Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
These are the questions that deal directly with your personal situation
Our absolute priority is to keep the knowledge and skills within the team. Our relaunch is not driven by the machines or the premises, but because we believe in you as the driving force of this company. It is therefore our intention to offer new employment contracts to the vast majority of employees. At the same time, we must be realistic and align the new organizational structure with the available work. It is therefore our joint top priority to sell new projects as soon as possible so that we are able to keep everyone working productively and avoid long-term overcapacity.
Your current employment contract with Schwarte Group will end according to signed agreement Because Gpi Schwarte is a new company, you will be offered a new contract that formalizes your employment relationship with Gpi Schwarte. You will receive personal information about this in the very near future.
No, you are not required to sign the new employment contract. It is a personal choice. Because Gpi Schwarte is a new company, your current employment with Schwarte Processing legally ends. Only when you sign the new contract you do become part of Gpi Schwarte. We naturally hope that you will want to become part of Gpi Schwarte, and we will do our best to make you an attractive and comparable offer. Should you have any doubts or questions, we will be happy to discuss them with you personally.
Our guiding principle is to offer a competitive primary benefits package that is as familiar as possible and closely aligned with what you are accustomed to. Because you are formally employed by a new legal entity, Gpi Schwarte, we will offer you a new employment contract.. Our intention is that your gross monthly salary will remain the same. For your pension, we will set up a new, modern, and competitive pension plan in line with the local market and Gpi’s standards. Other fringe benefits will be aligned with Gpi Group policies, seeking a good balance between the customs at Schwarte and those at Gpi. Full details about your salary, the new pension plan, and other important conditions will be clearly detailed in the personal contract proposal you will receive.
We understand that fringe benefits are an important part of your overall package. As Gpi Schwarte becomes part of the Gpi Group, our goal is to create a fair and consistent benefits package for all employees. However, all accrued vacation, overtime, and other benefits from your current employment contract will not be carried over to Gpi Schwarte. Details regarding any payout or the new accrual policies will be provided in your personal contract proposal.
Once you have signed your new contract, your legal employer is Gpi Schwarte. This is a new, Polish company (Sp. z o.o.) that we created specifically to give Schwarte Processing’s operations a strong and stable future. Gpi Schwarte is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Gpi Group. This means that, in addition to your immediate colleagues in Olsztyn, you will be part of a larger, stable, and growing network of technical professionals.
We are building a new company, Gpi Schwarte, and that means we will carefully design the organizational structure. Our goal is to create a strong, efficient, and successful organization for the future.
We take the knowledge, expertise, and existing team structure of the former Schwarte Processing as our starting point. From there, we look at what adjustments are needed to improve our processes, increase our commercial strength, and deliver the high quality that customers expect.
The intention is always to put the right people in the right place to build a successful future together. Any changes relevant to your position will be discussed with you personally by your future supervisor.
Important question, especially for colleagues in support functions such as HR, finance, or IT. Our philosophy within the Gpi Group is that each of our companies, including the new Gpi Schwarte, needs its own dedicated support team to be successful. These teams are essential to day-to-day operations.
The central Gpi Group organization provides support in the form of specialist knowledge and group-wide systems (such as IT infrastructure, strategic purchasing or financial reporting standards). Their role is to support and facilitate the local teams, not to replace them. The local team at Gpi Schwarte remains responsible for its own success.
Therefore, we do not plan to eliminate staff positions because of overlap. Rather, we see the expertise within Schwarte’s current support staff as crucial to a successful relaunch and future growth. For operational functions in production, there is obviously no overlap.
These questions deal with the direct impact on your work and social environment.
A clear leadership structure is essential for a successful start. We are therefore pleased to announce that Danuta Skrajny will be the Managing Director of the new Gpi Schwarte.
Our starting point is to build on the existing strengths of the team. We have great respect for the current management team, and our intention is to maintain the existing team structure as the foundation for the new organization. In the coming weeks, Danuta, in collaboration with the current management and Gpi Group management, will shape the final organizational structure for Gpi Schwarte. Your direct supervisor in the new structure will be personally confirmed to you once this process is complete, well in advance of your official start date.
Our premise is that the teams will continue to exist in their current composition as much as possible. We have great respect for the way you work together now and see this as one of the great strengths of the organization. We also see areas for development. A concrete example of this is our plan to integrate the sales team more fully into the organization, thereby better connecting with the rest of the organization. In this way, we think we can serve our customers even better.
