#myStart@Axpo – Meet Milton
Milton Różański – Operations Origination Manager at Axpo Polska
Milton joined Axpo in November 2015 as an intern in the operations department. Over the following years he has been involved in several projects and explored industry insights, eventually taking on the role of Operations Origination Manager. After work, he devotes himself to looking after his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, and when he has more free time, he tirelessly explores new places and climbs mountain peaks.
Tell us a little about your story at Axpo.
It all started seven years ago when I joined Axpo as a support to Katarzyna Bienias' team. I was expected to streamline Excel reports and support the department with basic operational work. I also assisted with the vendor switching process, collected data from the distribution system operator (DSO) and prepared and checked billing for Axpo's customers. Another task, a very important one by the way, was to configure the CRM system to retrieve data for our customers in an automated way.
As time went on, I started to deal only with customers with the highest energy and gas consumption and with complex tasks necessary for the operations of the entire branch, such as exchange/balancing market settlements. It was a time of intense learning and work for me – mainly due to the number of links and the multitude of systems used to handle the processes. Edita Alimanović, who was responsible for our Operations Origination department at the time, had an excellent understanding of the business needs and skilfully shaped our team in terms of human resources, knowledge flow and work automation. While the department was growing, I was given more and more responsible tasks. I coordinated processes and projects of all sizes, while having the freedom to do things my own way in certain areas.
Today, as manager of the operations team, I continue in the direction I have chosen and strive to adapt quickly to changing business needs and market situations while providing colleagues with peace of mind and a stable path forward.
What does your Operations Origination department do on a day-to-day basis?
The main task of my department is to reflect energy and gas sales contracts to our largest (often international) customers (ORI), PPAs and aggregated data for SME products in such a way that the Risk and Portfolio Management departments can efficiently manage risks and inventory and make optimal decisions.
In addition, we are responsible for the settlement of ORI customers, exchange, and balancing market, as well as redemption processes for Guarantees of Origin (GoO) and certificates. We are responsible for monitoring the flow between several systems: among others, the systems for forecasting production and customer consumption, the data warehouse, where data from the DSO is taken, and the accounting and billing system. We also support the finance department during audits and other units of our organisation in preparing data for Energy Regulatory Office reports or licence fee calculations.
It looks like you can't complain about boredom.
Exactly, that's what I really appreciate about working at Axpo – the lack of monotony and routine and the opportunity for continuous development. In our operational work, we must respond very quickly to the needs of the business, adapting previous solutions to new conditions or products, and at the same time always providing the highest quality service to our customers with particular attention to data accuracy. When we sometimes think we are going to have a moment of respite and it might soon be a bit too quiet, it soon turns out that some regulatory change comes in, a non-standard product has to be modelled or we have to implement some system update or a completely new solution that turns an existing process upside down. However, we always see the added value in this and try to replace existing solutions with ones that are more efficient and resistant to human error.
I cannot fail to mention here how important the people you work with are. Good working relationships, mutual respect and a partnership approach are exactly the elements that create an atmosphere of trust and allow us to work out the best solutions. I am glad that we are such a good team.
You have come an impressive way over the years at Axpo. What advice would you give to people who are just taking their first steps on their career path?
Henry Ford once said that ‘Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs’. In my opinion, young people who are at the beginning of their career should aim high, but they need to break down this goal into smaller, achievable steps. They should also be prepared for challenges and possible setbacks and be able to face up to them.
We talked about how much happens in your work on a daily basis. How do you relax after these challenges?
Exploring together and discovering new places with my wife has always allowed me to get away from work and catch my breath. We now have a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, to whom I devote a lot of time every day, whether after work or on holiday. Every moment with her is an amazing experience for me – I enjoy showing her the world. When I need some time just for myself, that's when I try to get out into the mountains. This year I managed to hike Orla Perć!
