Founded in 1989, WIŚNIOWSKI has earned its prime market position by focusing on the combination of innovative technologies, unrivalled durability, and excellent design. The company today employs over 2,000 people in its three modern factories, manufacturing garage doors, gates, windows, doors, and fencing systems and, most recently, joinery, supplied to European markets.
Managing Director of Product Development Marcin Strzelec explains that the company continues to be fully owned by Mr Andrzej Wiśniowski, its founder, with no foreign capital involvement, which has been one of the factors that has allowed the business to remain flexible and grow to its market-leading position.
“The founder introduced the first remotely controlled garage doors, made in his own garage, to Poland in the 1990s. Garage doors continue to be our core business, accounting for more than 40% of annual turnover. The second largest pillar is our fencing systems, at almost 40%, and the rest is represented by our latest product range – joinery, comprising steel, aluminium, and, most recently, PVC windows and doors. Our objective is to have the business stand on these three stable pillars that offer our customers a comprehensive product range for the entire property.”
Having established a dominant position on home soil, the company is now intensifying efforts to increase its exports. Its garage doors, windows, doors, and fencing systems are already available in key European markets, including France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Austria, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland and a further enhanced presence is anticipated.
Modern business
The company is celebrating its 35th anniversary as a modern business. “Modernity” is reflected not only in its innovative and constantly evolving offering, but in the business itself, with its forward-looking philosophy.
“One of the factors that have helped us to grow over the years is being a fully-fledged manufacturer, not just an assembler, as most of our competitors are. We have the whole process under control, from receipt of raw materials to final delivery to the customer, and make not only most of the parts, but also most of our production lines in-house. This makes us highly flexible, so that we can accommodate new trends and market developments and provide consistent high quality.”
“We have state-of-the-art production lines for manufacturing various components, including the first production line in Poland for sectional garage door panels, later complemented with the addition of another. Our fencing system capability includes all the processes from welding and galvanising through to painting and final testing. This enables us to tailor the production to our customers’ expectations, down to the smallest detail.”
The company completed the largest investment in its history in 2021 when it opened the doors to its new factory worth nearly 100 million euros which almost doubled the covered production area to 270,000 m2 on a 400,000 m2 site. “The investment will allow us to triple production over the next few years, if needed,” says Strzelec. “We also built a new office building and new infrastructure to connect the factory to the national road network.”
He further affirms that WIŚNIOWSKI’s innovative thinking is reflected in the very design of the products, as well as its marketing, communications, the headquarters offices, and its 2,000 m2 showroom. “We want to be perceived as a modern company offering a comprehensive product range of the best quality and unique design. In other words, a one-stop-shop for the entire property for our end users, both private and industrial, and our B2B partners. This comprehensive offering is our main differentiator.”
Sustainable investment
Recent years have been the most challenging time in WIŚNIOWSKI’s operations, admits Strzelec. “We have faced inflation, rising costs of construction materials, disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, disrupted supply chains, increased energy prices, and more. In these circumstances, the advantage goes to manufacturers able to effectively adapt to the new reality.”
And that can certainly be said of WIŚNIOWSKI. Needless to say, its products fit very well into one of Europe’s key objectives – environmentally sustainable development. “The implementation of the European Green Deal assumes 7.5 million thermal efficiency improvements between 2021 and 2050. This can only be achieved by expanding the existing and introducing new programmes that would help to fund the required improvements and introduce breakthrough material technology and products.”
“We are ready to face these changes – our product range includes, for example, the super-insulated UniTherm and PRIME garage doors, which have excellent insulation properties, and the triple-glazed version of our PRIMO 82 windows, which are 36% warmer than the double-glazed ones. We educate our customers on thermal efficiency improvement and ecology and promote products dedicated for passive and energy-efficient buildings.”
The company’s pro-environmental activities are not only focused on offering innovative and warm products. In 2023, WIŚNIOWSKI started to produce its own energy from renewable sources. Its photovoltaic installation covering an area of 8,000 square metres with a capacity of over 1 MW meets almost 20% of the plant’s daily electricity demand.
Right place, right time
With its state-of-the-art facilities and attractive portfolio, the company has a clear vision for the future. Expanding its product range, WIŚNIOWSKI will focus on solutions tailored to customers’ current needs. In response to the growing e-commerce market, the company is developing an online store, including B2B dealers to handle orders and leads. This will allow customers to purchase garage doors, gates, windows, doors, and fences without leaving home.
The key focus, however, will be on increasing the volume sold to export markets, currently at 40% of total output. “While continuing growth in the domestic market, we are aiming to achieve 60% of our sales outside Poland. To this end, we actively seek to recruit new sales representatives in export markets, while looking for new opportunities and planning to open new subsidiaries abroad,” says Strzelec.
He reflects that the WIŚNIOWSKI brand has enormous growth potential. “Poland is already one of the leaders in global exports of building joinery. According to the ‘Window and Door Joinery Market in Poland’ report, prepared by ASM Research Solution Strategy and commissioned by the Polish Windows and Doors Association, since 2023, Poland has ranked first in the export of windows and doors among European countries and second globally, close behind China.”
According to some studies, Polish exports of windows and doors are estimated to be worth €3 billion in the next few years, and the company is clearly set to participate in these developments. WIŚNIOWSKI seems to be at the right place at the right time.
