Polish industry was on a roll, and things could get even better.

• Polish industry has achieved a high level of automation and digitization - said the participants of the debate "Production management - new challenges" at the New Industry Forum in Katowice .
• They added that Polish technical universities are developing new competences.
• Astor and Kawasaki Heavy Industries have signed a cooperation agreement. "Until now, Polish companies have been purchasing robots from Japan, but now the situation has reversed," noted Adam Pajda, director of the Intralogistics Business Line at Astor, who participated in the discussion.

"We're in a world of different speeds when it comes to implementing Industry 4.0. We live in a world of uncertainty, where predicting the future is difficult. The biggest innovators are several industries. The most advanced industry in terms of automation and digitization is automotive. Second comes the electronics sector, and third comes life science, or medtech. These are the most advanced industries in terms of information collection, production efficiency, and effectiveness," said Grzegorz Szydełko, CEO of Nextomation , participating in the "Production Management - New Challenges" session at the New Industry Forum in Katowice .

Poland was on a roll when it came to the development of production

He emphasized that the development of automation and digitization entails the need for investment and long-term thinking.

In his opinion, in Poland the production area has been developing very well in recent years, we were on a super wave.

"The varying speeds of implementing innovative solutions are due, among other things, to resources and long-term contracts, but this isn't just the domain of large entities; smaller and medium-sized companies are also doing a lot in this regard. We are a super innovative country, we have great engineers. We are investing heavily in science, increasing the speed of building IT skills combined with automation and digitization. It's heartwarming to see well-equipped laboratories at universities; we are seeing breakthroughs there," said Grzegorz Szydełko.

There is criticism that soft skills are not taught at technical universities.

"However, much more is being done in this regard now compared to what was done in the past. Technical universities must compete with each other and offer new courses to attract students," explained Anna Timofiejczuk from the Department of Machine Design Fundamentals at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology .

She emphasized that the Silesian University of Technology offers, among other things, dual studies, where studying at the university is combined with studying in companies cooperating with the university.

The crisis must be used for positive changes

"We all know the macroeconomic environment, but for us, the glass is always half full. We're using the crisis to make positive changes," emphasized Adam Pajda, Director of the Intralogistics Business Line at Astor .

He announced that during the Polish-Japanese Investment Forum 2025, which took place in Osaka in October, Astor and Kawasaki Heavy Industries concluded an agreement on the development and commercialization of the Astorino educational robot , invented by Astor.

He noted that until now, Polish companies were purchasing robots from Japan, but now the situation is reversed.

- This is a change that requires openness and courage - emphasized Adam Pajda.

Astorino is a six-axis educational robot that utilizes 3D printing technology with a special carbon fiber, allowing users to print replacement parts using STL files in the event of component failure. It also supports programming in AS programming language, the same language used in Kawasaki robots.

Astorino supports the educational process at Polish technical universities and technical colleges, enabling students to acquire practical skills and prepare for employment. Thanks to its collaboration with Kawasaki, the robot has the potential to enter the international market, including Japan.