Andrius Paužas: "When working quietly, bread tastes better, and people listen better"

Dalia Zdanovičienė, the head of technical maintenance at Vilniaus Duona, is called Andrius Paužas, a gift from God to the bakery. He is excellent at initiating work, clarifying responsibilities and, most importantly, helping the bakery's colleagues who work with machinery to feel that their opinion and work are valued and important. With him, you can talk openly about challenges and find solutions.

This colleague was nominated as an Ambassador of the Value of Openness by Vilniaus Duona this year.

We interviewed him about his work at Vilniaus Duona:

How did you end up, Andrius, at Vilniaus Duona?

I wanted to change my qualification and expand it to a broader one. I came from the energy field myself, so naturally one of the projects was the revival of the energy monitoring system project. A few years ago, the author of this project was the project manager. Audrius Lataitis, but due to various reconstructions and equipment changes, the monitoring system became unusable. Together with Audrius, we have made this system effective. I am grateful to him for sharing technical documentation and other useful information. Now in Vilnius we can monitor a lot of different data in the monitoring system. In the company, I am responsible for the maintenance of the technical part, I work a lot with data analysis.

What is interesting about this energy management project?

Its essence is that 60 energy monitoring points are installed – that is, at each point of energy consumption (electricity, hot cold water, gas, steam) and at each stage we know when, how much and what equipment consumes energy. We know the average values and can create alerts about deviations from the norm. And if you have the data, you can make savings decisions.

The next step will be to implement measures that will help save energy. In some places, it may only be necessary to talk to a colleague, and in some places it may be necessary to implement automated solutions.

Is there a difference between working in the energy sector and in a food production company?

First of all, great attention is paid to hygiene, quality audits, inspections.

In addition, it smells very delicious here, bread. Sometimes you even forget that smell, because your sense of smell is used to it, but the contractors come and immediately pay attention – how does it smell here with you!

You are surrounded by bread. How do you eat it yourself?

I used to not eat bread for many years, but now I have started eating again.

Which one do you choose?

Agotas, I love black bread. Both me and my wife. I like this bread.

What does the family know about your work?

He knows I'm baking bread. Acquaintances jokingly ask, "So you keep baking bread?" I bake, I answer. He asks which one is delicious. Most of the time, I recommend trying Agota.

And how do you rest after work?

In the summer, I like to go to the sea, change the environment, visit my parents, cook something together.

What do you think led to you being nominated as an ambassador of the Values of Openness?

Maybe communication is good in our department. If you don't talk, you don't communicate, anger, excuses arise, you look for the guilty. We are talking. If there is a problem, the technical department and production do not fight together or look for excuses, but solutions. So that you don't step on the same rake a second time. Also, everyone must understand that the most important thing in a company is a person, without this "link", neither the best strategy nor the latest technologies will help the company to operate successfully. Everyone's work is equally important; Whether it's the one who turns the screw, bakes bread, or sells it, we're all one team.

A significant part of them have been working in the bakery for many years. Naturally, there are also disappointments, motivation pits, you have to talk, look for ways to raise the morale of your colleagues.

How did you get in? Now it will soon be three years that you have been working here.

It wasn't difficult, I didn't even feel that a few years had passed. You see what is good in the team, what is missing, where there is motivation, where it is lacking, you look for what can be done. It is important not only to listen to each person, but also to hear them.

I like that we have trust, the authority for a person to decide within the limits of his competence – there is no need to lead by the hand, everyone knows where they can make their own decision.

You speak so patiently, calmly. And at work, yes?

Without patience, there would be nothing at work. You need that peace with bread while working. And the bread tastes better, and people listen better. It is important to communicate calmly, then things get better.

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Every year, Vilniaus Duona awards ambassadors of three of our values: openness, drive, and an all-encompassing approach. With these interviews, we want to honor our colleagues who live by these values.