History of Świt

History of S.I. ŚWIT

Chronologically

October 15, 1944 - a group of 15 people, including handicapped war veterans, establishes in Warsaw at 27a Siedlecka street a manufacturing cooperative Spółdzielnia Wytwórców "Świt" with initial capital of 5 thousand zlotys of the time.

October 1944 - the first product of the Cooperative is tooth cleaning powder: ground and sifted chalk mixed with a little mint oil .

November 23, 1944 - the Cooperative receives permission for legal activity from the Department of Industry of the Board of the Capital city of Warsaw; its office is established in the premises at 45/47 Grodzieńska street.

Turn of 1944/45 - acquisition of ruined buildings of former Zylberman’s soap factory and expansion of production to include the following products: soap, face powder, baby powder, shoe polish and floor polish (packed into emptied preserve boxes).

January 1945 - number of employees of the Cooperative: 16 people, including 12 handicapped persons.

Years 1944-1949 (the first five-year period) - manufacturing activity in three spheres: perfume-cosmetics, chemicals and mortars, and polishes for shoes and floors.

Years 1944-1958 - the Cooperative possesses manufacturing plants in many places of Warsaw, produces various products, often in very primitive conditions, including on Grodzieńska street – soaps and wooden lasts, on Grzybowska street - inks, on Stalowa street – cosmetics, on Zachariasza street – plastic products. In other places of the city, various services were performed: on Radzymińska street – bottling of vinegar and varnishes, on Filtrowa street – compressing saccharine into tablets, and on Solec street – aroma synthetics were manufactured for key industry .

April 1946 - the Cooperative was included among the members of Centrala Gospodarcza "Spółdzielni Pracy Wytwórczej" (Economic Association of Manufacturing Cooperatives) with one share .

June 1949 - change of name to: cooperative of disabled workers Spółdzielnia Inwalidów "Świt".

July 1949 - the Cooperative becomes a member of Centrala Spółdzielni Inwalidów (Central Administration of Cooperatives of the Handicapped)

Early 50s - the Cooperative manufactures: tooth powder, soaps, perfumed waters, powders, polishes for floors and shoes, inks, cosmetics, aroma synthetics, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride products, bakelite caps, stabilizers and plasticizers for plastics; performs services for other manufacturers in cooperation: compressing saccharine into tablets, bottling oil and vinegar, packaging chemical products, bottling paints and varnishes.

1958-1961 - removal to a modern, proprietary industrial-office building, erected with own funds of the Cooperative, in the Służewiec Przemysłowy district, at 1 Taśmowa street. Total area of the premises amounted to over 11 thousand square meters.

End of the 50s - resignation from compressing saccharine into tablets and bottling paints and varnishes.

1960 - employment by Cooperative of handicapped persons with mental disorders, for the first time in Poland on such a large scale; gradual adaptation of the entire facility for this experimental and very difficult task – adaptation of its organization and production and activity in the scope of rehabilitation.

1960 - removal of 52 members of the Cooperative to their own apartments in company blocks on Bogunki street.

December 1960 - number of employees of the Cooperative: 384 persons, including 294 handicapped persons.

December 1963 - number of employees of the Cooperative; 623 persons, including 474 handicapped persons.

1966-1967 - very large changes in the Cooperative’s manufacturing profile; liquidation of organic synthesis, discontinuance of production of plasticizers and stabilizers of plastic masses, production of polishes and plastic products, obtained by injection and vacuum molding processes.

As of January 1968 - the Cooperative runs three developing manufacturing divisions: plastic pressure welded products, soap and cosmetic products.

December 1969 - number of employees of the Cooperative: 793 persons, including 604 handicapped persons.

1971-1976 - production of subassemblies for television sets and tape recorders in cooperation with Warszawskie Zakłady Telewizyjne (Warsaw Television Plant) and Zakłady Radiowe im. M. Kasprzaka (M. Kasprzak Radio Plant).

First half of the 70s - discontinuance of production of soaps.

Turn of 1976/77 - commencement of production of very precise and ecological atomizers and dosage pumps – as the first and only manufacturers in Poland; the structure and technology of production of the pumps was the work of the Cooperative’s engineering-technical staff.

