Polish companies are averse to this. "We associate it with burning money."

• The IT head of a large Polish furniture manufacturer talks about the digitalization processes implemented in the company.
• The spread of digitalization (in Germany). "The tycoons impose a set of requirements that all partners must meet. This way, smaller companies are "forced" to modernize... We don't have anything like that," says Mariusz Sobociński, IT Director at Nowy Styl, a leading European manufacturer of furniture for public and office spaces.
• - We do not set ourselves the goal of creating a smart factory, but generally everything we do ensures that processes run "smartly" - says our interlocutor.
• "When you overdo digitalization (and in some cases, it can be overdone), employees start looking for solutions to almost every problem they have in digitalization. Not necessarily because they want to solve a problem, but because, for example, they want to shift responsibility from themselves to the process. We're fighting against that," says Mariusz Sobociński.
• The conversation is part of a series of interviews that will serve as the basis for the report "From Tape to Algorithm. How Digitalization Shapes the Future of Industry," prepared by WNP Economic Trends in connection with the New Industry Forum (Katowice, October 14-15, 2025).

What investments in the field of digitalization and digitization (plus related Industry 4.0 solutions) have you made in the last five years?

We can divide them into two categories. The first is building the entire infrastructure in which these processes run: we've incorporated many cloud solutions from the Microsoft domain.

And the second step: we've moved our entire internal infrastructure to a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, or rather Platform as a Service (PaaS), and it's all localized. We've also implemented containerization (in IT, it's the process of packaging applications—plus libraries and configuration files—into separate, portable units called containers – editor's note).

All of this is complemented by analytics and simulation, which is the layer in which we build - e.g. Digital Twins.

"Today, a furniture production line is operated by just a few people, and the system is responsible for everything else."

What about "front-line solutions"?

We've modernized our automated production lines to meet the definition of Industry 4.0. We've replaced the hardware and the entire MES software (production management system - editor's note) that controls the automated production line. This translates to full automation and robotization of the process.

Today, the furniture production line is operated by just a few people, with the system taking care of everything else. This was a major investment – ​​in one of our factories – so it's a significant undertaking on our scale.

How do you assess the digital maturity of your organization?

"I rate our digital maturity quite highly compared to other manufacturing companies in Poland. We're at the forefront of our industry in Poland, and in Europe, in the furniture sector, we're somewhere around the leaders. We're certainly not lagging behind the leaders in a negative sense..."

What digitalization projects, especially those related to Industry 4.0, are you planning in the coming years?

"In the next year or two, we'll complete a fairly extensive overhaul of our core platform, including the foundations (how our supply chain works, customer service, customer relationship management (CRM), rebuilding the employee communication layer in production, and integration in furniture manufacturing). We're also introducing a TMS (transport management system - editor's note) to improve logistics."

We decided that in order to develop, we need to "reinforce" ourselves a bit...

What criteria dominate when making decisions about such investments?

"It depends on what area we're talking about... If we're talking about customer service, for example, it's about competitiveness. We have to align our standards with market standards or exceed them. Cost reduction is always welcome, but it's a secondary issue."

Who are you collaborating with on digitalization? Are any startups or research centers approaching you?

- Most often, these are supplier companies. We don't work with startups, universities, or research and development centers.

I think there's very little of this kind of activity in Poland from the perspective of universities and research and development centers. Everyone tends to approach this issue with the principle: "Let's learn about what you're doing there," rather than "Listen, we have something innovative, let's do something together."

"In the production hall, most of the workstations have access to a kiosk"

What is the current level and effects of using collected data, especially in production?

"It's quite high for us. We've built a suitable hybrid infrastructure, including cloud and on-premises infrastructure. We're currently processing data primarily in the cloud; we'll try to migrate some of it—the data needed for real-time—to our "internal cloud." This is cost optimization, as cloud computing is quite expensive.

