H. Cegielski – Poznań S.A. is a Polish manufacturing company from the city of

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. The company is locally known as ''Ceglorz'', and since 1923 has also used the HCP symbol. After the

fall of communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

, Cegielski became a

joint stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's capital stock, stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their share (finance), shares (certifi ...

. Currently it has several international certificates (

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of international standards for quality management systems. It was developed in March 1987 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ensure that they meet ...

ISO 14001 The ISO 14000 family is a set of international standards for Natural environment, environment management systems. It was developed in March 1996 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ...

). In 1994 it received a Golden Medal during the Poznań International Fair. HCP is part of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA.

History

The company was founded by Hipolit Cegielski in 1846 in

. It grew from a small workshop in the Hotel Bazar to a large factory, first fixing and later building

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

mechanical tools and vehicles,

steam tractor A steam tractor is a tractor powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling. In North America, the term ''steam tractor'' usually refers to a type of agriculture, agricultural tractor powered by a steam engine, used extensively in the l ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s and

railroad car A railroad car, railcar (American English, American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and International Union of Railways, UIC), also called a tra ...

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

s and

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

equipment. In 1869 the company was already producing its own steam engines and had over 300 workers. In 1880 Hipolit's son, , renamed the company to "Factory of Agricultural Machines and Equipment H. Cegielski in Poznań" (''Fabryka Machin i Urządzeń Rolniczych H. Cegielski w Poznaniu''). In 1889 it was transformed from a

family business A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by Consanguinity , blood, marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business a ...

into a

privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

and the name changed to "H. Cegielski Stock Company in Poznań" (''H. Cegielski Towarzystwo Akcyjne w Poznaniu''). The company was constantly growing, employing 490 people in 1917, 990 in 1920 and over 5000 in 1923, although the Great Crisis forced it to downsize and slow production. In the late 1930s the company also branched into producing military equipment (artillery guns and anti-aircraft search lights). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the company was confiscated and turned over to

Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken ''Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft'' (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book diction ...

and Cegielski's factories were used to produce various equipment for the German war machine.

After World War II

After the war, the communist government of the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

, renamed (in 1953) the company to the "Joseph Stalin Metal Works in Poznań" (''Zakłady Metalowe im. Józefa Stalina w Poznaniu'', ''ZISPO''). In 1956 the

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...

which began at Cegielski's factory and several other major factories in Poznań led to the first of massive protests against the communist government, known as the Poznań 1956 protests. After the protests and the resulting political thaw the company regained its original name: H. Cegielski Metal Industry Complex in Poznań, National Enterprise (''Zakłady Przemysłu Metalowego H. Cegielski w Poznaniu, Przedsiębiorstwo Państwowe''). In the 1950s the company also stopped producing steam engines, instead acquiring Western licences for marine engines, e.g. for Sulzer diesel engines as used in the MS ''Mikhail Lermontov''. After the

, Cegielski became a

. Currently it has several international certificates (

). In 1994 it received a Golden Medal during the Poznań International Fair.

Notable projects

HCP PKM-NATO

Poland was a member of the Warsaw Pact when it dissolved in 1991. In the early 1990s, as part of their preparations to join NATO, the Polish armed forces began looking for a replacement for the PK-series machineguns they had in service. Cegielski proposed a prototype (code-named PKM-NATO) that modified the PK/PKS to feed standard 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges and use NATO-standard ammo belts. The modifications included a heavier barrel, a larger chamber, and a redesign of the lock, extractor, and the entire feeding mechanism. The prototype was tested from 1997 to 1999, but was eventually rejected. Instead, the Polish Army adopted the UKM-2000 machine gun - which was also based on the PK.

References

*"Dzieje Poznania" tom 2 cz. 1 i 2; ed. Jerzy Topolski and Lech Trzeciakowski, PWN, Warszawa-Poznań 1994 i 1998 *"Kronika miasta Poznania", "Wilda, dzielnica Poznania 1253-1939", Magdalena Mrugalska - Banaszak, Wydawnictwo Miejskie, Poznań 1999 *"Wielkopolski Słownik Biograficzny" wyd. II, ed. Antoni Gąsiorowski and Jerzy Topolski, PWN, Warszawa-Poznań 1983

External links

Existing steam locomotives built by H. CegielskiEnglish language homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cegielski - Poznan Companies based in Poznań Companies established in 1846 Locomotive manufacturers of Poland Privately held companies Polish brands 1846 establishments in Prussia Engineering companies of Poland Manufacturing companies established in 1846 Companies of the Second Polish Republic Polish Joint-stock companies