The historical events occurring at the end of the 1980s and at the beginning of the 1990s were important for both our country and the Central and Eastern European countries. As it is known, they led to significant political changes and – as a result – to bold economic initiatives based on the natural basis of private property. As a result, new opportunities to introduce modern Western technologies into the markets of free countries emerged. And that was when ANTICOR was established. The company was founded in November 1991. The founders’ intention was to specialise in the anti-corrosion protection and to become a pioneer in the new multi-layered self-adhesive coating technology, i.e. polyethylene tapes, that were not used in the Polish market at that time.
The entire year 1990 was spent on the evaluation of the possibilities of entering the Polish market starting from the gas market. The company sought the cooperation of the manufacturers of such equipment from the USA, Germany and Italy and, as a result, started cooperating with the American company POLYKEN-TECHNOLOGIES, which was part of the KENDALL concern at that time, currently Seal For Life Industries. The concern brought together a number of other branches manufacturing various high-quality products. POLYKEN multilayer systems are used all over the world in various climatic conditions. ANTICOR was the company that brought the SYNERGY technology developed by POLYKEN to Europe. Pipe insulations designed in this technology can successfully compete with the extrusion of polyethylene and polyurethane coatings.
In 1994, the company opened a department of industrial tapes. The distribution of tapes intended for use in electrical engineering, installation, specialised construction, military and household industry as well as many other areas of everyday life was initiated in stages. These tapes launched by ANTICOR under the trade name of Polytex and Electrix are well-known and valued products in our country.
In 1995, we extended the offer of the anti-corrosion department with heat-shrink materials developed by the Canadian company CANUSA. They were particularly useful for insulating welds, flanged and bell-and-spigot joints, the so-called pipe unions, and for sealing casing pipes from line pipes. In 2005, CANUSA products were replaced with products manufactured by Covalence (formerly Raychem), which is part of the Berry Plastics group.
In 2013, ANTICOR launched its own heat-shrink sleeves under the name of ANTICORRay WSS60 and WSS80 as well as the ANTICORRay REP repair system, which successfully replaced Canusa and Covalence products.
Starting operations in the field of active protection made the anti-corrosion protection system complete. Such operations were started in 1996 in cooperation with the Hungarian-Swiss company CORROCONT. At that time, the company’s offer included: diagnostic tests of anti-corrosion insulation, inspection of pipelines and tanks in terms of corrosion, design and construction of active protection systems and supply of specialist devices and equipment. As a result, ANTICOR as the only company in Poland was able to provide full anti-corrosion protection for gas, water and sewage facilities and other industries in which pipelines and tanks are used.
ANTICOR means constant and dynamic development. We have developed from a small, three-man company established in 1991 into a company employing several dozen people and having a wide network of distributors, which enables us to quickly contact the customer. ANTICOR expanded its operations to foreign markets, and in 2001, we established a daughter company in the Czech Republic operating under the business name of ANTICOR Bohemia s.r.o. (ANTICOR holds 60% of shares), which distributes our products on the Czech and Slovak markets. Today, we provide advice to our customers and deliver our products to more than 20 countries.
The most important achievements and dates in the history of ANTICOR are:
- participation of the company’s representatives in the process of giving opinions on the Polish draft standard for coatings covered by the German standard DIN 30672 (1992),
- 1st Polish national scientific and technical conference entitled “POLYKEN in Poland” on modern anti-corrosion products offered by POLYKEN, with the participation of all representatives of Polish gas fitters and foreign guests (1992),
- acceptance of the company as a member of the Polish Corrosion Society (from 1992),
- opening of the anti-corrosion tape packing department in Kraków,
- initiation and preparation of and participation in the implementation of the SYNERGY technological line – the first one in Europe – in Huta FERRUM in Katowice (1993),
- launching of Polytex industrial tapes in Poland , opening of the packing department in Kraków (1994),
- opening of the SYNERGY line in DEGA plus in Ruda Śląska (1994),
- initiative to introduce a modern pipeline rehabilitation technology and related conference in Kazimierz Dolny nad Wisłą, with the participation of CRC EVANS, an American company which is a global leader in this field (1995),
- establishment of the ANTICOR Group, which has a common policy in the field of marketing and distribution of materials and products (1996),
- establishment of the cooperation with CANUSA and distribution of heat-shrink anti-corrosion materials (1996),
- beginning of the cooperation with the Hungarian company CORROCONT in the field of active protection (cathodic protection), diagnostics of protected facilities in terms of corrosion, design and implementation of cathodic protection systems (officially in March 1998 at the national technical conference on that issue),
- implementation and obtaining of the first ISO 9001 quality management certificate (2003),
- development of the technology in the A30 system and start of the production of petrolatum coatings under the name of ANTICOR Plast (2004),
- launching of specialist Venture Clad aluminum tapes (2006),
- provision of Clock Spring pipeline repair solutions to customers (2008),
- beginning of works on the launching of ANTICOR CIM waterproofing coatings (2008),
- launching of Bristle Blaster® equipment for the preparation of steel surfaces (2011),
- launching of ANTICORRay® heat-shrink sleeves (2013),
- launching of ANTICORWrap bitumen coatings (2014),
- launching of specialist Equalizer TM equipment: flange spreaders, hydraulic wedge jacks, flange positioning devices (2015),
- strengthening of the position of the Polytex brand by introducing new products to the offer: Polytex 580, Polytex 570, Poltex 560 and Polytex 550 (2016-2019).
ANTICOR and other companies and entities operating in the gas industry have been founding members of the Chamber of the Natural Gas Industry since 2003. The Chamber of the Natural Gas Industry was established by entities operating in the gas industry in order to represent the economic interests of its members in dealings with state, local and social authorities, scientific and economic institutions as well as foreign authorities and institutions. The Chamber’s mission is to form a gas lobby, to bring together natural and legal persons involved in the gas industry and to promote natural gas as a modern and ecological fuel. The Chamber also promotes up-to-date technical and economic knowledge and is ultimately to participate in setting development programmes for the gas industry.
ANTICOR is a member of the Association of Polish Electrical Engineers, the largest social and public utility non-governmental scientific and technical organisation founded in 1919 by engineers – representatives of the electrical engineering industry. It is a voluntary association of electricians of all specialties and persons whose professional operations are associated with the electrical industry in a broad sense as well as legal persons interested in its activity.
In June 2015, the first talks on the concept of setting up the Polish Chamber of Commerce of the Electrical Industry were held; that was when the information about the establishment of a new organisation was published for the first time in renowned professional magazines. Mr Adam Bochenek, the President of the Management Board of ANTICOR, became a member of the Audit Committee. The main objective of the Polish Chamber of Commerce of the Electrical Industry is to build a broad representation of the electrical industry, to protect the rights and represent the interests, including economic interests, of members, to create the economic reality of the electrical industry, and to build a positive image of entrepreneurs in Poland.
In November 2018, ANTICOR was accepted as an associate member of the Polish Waterworks Chamber of Commerce under the resolution of the Council of the Polish Waterworks Chamber of Commerce. It is an organisation dedicated to all water and sewage companies the representatives of which wish to participate in the development of the industry.
The event of 2019 is the establishment of a new production company, ACS Industry Sp. z o.o., which is a supplier of raw materials and anti-corrosion compounds for the needs of our business.
Obtaining the Certificate in the “SOLIDNA FIRMA” Business and Consumer Programme, which takes place every year, for the first time in 2004 was a prestigious achievement.
In 2020, the company was honored with the EMERALD STATUETTE as a twelve-time winner of the program.