Our infrastructure today is based primarily on Databricks, Microsoft, and Power BI. We've created units: "self-service" teams, so to speak. These are the people who build data, reports, and analytics, located next to the production director. They are the ones who "produce" analytics directly for the specific needs of the operations director. And in most areas—when it comes to factories—this is how we operate. Close communication and understanding are crucial here.

We didn't opt ​​for a model where "central IT" handles such requests because it didn't work in our circumstances. We simply have to sit close together; "swipe right," "swipe left," "skip this," "add this" still work.

As the IT department, we provide data sets and strive to train people in self-service teams. We also have procedures that ensure this data is reliable. This means any operations director can come to us and say, for example, "Listen, this is core to me. I'm afraid these people might leave. I don't have a backup for it, we need to do something about it." Then we add the "IT approved" stamp, and the report is in our central resources. Of course, this report can continue to be developed locally, but from the perspective of central IT, we guarantee its availability even if the person currently creating it leaves.

We don't set out to create a smart factory, but generally everything we do aims to ensure processes run "smart." This isn't an end in itself, but rather a general direction . We want to leverage synergies—meaning, once we collect data, it's worth sending it further and automatically creating interactions. Generally, we design not in single-point increments, but in a harmonized manner. For me, this is a sign of being "smart."

Are you interested in Internet of Things technology?

"We had a few proposals, but honestly, we didn't see a significant return on investment. It would be nice to have it, but equipping every chair with these technologies is expensive. There's also another issue: when we tried to do this with our products, for example, we encountered barriers we couldn't overcome (including powering the chips).

"Digitalization requires some form of standardization. And this is probably the biggest barrier..."

How many resources are being digitized in your country?

Most resources are represented digitally. On the production floor, most workstations have access to a kiosk that provides access to the MES (Manufacturing Execution System - editor's note). Employees can see what they need to do, view design documentation, see what materials they need, or report production, quality defects, material shortages, and so on.

We already mentioned Digital Twins...

"For a furniture factory, we're relatively close to that, although by strict definition, it's not quite there. A twin should allow for the introduction of certain test schemes, meaning virtual production and the entire process. No, we don't have something like that. The cost of production would be very high right now, because these are complex structures that would have to be recreated in the digital world. We do have them implemented in the digital world, of course, but not strictly in the form of a twin."

How do you assess the potential and risks associated with acquiring and exchanging data with B2B partners?

"A difficult topic... We exchange data primarily with customers, suppliers, freight forwarders, and other factories. When it comes to customers, our products are configurable. In B2B, the most common piece of information exchanged when it comes to product definition is the SKU (stock keeping unit; a type of identifier used to manage a given product - editor's note). However, if you have a configurable product, there is no SKU. Therefore, there is no market standard for transmitting this data consistently. And that's a challenge – more market-related than technological. We have some suppliers with whom we can exchange SKUs. And there's no technical or methodological barrier here. But with B2B, there's always some barrier."

They say there are certain standards, but everyone has their own customizations somewhere, these communication maps, and almost every time you have to adjust them. Making sure that "A" for us is "A" for the client. It's a difficult, lengthy process. Sometimes, technological barriers also appear on the client's side. They may not have a system capable of this, that integration layer. But in terms of strategy, we strive for the closest possible integration with clients and suppliers.

But have you seen any progress in this regard in the last few years?

No! I'm hoping that when the National System for E-Invoicing (KSeF) comes into effect (to be implemented in 2026 - editor's note), it will force companies to use it. Then certain standards will be developed.

Nowadays, everyone is really used to having some kind of description on the right side of the invoice... Rebuilding every message just to have it there is a pain.

How are digitization and Industry 4.0 transformations in general impacting management and organizational culture within the company? Have staffing changes been introduced, employee retraining implemented, and transformation leaders appointed?

"There are issues we haven't yet addressed... Digitalization requires some form of standardization. And this is probably the biggest barrier: when something is managed manually or on a point-by-point basis, all optimizations are local, not "global." These limitations need to be reduced and standardized within the company, and this is a long-term process. We haven't finished it yet."

