A three-year investment project at a tyre plant — a comprehensive modernisation of a calender line with a PLN 20M budget, delivered with production kept running, from initiation to closure.
The project concerned one of only two calender lines of this type in the world — a key element of production at a tyre plant belonging to a global manufacturer. The line ran continuously, and stopping it would have meant a shutdown with enormous costs.
The task: carry out a full modernisation — mechanical, electrical and control system — without stopping production for longer than absolutely necessary, within an international project structure requiring daily cooperation with headquarters in other countries.
Production kept running. Every intervention on the line had to be planned to fit into shutdown windows or run in parallel with operations. A coordination error meant downtime costed in tens of thousands.
Corporate and international environment. Decisions, budget and acceptance required daily cooperation with a foreign regulatory department and contractors — in English, within a strict approval structure.
Scale and complexity. Mechanics, electrics, controls, construction works, safety — all in one project, run in parallel with 20+ other investment projects at the plant.
The specialised nature of the calender line meant that key components and competences came from contractors in several countries — Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland. Each worked to its own standards, in its own language and with its own delivery schedule.
The Project Manager's role was to tie this into one working schedule: synchronising deliveries and installation work between suppliers from different countries, so that successive stages did not block each other and the international team worked to a common deadline.
The project team on the plant side numbered 15 people, and at the peak of the modernisation up to 120 people from 9 contractor companies were being coordinated simultaneously.
The project was run under a PMO methodology — with firm control of schedule, budget and risk at every stage. The key was coordination: synchronising mechanical, electrical and construction works so that successive stages did not block each other and fitted into the line's availability windows.
On the organisational side — daily communication with headquarters, raising risks ahead of time instead of firefighting, and negotiations with equipment suppliers and contractors run so that delivery dates genuinely lined up with the work schedule on the line.
The modernisation was carried out in full scope and brought to formal closure within the three-year project horizon. The line — modernised mechanically, electrically and in terms of controls — returned to operation with a new quality control system, compliant with safety requirements and with improved workstation ergonomics.
This project illustrates the kind of work I do well: a large, complex brownfield investment with production kept running, requiring simultaneous control of technology, schedule, budget and communication within an international structure.
Modernisation, a new line, automation — let's talk about what is on your table.
artur@arturwinkowski.pl How I work →