History and Development of our Company

KATES was founded in Olsztyn on 11th February 1991 by Jacek Bulski and Jan Grabiński.

The newly established company was primarily concerned with the manufacture of acid resistant steel devices for the food industry. The scope of production was basically individual items, custom-made in accordance with a particular end-user’s specific requirements and needs. The chief products were storage tanks, mixers, tank devices for breweries and manufacturers of household chemicals, as well as works transport tanks for the meat industry. Additional production covered fixtures, often untypical ones, to be installed on our primary products. With the permit of the Office of Technical Inspection (Urząd Dozoru Technicznego) authorizing us to produce pressure devices, new manufacturing opportunities emerged. We developed pressure tanks for the brewing industry, which, along with our previous experience, resulted in the production of a small self-contained brewery, including the technology for and start-up of the plant. Simultaneously, we continued to manufacture equipment for the dairy industry, including crystallizers, process tanks, tanks for cream, etc.

The next stage in the development of the Company was marked by the commencement of the manufacture of tanks and reactors for the pharmaceutical industry, meeting the GMP requirements with OQ and IQ qualification. The Company also produces devices for the food industry complying with the HACCP and ATEX requirements.

The Company Mission is to contribute towards the customers’ success in their respective economic activities through the manufacture of a wide range of investment goods, using modern technological solutions, know-how and human potential.

Our aim is a never-ending journey towards improved quality.

In 1996, KATES moved into its own premises with the area of 2000 square metres. The new seat enabled us to undertake the manufacture of large-sized tanks with capacities exceeding 100,000 litres.

Since 1991, KATES has regularly participated in the International Trade Fair for the Food Industry POLAGRA-Food in Poznań. The trade fair enjoys an established position in the international trade fair market, creating favourable conditions for direct business contacts and providing manufacturers with an opportunity to present their newest achievements.

KATES is ranked among medium-sized enterprises. Owing to its high annual turnover, in 2001 the Company found itself under an obligation to change its legal status from a civil partnership (spółka cywilna) to a registered partnership (spółka jawna). In 2006, KATES was transformed into a limited liability company (spółka z o.o.).

Presently, the Company employs 43 people, cooperates with numerous one-man enterprises and, in periods of an increased demand for human resources, turns to seasonal employment or employee leasing.

In 1998, the Company took part in the contest for the best product of Warmia and Mazury held under the patronage of Olsztyn Voivod and the Deputy Rector of the Academy of Agriculture and Technology in Olsztyn. The series of types of aseptic reactors with a powdered ingredients negative/positive-pressure feeding system, designed and manufactured by KATES, was honoured with the ATUT’98 prize.

In 2000, KATES won the TOP OF WARMIA AND MAZURY prize in the industrial product category for a tubular pasteurizer of its own design and manufacture (KATES is the only producer of tubular pasteurizers in Poland). The MAZUR contest is organized by the Olsztyn School of Business under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland and the Marshal of the Wamińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship. The Company was granted the right to use the Contest Emblem. That fact proves our products to be characterized by high quality, innovativeness and respect for the environmental protection regulations. Thereby, the Company ranks among the economic vanguard of the Warmia and Mazury region.

KATES has been granted membership of the elite KLUB GAZEL BIZNESU (Business Gazelles Club) – a group of the most dynamically developing companies. In 2003, the list contained 1402 companies. In the regional ranking (within the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship), the Company took 8th place. Nationwide, KATES was ranked 286th. Every year, “Puls Biznesu” (Pulse of Business) newspaper holds a ranking of the most dynamically developing small and medium-sized enterprizes – “Gazele Biznesu”. The list results from the cooperation of “Puls Biznesu” and the Coface Intercredit Poland credit reference agency. The ranking is also aimed at promoting those companies whose activity is characterized by honesty and transparency. The 2003 ranking covered only those entities which were not in arrears with payments to their contracting parties, the Revenue Office and ZUS (the National Social Insurance Institution), and which had revealed their complete financial results for the years 2000-2002 showing a financial result surplus and an increase in sales in the period 2000-2002 (the allowed sales volume bracket being 3,000,000 to 300,000,000 PLN).