Of course, we're experiencing personnel changes. We're also developing digital leaders , which is all the more necessary given that some people who thrived in the old world are completely at odds with this new one ...

When you overdo digitalization (and in some cases, it can be overdone), employees seek solutions to almost every problem in digitalization . Not necessarily because they want to solve a problem, but because, for example, they want to shift responsibility from themselves to the process. We're fighting against this. We want to create the conditions to digitize 90-95% of the work, but we have to leave that—let's say, 5%—for the "human factor." It's not easy; it's also a matter of organizational culture.

"It is the tycoons who impose a set of requirements that all partners must meet"

Can we talk about companies that are leaders of digital changes in our country?

"It seems to me that there's still not enough of all this in Poland... I like how it's organized in Germany. There, large companies like Bayer, BMW, Volkswagen, Siemens, and Bosch are "pulling" the entire German market."

To trade with Siemens, it doesn't matter what kind of company you are: you have to exchange documents electronically, you have to provide your partners with an electronic product catalog, and you have to provide them with the entire track and release. These giants impose a set of requirements that all partners must meet. This way, smaller companies are "forced" to modernize... We don't have anything like that here.

Large companies across the Oder are doing "large" PoCs (feasibility studies – editor's note) with AI because they can afford it. There, if someone buys 1,000 AI licenses and if 100 of those 1,000 licenses are used, they consider that a good result. But for most Polish companies, this is unattainable, because it's only 10%... And no one yet knows how much of that 10% actually translates into profit for the company. This German mechanism becomes self-perpetuating at a certain point, as knowledge is delivered to the market.

In the Polish market, this is almost impossible... Polish champions are often state-owned companies; their management boards are sensitive to political fluctuations and often do not guarantee project continuity.

To what extent do the digitization of administration and state activities contribute to building a culture of innovation in society and supporting business in Poland today?

When it comes to the digitalization of the public sector, I would argue that we are at a higher level than Germany in this respect (as well as in banking). This, of course, influences the development of innovation, as people have already switched to electronic banking, for example. they are not panicked by applications... This builds digital competences and expectations towards private companies in this area .

How do you assess the level of awareness and protection against cyberattacks in industry? What actions should the government take in this regard?

"I think the situation in Poland is generally not that good. Paradoxically, the fact that some companies are poorly digitalized protects them from cyberattacks.... The second element? It's not necessarily profitable for us in Poland to do this. This isn't the United States or Canada, where the "cyberattack industry" has already developed so much, is profitable, and organized like a business."

At Nowy Styl, we invest heavily in cybersecurity and maintain relatively high standards. The management agrees, recognizing that cyberattacks are dangerous. We have experience with our suppliers and subcontractors who have been subjected to such attacks, not necessarily even in Poland.

It's not a typical SOC (security operation center - editor's note), but we do have a specialist – an architect of the entire security system. We also strive hard (as a leitmotif) to ensure that most of the things we build and everything we produce are rapidly reproducible.

The weakest link in such processes is always the user. That's why we conduct internal testing and then communicate the results either individually to the person who "clicks" or more broadly to the team to build cybersecurity knowledge.

What actions should the state take in this regard?

"A cyberattack is a crime. The only question is how to catch the perpetrators. This is a major challenge for law enforcement."

I think banks are doing a great job, raising awareness about not sharing passwords, not clicking around, etc. That helps. Maybe the government should do something similar, for example, through mObywatel? You can never have too many security tests!

"Most companies in Poland are focused on low-cost production and on remaining a sub-supplier in the supply chain"

What is the main reason for the slow digitalization of Polish companies so far?

- Back when big data was emerging, someone asked me at a conference (I think in Vienna): "Why are you always five years behind in Poland?" I guess that's true...

In our country, very little funding is allocated to innovation. We see this even now with the emergence of artificial intelligence. We will once again lag behind in our country, because this process requires investment, and much of this funding will not yield a direct return...