Of course, an organization is always changing. In the future, teams may grow because of new colleagues, or processes may be improved that benefit us all.
The first focus is on starting up production in Olsztyn. You will see investment in the plant, with the arrival of new machines and the refurbishment of the facilities. The biggest system change in the short term is the change to another ERP system.
Yes, the ERP system will change to RidderIQ for efficient collaboration within the group. Other systems will remain the same as much as possible for now. The move to RidderIQ will be phased, with appropriate training and guidance.
Yes, the Olsztyn location is and will remain the sole and central location for Gpi Schwarte. All production, engineering, and support activities for Gpi Schwarte are carried out here. To clear up any ambiguity: Gpi Group will not continue any production or other business activities at the Valpovo location. The activities of Gpi Schwarte will also not be moved to other existing Gpi plants. Our full focus is on building a strong, successful future for Gpi Schwarte at the Olsztyn location.
You will connect with colleagues from other Gpi units in two ways. First, you will meet colleagues from the Gpi Group. These are specialists from our central organization, for example, in HR, Finance, and IT. They will support the team in Olsztyn and help to smoothly integrate Gpi Schwarte into the group. This may involve larger, overarching projects.
Second, and this is one of the strengths of our group, in some cases you will work directly with colleagues from our other manufacturing companies, such as Gpi Tanks Netherlands or Gpi Tanks Poland.
Primarily, you work for Gpi Schwarte and your focus is on the projects and operations in Olsztyn. In fact, each company within the Gpi Group operates as an independent business unit with its own team and responsibilities.
However, the strength of the Gpi Group is precisely that we can combine our knowledge and production capacity across the different branches for larger or more complex projects. This allows us to better serve international clients and offers more opportunities for all of us. You may therefore find, particularly in roles such as sales, engineering, or project management, that you are involved in an overarching project. For example, as a lead engineer you may design tanks that are made partly in Olsztyn and partly in our plant in Lopik, or as a project manager you may have final responsibility for a delivery with tanks from both Olsztyn and our other Polish plant in Skarbimierz.
Many of our colleagues experience this cooperation as a significant advantage; it makes the work more dynamic and you learn from colleagues at other Gpi companies. However, for most positions, especially in production, the focus will be entirely on the projects in Olsztyn.
Our top priority is to fill the order book for Gpi Schwarte as soon as possible so that we can all work on beautiful, new projects from Olsztyn. We have to be realistic that building this order book takes time.
We are already preparing and have a plan for how we want to handle the first period. To ensure that everyone remains fully and meaningfully employed, we will leverage the strengths of the entire Gpi Group. You may therefore be asked to provide temporary support on projects for our other Gpi companies, always within your area of expertise, of course. For example, an engineer from Olsztyn can support a project in Lopik.
We see this not only as a practical solution to guarantee work for everyone, but also as a great opportunity. It is a way to get to know your new colleagues within the group, learn from each other’s ways of working, and be an immediate part of our company.
These questions are about identity and the new reality.
Gpi Group is a privately held company built by real tank builders. The owners of Gpi Group all started on the shop floor as welders. Therefore, we really are a technical manufacturing company. Our core values are: drive, commitment, expertise, and innovation. In the acquisition of Schwarte’s assets, we may have acted as an investor, but we are not an investment organization and we will not act that way into the future. We are tank builders. We specialize in the engineering and production of stainless steel tanks and process equipment and work for leading customers worldwide. We do this with several companies, each with its own focus and specialty.
Gpi has a direct, informal, and open culture with short lines of communication. We are driven individuals and believe in the power of our people. We think in terms of opportunities and possibilities and solve problems together. We encourage personal initiative and responsibility. We understand that each corporate culture is unique and want to preserve the positive elements of the Schwarte culture.
Gpi Schwarte is a full and strategically important part of the Gpi Group. You are not an isolated entity, but a specialization within the portfolio of companies. We strive for a balance: Gpi Schwarte will operate independently as much as possible, but at the same time be fully integrated into the group to benefit from all advantages. This includes, specifically, support from the international Gpi sales team to secure new orders, top-level marketing, better purchasing conditions from our suppliers, and access to knowledge and innovations from our sister companies. This integration is designed to strengthen you. This integration will take place in phases. We must first refocus where we add the most value: making customers happy by delivering high-quality tanks.
