speak now about our ambitious targets. No company can attract talent being satisfied with past achievements or mediocre results. Only by setting smart and brave goals… goals that are unique and challenging to achieve, can teams hone their potential and deliver results.          

People will always follow leaders who inspire; and this is because people like to be a part of a success story. And our success story stretches back all of 170 years. It is an exceptional brand, one that had a celebrated history. Lotte Wedel is highly respected, and enjoys market esteem.

Technology

Today we can be proud of our enlarged plant, located on 7 floors, with a state-of-the-art high bay warehouse; with automatically driven racks carrying 320 tons of materials each. We also have a central palletizing unit carrying finished cartons, conveyed directly to the drop area where Fanuc robots prepare pallets for dispatch. Not only that, but we can boast automatized and digitised production lines, equipped with continuous flow machines of high outputs; not to mention magnetic drives and high-tech laboratories.

"Being all about productive teamwork, we at Lotte Wedel have always looked to challenge the status quo at every level of our organisation"

We have overseen the introduction of autonomous forklifts; and our factory logistic operations will soon be working at peak efficiency. Our teams are proud to be able to contend with complexity, and deliver service to our customers with the finest products. These achievements have been underpinned by an industry-leading IT solution based on the IBM ILOGalgorithm.

The beating heart of our innovation is R&D. In recent times, for example, we have perfected a frozen cone technology which makes Easter and Christmas chocolate figures and fancy pralines for our PijalniaCzekolady (our chocolate venues) – these boutique products are to be found in 30 premises throughout Poland.  

Digitalization has yet to implemented, but we are piloting a number of projects; our goal being not to follow technology slavishly, but to tailor it to our needs.

Everything we endeavour to do and achieve is based on the idea of continuous improvement. The Kaizen management system is a part of our DNA. We assign a fixed time each week for going through a kaizen check-list in order to assess quality, safety, ergonomics, efficiency and process. This approach helps us to harness a standardised work pattern which bolstersboth efficiency and performance. As a supplementary incentive, we also have a monthly award system for the best implemented ideas.

Even though we look to harness modernity, we still cherish tradition; and a number of our products, such as TorcikWedlowski, continue to be made in a way that honours both the traditions and novel innovations of our 170-year-old company.

The ideas spoken of here encapsulate what we perceive as the Lotte Wedel way. It is a way that looks to forge a shared future for both our Customers and our Employees.