Seville answers the call of the machining

Two knights who already sweep canas are given a sound hug (read as follows with the unequivocal Sevillian accent):

-Man, don Antonio, is how you here?
-You see, to see if today they teach us some miracle.
-Miracle, miracle, do not know... but interesting Yes is going to be the day.

This encounter (real) between two Sevillians of life before machining of the beginning of the day perfectly summarizes the expectation that sparked the 'machining encounters' in the Andalusian capital. And while not be taught miracles, yes they were on the table many points of reflection and debate that, very probably, not left anyone indifferent. It is also possible that many of these owners of SMEs do not come to any action suggested in the day, but at least they were reflected, as if it were a mirror in situations that were raised there.

The opening of the day was in charge of Eusebio Gallego Hinojosa, President of the Federation of employers of the Metal of Seville, Fedeme, who recalled the importance of this sector in Spain, "with a turnover of EUR 16 million"", an occupation of 88,700 workers and important investments". The President of Fedeme also recalled that although "certainly the development of our industry has never been easy", the current situation is proving to be exceptional: "A severe financial crisis, unknown so far, is damaging our businesses by a flank which does not have defence capability": credit and financing of their projects and circulating. "It is not at the moment of lack in competitiveness, productivity, technification and internationalization, that good results are being achieved".

To combat the current situation, Gallego Hinojosa demanded "a financial system strong, support without fear of a sector with important portfolios of order in the short and medium term, excellent business projects and competitive spirit", as well as "support for our industry in the work of marketing""collaboration and research and innovative development". And to strengthen competitiveness based on innovation, Fedeme calls for "a provider of specific technological services" focused on the Andalusian Western, where are concentrated 70% of the total of the industry of the metal of the region. "So we call for the creation of an item of this type properly coordinated with infrastructures that already has the Ministry of innovation, science and enterprise." "I am referring more specifically to the articulation of a link with the current metalworking technology centre and transport, Cetemet, located in Linares, to support him in the provinces of Cadiz, Huelva and Seville".

During the day, the own Fedeme exposed purely financial support lines in guarantees and collateral. Manuel Pérez Suárez, responsible for the economic area of the Federation, devoted his presentation to 'Financing for SMEs of the metal' and, like their President, stressed the exceptional situation of many of the companies in the sector: "We have a number of companies that are competitive"", which you know manufacture and know selling, which have greatly improved over the years regarding foreign marketing, which have innovated, that they have formed, but which have not been prepared for a front for which it was very difficult to be prepared as a financial crisis". Pérez Suárez warned that, despite the fall in the price of money in 2009, the difficulty of funding is to cause mainly the destination of investments: "The State is still fatter, throwing out the neighbor, which is the private economy"", and leaving less financing to the private sector". For that reason, if the main competitor is the State, the only way is to go to him to be financed through lines of support of the public administration. To this end, the head of the economic area of Fedeme presented a battery of measures targeting SMEs in difficulty on the one hand and support lines for companies with difficulties of Treasury also are in the process of investment"something very common in the sector".

The Eibar model of the 19th century

One of the papers that gave rise to more interest was the Adviser to José Antonio Gómez Vadillo, of group Vadillo, who invited these SMEs to reflect on the management of their companies. For more information about the presentation 'Mecanizing management', read the article expanded in http://www.interempresas.net/MetalMecanica/Articulos/Articulo.asp?To = 37773 & R = 37098

Three of the sponsors of the event, BP Castrol, the hand of Carinox - its exclusive distributor for Madrid and Andalusia-, Intermaher - distributor of Mazak - and IAM, proposed various technological improvements to present employers. But as Juan Avilés, Andalusia delegate, Intermaher, the 'meetings of machining' are not the typical technical seminars in which each provider is going to sell their products: "Today we are here to help businesses, to introduce new things". And they did.

Doroteo Olmedo, director of IAM, company belonging to the Tecnocim group, presented on 'The use of robots in machining, polishing and deburring operations', applications of Robotics "little developed but with lot of potential".

