Week in Words - Poland

Musings, activities and thoughts for the week.

Monday

Normality for a day, teaching technicians on electric and hybrid vehicle technology and how to keep themselves safe whilst working on these vehicles.

These guys are the lifeblood of the vehicle repair industry, a lot of the work they do goes on behind the scenes, is unreported and not very glamorous, but without them we would not be able to get our cars repaired. I salute them every time I visit one of these establishments.

Tuesday

Following a regular chiropractor visit a few hours of admin before jumping in the car to Heathrow for a flight.

The parking experience at Heathrow got me wondering, so many cars all sat stationary for a number of days, what an opportunity for an enterprising business to offer complimentary services for these owners; car wash, detailing, smart repairs and more can all be offered whilst these vehicles are not being used; efficient use of the vehicle keeps everyone happy and productive.

Wednesday

Three car recycling yards in Poland, three diverse operations all working in the same marketplace, all showed the immense investment required for compliant and legal business operations, one yard very conventional, another very modern and the final one a lot of fun - not sure that a drift team is part of normal operations though.

Thursday

Krakow for the 4th annual recycling conference hosted by FORS, the Polish car recycling organisation; hosted in English and Polish with simultaneous translation, FORS attracts delegates from all over the world, plus a large number of senior policy makers and even a member of parliament to the conference and they are not frightened to attack a number of difficult and controversial subjects during the day. So different to what I have seen in the UK in the past 20 years that I have been involved in this industry; we seem to be afraid of confronting our MP’s, policy makers and legislators over issues that are fundamental to our industry and have a significant detrimental impact to our work.

Friday

Catalytic Converter recycler proudly showed the conference delegates around their facility - nothing was off limits including the laboratories and processing plant. Amazing insight into an often overlooked (by the media) process that returns significant value back into the end of life processing, creates no waste, and completes the recycling loop with everything that is removed from the catalyst going back into new products.

Finished off the week with a few hours touring Krakow.