This economic sector bordering the machine industry and plastic processing industry is closely related with both. Those who have contacts with the sector know how economically significant it is in Poland and in Europe and yet it was subjected to no analytical studies, whereas studies regarding the machine sector or polymer processing industry did not take its role and potential into consideration. One of the reasons stems from the fact that moulding services do not belong to a single definition, do not constitute national smart specialisation, and no single PKD code (Polish Classification of Activities) involves this sector on its own. This is the reason why conducting the analysis of the sector was a particularly difficult and time-consuming task.

While approaching the research we were full of uncertainty over the final result and what challenges we were yet to face, given how difficult
the pandemic situation has been to business activities overall. We then encountered yet another problem – the universal aversion of Polish entrepreneurs to filling out questionnaires. One of the reasons of that was the adopted company policies, another, even more common, was the lack of time caused by heavy workload, which although it is a positive sign regarding the sector, it provided a significant obstacle to our
research. It was also puzzling that we were not able to contact some of the companies in spite of numerous attempts on our part.

Moulding industry is a highly specialised and exceptionally innovative industry sector which is critical to the development of many other sectors. Given how complex the tools for plastic processing can be, as is the case with other industry sectors such as construction or automotive
industries, many workplaces involve tool design and development activities. In order for it to become a final product, it requires an entire chain of relationships – suppliers of steel, standardised parts, software, various machinery, systems and many others, as well as the knowledge of properties of plastics, their flow characteristics within mould injection channels and much more other data, all requiring extensive experience.

Among economies such as Germany or Portugal, Poland is a domineering European producer of tools for processing of plastics used
in many sectors, automotive, construction, packaging, home appliances, electronics, medical and many others. None of these sectors could function without high quality tools. The only national organisation bringing togetherand representing the moulding industry is Bydgoszcz Industrial Cluster (BIC) which undertook this particularly challenging task of assessing the condition of Polish tool industry. Since 2006, the Cluster is an organisation that supports companies in the sector by providing assistance in promotion, international cooperation, education, research & development, as well as conducts a series of integration activities.

You can consult the results of completed research further in this document. They are partially in alignment with the “common knowledge” of the participants of the industry but some of the results are surprising – both positively and negatively.