In Poland, a pragmatic approach prevails: if I don't have a concrete, visible business case, it's difficult for me to make investments. For example, if something has been developed in Austria or Germany, only then can we implement it in our country. I think it's a kind of aversion to innovation... In our country, it's more like burning through money .

It seems to me that most companies in Poland are focused on low-cost production and on remaining a subcontractor in the supply chain. And then they try to count every złoty even more... These companies won't invest such large sums – say, €5 million – with the risk of "maybe someday we'll gain something from something innovative today."

At Nowy Styl, we're trying to use artificial intelligence, and sometimes it looks downright amazing... But I'm keeping it within my budget. It's not a classic investment; it uses opex (current operating costs - editor's note). It's not a huge expense, and it's also difficult to scale, but when I achieve certain results, I'll talk to the management...

We've already talked a bit about this, but what are the reasons for the low use of AI in Poland?

- We have a large area of ​​information noise here: "AI here, AI there, we have it here, we don't have it here"... However, I've seen real statistics from large companies: it doesn't look rosy at all... True, there are, however, a few places in Poland that have managed to do this. It's visible.

To have AI, it's not enough to just have the will and buy a license. You need a reliable digital platform and structured data. You need a significant investment to "get something out" after some time... And in Poland—as I mentioned—there's an aversion to this.

And what would you say about the potential of AI in Polish industry?

"As a matter of fact. I'd add that the term AI has become super trendy, and technologies that I wouldn't call AI have generally been subsumed under it. Machine learning, for example, isn't entirely new, and data mining—these issues appeared as early as SQL 2000. Today, of course, it's a higher level—due to computing power and cloud computing, for example.

When it comes to operations management or logistics, warehouse management, there's a ton of room for optimization. Here, you can see these learning projects that tell you in what order to load, ship, produce, or what not to produce at a given moment, what not to do... Humans are simply unable to comprehend all the data so holistically.

We plan to implement some AI processes here. This involves operational production planning using AI. However, this is where we're facing a clash with reality. As this issue became more pressing, people began to have concerns : how is this planned, is it done well, how will we control it, or perhaps we won't? This is a barrier that simply needs to be overcome. I believe it makes sense.

We're improving our digital platform to have accurate, more reliable data; introducing data governance where it doesn't exist. We're also investing in technologies related to data mining and a business rule engine. We're not yet testing LLMs at the company level, but locally, in isolated conditions.

In my IT department, one of these local tests is related to supporting all software development, configuration management, and large datasets. In this case, we're working with a vendor—IBM's WatsonX. In the case of central IT, we're working with GitHub, with artificial integration that supports coding.

So, when it comes to the scale of investment in AI, where would you rank?

- More like "middle ground." We're trying to do something, but so far, nothing major.

"If someone processes wood, they must say which plot of land the wood comes from"

European or national digitalization megaplans... Is this actually real support? What are the expectations of businesses, or specifically your company, if any?

"There seems to be little faith that these types of documents will translate into tangible benefits for companies. Of course, we have someone in the company who monitors such matters, but... These kinds of strategies didn't really move us forward."

To what extent does the digitalization of the Polish state and production and management processes support the implementation of sustainable development goals (ESG)?

ESG reporting requires tracking, collecting, and reporting additional data. For example, if someone processes wood, they must specify which plot of land the wood came from. Imagine if you were using wood in mass production, how carefully you'd have to track everything to tell a customer in France that the wood in their chair leg came from Slovakia—for example, from plot a, b, or c.

I don't know if this helps anything. But it certainly raises costs and creates barriers. The question is: will we, as Europe, by moving further towards sustainability in this sense, actually achieve sustainability, and will there be anything left to balance? Because we'll cease to be competitive. The Chinese don't care! It seems to me that these are more political than business directions.

Auditing firms like PwC and Deloitte have specialized in ESG implementation and made a business out of it. We have to report on it, so we either buy it from them or start doing it ourselves. But is it having any effect? ​​I have my doubts.