1978 - establishment of a proprietary plant in Myszyniec in Kurpie, which took over production of pressure welded plastic products (as of 1.I.1982 an independent Cooperative of Handicapped Persons).

Turn of 1980/1981 - setting up of proprietary, specialized technical-construction back-up facilities December 1981 - number of employees of the Cooperative: 905 persons, including 649 handicapped persons.

As of 1984 - the chief profile of activity of the Cooperative is production of cosmetics and household chemical products, and ecological atomizers and dosage pumps.

1989-1991 - big crisis in the Polish cosmetic industry, caused by the collapse of the eastern market and mass import of Western cosmetics; it affected the Cooperative with a double impact: sales of its products fell violently and it lost many domestic buyers of the atomizers.

1991 - number of employees of the Cooperative: 1240 persons, including 892 handicapped persons.

February 1991 - signing of a contract with the German manufacturer of para-pharmaceuticals SEBAPHARMA GmbH for production of natural, compliant with requirements of medicine, cosmetics of the "Sebamed" series.

September 1994 - establishment in Kaliningrad of the Limited Liability Company "Świt", operating on the eastern market on behalf of the Cooperative (suspension of its activity in 1998 in connection with the crisis in Russia).

December 1997 - number of employees of the Cooperative: 552 persons, including 401 handicapped persons.

September 1999 - establishment of the ŚWIT-FARMA company in Malbork, performing production and export tasks of the Cooperative, particularly on the eastern markets.

December 1999 - launching of production of single- and multi-layer polyethylene tubes (securing against permeability to and form the inside of the tube of such factors as: oxygen, water vapor, and other gases, aromas, fats, solvents) – convenient packages for cosmetic products, para-pharmaceuticals, groceries, household and industrial chemical products.

August 1, 2001 - the Cooperative received a Quality System Certificate no. 8/SZJ/2001, confirming satisfaction of the requirements of the PN-ISO 9002:1996 standard in the scope of: manufacturing of perfume, cosmetic, and household chemical products, and also plastics processing.

January 2002 - number of employees of the Cooperative: 476 persons, including 293 handicapped persons.

May 2005 – S.I.SWIT attends World Private Label trade fairs in Amsterdam.

8-11 November 2005 - S.I. Świt has represented our offer on the exhibitions in Rumunia.

Since July 2005 - S.I. Świt has opened the company's shop. It is open Monday-Thuesday at 7am - 7pm

September 2005 – S.I.SWIT runs sales through its internet website www.sklep.swit.com.pl

Since October 2006 - S.I. Świt is making an advertisement campany of our products in the magasines and web site www.onet.pl

30-31 May 2006 - S.I. Świt has participated in the exhibitions in Amsterdam.

11 - 12 2006 - We have the the television advertisement.

Awards and Distinctions

March 1992 - gold medal of the Poznań Fair in the "Best Product " category for the body moisturizing cosmetic series Sebamed.

September 1992 - gold medal of the Poznań Fair in the " Best Product " category for the F+S Sebamed cosmetic series.

March 1993 - gold medal of the Poznań Fair in the " Best Product " category for the series of Sebamed cosmetics for body hygiene.

June 1996 - distinction of the Polish-Lithuanian Economic Chamber at the III International Augustów Fair for "Attractive Fair Offer".

March 1997 - distinction at the II Polish Industry Presentation POLEXPORT VILNIUS 97 "For the most interesting fair offer ".

November 1997 - distinction at the International Fair "East" in Białystok "For interesting fair offer".

October 1997 - distinction with the "Blue Ribbon of the Niemno River" at the IV International Kaunas Fair POLEXPORT KAUNAS 97 in the "Best Product" category for the "Exclusive" cosmetics series.

November 1997 - Cup of the II Commodity Exchange of Protected Labor Facilities in Łódź "For quality and modernity" for high healthcare level of the anti-acne series "ACNE LINE".

May 1998 - diploma of recognition at the VIII Baltic Fair of Protected Labor Facilities in Gdynia for the series of cosmetics for sensitive skin "Tolerance".

May 1998 - distinction of the "OPRACH" Fair Chorzów 98 for a series of regenerating-moisturizing cosmetics.

March 2002 - Cup of the Chairman of the PFRON at the "Promocja 2002" Fair in Warsaw in the "Best Product" for the modernized "Exclusive" cosmetics series.