10 years of the COPA-DATA CEE/ME subsidiary in Poland. Polish Anniversary
The zenon software platform for industrial and energy automation has made COPA-DATA a successful global player in these fields. An important share of the Austrian software manufacturer’s international success comes from Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Of this, a significant contribution is made by COPA-DATA Polska Sp. z o.o., the subsidiary in Kraków, Poland. Established 10 years ago, it enjoys a strong market position and has ambitions of further expansion.
Companies on all continents use the zenon software platform from Salzburg-based Austrian manufacturer COPA-DATA to digitalize and automate machines and plants for discrete and process production as well as power generation and energy distribution. Since 2009, COPA-DATA CEE/ME has been taking care of sales and customer support in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. As Poland is recognized as a regional economic leader within Central Europe, COPA-DATA CEE/ME established its first foreign subsidiary there. Founded in 2010 in Kraków, it celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2020.
Prosperous market with growth potential
“In my market research, Poland proved to be the best choice for our first foreign subsidiary in the region,” says Alexander Punzenberger, co-founder of COPA-DATA and President of COPA-DATA CEE/ME. “The country has been enjoying dynamic growth, investing heavily in energy and infrastructure utilities as well as industrial automation.”
The country’s size and the proximity of its culture also spoke in favor of establishing a subsidiary in Poland. Another consideration was its potential as a bridge to the Baltic countries and the Ukraine. Kraków, the home of COPA-DATA Polska, is the country’s second-largest city and one of the leading centers of Polish academic, economic, cultural and artistic life. The flexible network of airline connections to the most important cities in Europe was also important argument.
Strong market position established
Urszula Bizoń-Żaba, Managing Director of COPA-DATA Polska, is master in chemistry. In next steps she continued her education at MBA studies carried out by the American Central Connecticut University, where she acquired knowledge in the field of modern enterprise and resource management. Presently, she starts working on her PhD dissertation on the role of software systems in industry. From working alone when the subsidiary was founded, Urszula Bizoń-Żaba has grown operations to now lead a team of six and is in charge of the second-largest national market in Central and Eastern Europe, contributing 20 percent of total COPA-DATA CEE/ME revenues.
With the aid of ambitious sales engineer Tomasz Papaj, who joined to COPA-DATA Polska in 2011 and was promoted to the sales and technical director in 2019, COPA-DATA Polska has established a strong competitive position with zenon ranking third among comparable automation and visualization software. The comprehensive, easy-to-use software platform is used to control many of Poland’s power generation and distribution installations as well as leading-brand cement, paper, sweets and beverages as: juice, beer or mineral water production facilities. The COPA-DATA Polska partner network has 23 members in the country. So important is co-operation with technical universities too. Since 2018 one of the biggest technical university in Poland, Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza from Krakow is member of partner network. Result of this co-operation is science laboratory - zenon Energy Lab equipped by zenon licences and modern computers funded by COPA-DATA.
Expanding Presence
“I always firmly believed in the growth potential of COPA-DATA and zenon,” says Urszula Bizoń-Żaba. “The supportive structures and family-like atmosphere within COPA-DATA, with Alexander frequently supporting us in person, made it easier to put my heart and soul into this mission and make it a success.” Over the next 10-year period, COPA-DATA Polska will continue to expand its presence within Poland and beyond and become a leader in the supply of Smart Factory software solutions.
Sadly, owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has all COPA-DATA staff supporting customers from their homes, there will not be any on-site celebrations with guests this year.
source: COPA-DATA