The pride in what Schwarte was in the past, the experience of the team, and the drive to deliver top quality are exactly why we are taking this step. That passion and craftsmanship are the foundation we will build on.
But the answer to the question is no, it won’t be exactly like before. Nor is that the goal. We are starting a new company, Gpi Schwarte, in a new reality. To be successful, we need to combine the strengths of the past with new ideas and processes. As Gpi ourselves, we are also an experienced tank builder, and we will contribute our knowledge and best practices, for example on how to set up production efficiently.
This means things will change, and that will require adjustments from all of us. A process of change and improvement is bound to sometimes produce friction or discussion. This is normal and even healthy when building something new and better together.
The success of Gpi Schwarte depends on our collective will to be open to each other’s ideas, to make clear agreements, and to uphold them. If we show this commitment, together we will build a future even stronger than the past.
The working language within the Gpi Group in international contacts is English. We understand that this may be an adjustment for some and will provide support where necessary.
We will provide regular updates through company-wide update sessions and internal emails. The next step is to provide personal information about your contract. This will be followed by a meeting to introduce the management team and further explain the plans.
In the start-up phase, colleagues from the Gpi Group will be in Olsztyn regularly to support integration. Conversely, visits to other Gpi locations at a later date are certainly encouraged to share knowledge and learn from each other.
These questions are about vision and the larger context.
The vision is clear: Gpi Schwarte is to become the European specialist in high-quality tanks/equipment for the most demanding hygienic markets. We want to return to the sales levels of earlier years, and where possible grow even further. More important than that is the profitability of the organization. Gpi Schwarte must become a stable organization with a healthy profitability. The Gpi Group is not a financial organization but an operational partner with focused resources. As the Gpi Group, we have the expertise to set up our companies in this way, and we are happy to support this.
Primarily, there are no changes in the types of products you are used to build, but we are striving to deepen our expertise in them. We want to do more, but also more efficiently and better. In the end, we have to make sure together that we make beautiful products for leading customers with a good return. To make a flying start, in the initial phase we will transfer projects from the existing order portfolio of other Gpi companies to Gpi Schwarte. We will be looking at projects that are appropriate for this period: technically manageable, so that everyone can familiarize themselves with each other and the restarted processes. Therefore, it may be that the type of project at the beginning will be slightly different in nature from our eventual specialization.
Typical tanks we want to build at Gpi Schwarte are sterile tanks, aseptic tanks, multi-chamber tanks, and other high-quality process and storage tanks. We want to focus on the food, dairy, and pharmaceutical markets.
Investments have been made in most of Schwarte Processing’s machinery. The first phase includes transferring machines from Valpovo and refurbishing the production hall. This will become visible in the coming months.
As mentioned earlier, Gpi is not a financial investor. We, collectively, do not have the financial ability to pre-finance large projects or invest indiscriminately. We have to be thoughtful with the available cash flow and make sure that we achieve solid results at Gpi Schwarte. Our policy is that the operating companies bear financial responsibility themselves. From the profits, we will evaluate whether investments can be made.
Our commitment is to the Olsztyn region. We have an agreement for the current facility for a fixed period of five years, so for the coming years, this will be our home base.
The clear intention for the period after these five years is to move Gpi Schwarte to a new facility. We will use the coming years to find the best possible long-term location.
It is very important to state that we will remain in Olsztyn or its immediate region. We are not moving the company far away. The decision to build Gpi Schwarte here is based on the expertise, craftsmanship, and commitment of the team. The value of this company is its people, and our long-term plan is therefore firmly rooted in this region.
This new facility could be an existing building that we upgrade to our standards, or a completely new-build location designed for optimal production flow. During the current lease period, we will remain in good consultation with HF Group regarding our plans for the future. So, to be clear: we are here to stay and build a long-term future in Olsztyn.
Yes, absolutely. As part of a larger, international group, new career opportunities naturally arise, both within Gpi Schwarte and possibly at other Gpi companies for those who aspire to do so.
We strongly believe in the philosophy of “ownership.” The local management of Gpi Schwarte will be responsible for day-to-day operations and results. Gpi Group is supportive and sets the strategic frameworks, but operational decisions will be made in Olsztyn as much as possible.
