Wielton R&D Centre earns prestigious status

Wielton's new R&D facility in the town of Wieluń, some 250km southwest of Warsaw, has been awarded RDC status by Poland’s Ministry of the Economy, meaning it is now an officially recognised research facility that can act much like a university.

The prestigious status – shared with only 34 other businesses in Poland – allows the up-and-coming OEM to access funds from sources such as the National Research and Development Centre and will see it ramp up its research activities dramatically over the course of 2015.

“Our new R&D Centre will be more than just a testing facility, it’ll be a knowledge hub where Poland’s most talented engineers and creative thinkers will be able to come together and push the envelope on modern vehicle design,” commmented CEO Jarosław Szczepek.

“I am envisioning some sort of technology incubator where we get together with suppliers and academics alike to discuss where trailer design is headed. We are already in talks about co-operating with higher education organisations in Poland and abroad to kick-start new R&D projects and add new engineering staff to the team.”

According to Szczepek, an enterprise applying for RDC status should achieve net income from the sale of goods, services and financial operations of at least €1.2m for the previous year, according to the principles set out in the Accountancy Act. A minimum of 20 per cent of this amount should consist of net income from sale of its own R&D work.

The Ministry of the Economy’s decision to grant Wielton RDC status accompanies the company’s international expansion, which has seen it export to Russia, New Caledonia, Italy and France, as well as mutliple African and Asian countries. A recent order will also see 50 trailers and 15 bodies delivered to Turkmenistan by the end of February.

Read more about Wielton's future plans in edition 21 of Global Trailer Magazine, out in May.

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