As stated earlier, we at Gpi are true tank builders and not investors. We recognize craftsmanship, high quality, and potential when we see it. And that is precisely what we observed and felt in the visits we made and the conversations we had with you. We saw a company that perfectly matched the ambitions we had at Gpi and truly complemented the product portfolio we were already good at building at Gpi. This made it a very valuable addition for Gpi, which we would like to build on together with you.
These questions are about production organization and future operations.
The essential machines for tank production that are now in Valpovo will be moved to Olsztyn in the period around August. This is a major operation in which we will redesign the plant. We will therefore actively involve the production team in the planning and execution of the relocation and reinstallation, to ensure that this goes as smoothly and efficiently as possible and that we are back in operation quickly.
We will not initially use the entire plant, but a substantial part. Within the Gpi production model, the concept of “flow” is very important. This means that we set up the production area so that there is a clear and logical line for materials and products, from start to finish, with as little unnecessary transportation or waiting time as possible. Using the entire area would lead to too many logistical movements and inefficiencies given the relatively lower turnover in the start-up phase.
We will work with two production lines, the small (S) line, in the “pharma hall,” and the tank construction line in the middle and high hall.
This is a good question consistent with how the organization has operated in the past. We know that Schwarte has a tradition of doing many operations in-house, such as turning agitators or making dished ends.
For Gpi Schwarte, however, it is not our intention to invest in the specific machines needed for these additional operations. This is a difference in our operational philosophy. We always work on a project basis and try to reduce intermediate stocks whenever possible. Within the Gpi Group, we work extensively with a network of specialized suppliers who deliver parts “just-in-time.” We have strong, long-term relationships and good agreements with these partners, which gives us flexibility and efficiency. The machines we are now taking over are focused on our core business: building and finishing the tank itself.
That said, this is an area where we can certainly learn from each other. We are always open to improvement. In the future, we will review together whether it would be beneficial to do these operations again, especially given the Gpi Group’s economies of scale. However, for now, the focus is on an efficient start and achieving returns, so we will use our network of suppliers for these specific operations.
In the start-up phase, we will probably start in a day shift to get the processes right and rebuild the team. As the order book grows, we will scale up production capacity. If and when we move to shifts will depend on the growth in demand for our products.
No major structural remodeling of the production area is planned. However, we do want to refresh the workplace and create an environment appropriate for a fresh start. This includes thoroughly cleaning the halls and repainting the walls, for example, to create a clean, bright, and safe working environment.
Yes, the intention is to continue to build the high-quality and complex tanks that Schwarte is known for. Your specialty is the core of Gpi Schwarte. We do have to distinguish between the start-up phase and our long-term goal.
In the start-up phase, our first priority is to get production in Olsztyn up and running quickly and efficiently. To achieve this, we will assign projects from the existing Gpi order portfolio for production in Olsztyn. These may be somewhat different types of tanks than you are used to. These projects will help us master the new processes and plant set-up and ensure that everyone has meaningful work immediately.
With the name Gpi Schwarte, we combine the best of both worlds. ‘Gpi’ stands for a solid, international group with years of experience in stainless steel tank construction. ‘Schwarte’ stands for craftsmanship, quality, and a rich history in Olsztyn. In this way, we remain recognizable for existing customers and suppliers, while at the same time making it clear that we are part of a strong, stable, and growing group.
Gpi Schwarte is getting a fresh, modern look that is clearly part of the Gpi Group. This means you will soon see us with the Gpi logo and in a recognizable, uniform corporate identity. This includes work clothes, documentation, email signatures, company vehicles, and other means of communication. By acting as one group, we strengthen each other’s professional image and ensure clarity towards clients and other relations.
The old Schwarte graphics are being phased out. We understand that this is a change and that the Schwarte logo is a familiar image to many. At the same time, we believe that a strong and unified visual identity helps to position Gpi Schwarte as a reliable and professional entity in the market. We will do this carefully and with respect for the past, informing you of the transition and the necessary resources in a timely manner.
Within Gpi, we value quality, craftsmanship, and appearance. A consistent and professional house style ensures that clients, suppliers, and other relations immediately recognize that they are working with a Gpi company. It strengthens our common brand and inspires confidence. Whether you work in Olsztyn, Lopik or Skarbimierz, together we show what Gpi stands for.