On the other hand, Antonio Morales, responsible for industrial distributors in Spain and Portugal of BP, presented 'The right choice of the fluid of the machining productivity improvement vs'. He was an agile presentation, under the slogans of 'technology', with the presentation of its synthetic oils (95% water, 5% oil); 'experience', presenting real examples shared at the global level; and 'productivity', with the actual reduction of non-conforming parts, cycle times and consumption.

For its part, Roberto Hernando, managing director of Intermaher, and Juan Avilés, delegate of Andalusia in the company, focused his presentation on the advantages of the multifunction of Mazak teams: those of 5-axis on one side and the Integrex range, "the flag of Mazak since 1983, on the other." Avilés stressed that mechanized "you can do with a conventional lathe saving us the Fortune is worth an Integrex, but if we continue to believe that we will not be ever more competitive." The Integrex makes it with higher quality and no margin of error, in a single bound, saving us the tools. With this type of machines we reduce the collection of raw materials in a 90% and the stock of material by 75%. You can make a piece if they ask you, with what are reduced costs by 20%, because you have stored this material also costs money. "Times of parts and practically downtime are non-existent: you put the piece and the get your completed".

The vision of the buyer

José Abel Fernandez Carrascal, Manager of sub-contracting purchases of Indra, and José Antonio Gil, responsible for contracting out mechanics of Indra Aranjuez, presented the minimum requirements of its multinational requires companies that subcontract.

First of all, Indra, with three production sites in the community of Madrid, called proximity, which improves the projects in their development phase, phase in which the changes are very frequent and facilitates the activity of monitoring and control of suppliers. In addition, all subcontractors must sign a confidentiality agreement and several quality certificates. The facilities must be adequate: from painting until the floor non-slip, passing through the air conditioning of the premises. They must have modern and with a maintenance suitable in terms of machines, tools and means of control and measurement and a technical Office to become involved in the development of the whole. Orders with appropriate finish and presentation must be delivered, document management should be appropriate, and also requires full transparency and continuous communication errors, deficiencies and abnormalities etc.

Also, both Fernandez and Gil insisted that the subcontractor must be increasingly more inclusive. According to José Abel Fernandez: "No we subcontract a mechanical piece but a set, a turnkey both electronic as mechanics." "Tends increasingly to deliver more complete product". Why the trend, as later confirmed in the final debate, is cooperation between small companies to provide more value and delivery of integrated sets.

After the presentations, the business community took the floor in the debate, under the theme of 'The competitiveness of the SMEs in the tooling in the current context'. In addition to the rapporteurs, members of leading companies and institutions associated with the sector participated in him: Fidel Gomez, director of the stock market in Industrial subcontracting of the Chambers of Álava; Carlos Manini of Carman; Juan Manuel Rodríguez Marín, EADS; Pedro Carrillo, the Metalia group and Tafsa; our colleague of Interempresas Ángel Hernández; Armando Igunza, of machining Eulogio Peña - Meupe - and Miguel Angel Ruiz of Tamepa.

Linking to one of the topics discussed the lack of evolution in the mentality of many entrepreneurs in the sector, by José Antonio Gómez Vadillo, Pedro Carrillo confirmed that many companies still work as well as for decades: "the metal sector has a culture of the 19th century when we are in the twenty-first." He could only wonder why there are companies that are closing and, on the other hand, there are companies that are doing well or very well. "It is true that the economic situation and the overall market and the problems of globalization affect us, but it is also true that there has been a change or a change in global mindset in our businesses." Antonio Morales, BP Castrol, confirmed this idea explaining that, for his work, he had visited more than 500 SMEs throughout the peninsula, and many worked as 20 years ago: "By costumbrismo entrepreneur no doubt of their current conditions." "Yes there is a great slab wanting not to change or discuss, to make new things or calculate them differently". To illustrate, Carrillo made a play on words with Mazak machines: "the problem that has the entrepreneur is that you want to continue the Integrex method, i.e. that it wants to integrate it." It is a culture of 'everything has to go through me' because it has always done. This, today, is the main obstacle is the employer. "Their job is to get a job, he cannot claim to be responsible for production, responsible for financial or commercial".

There are companies that do exist which need to evolve. But why not what they do? Pedro Carrillo "changing slope much." All know companies that have made this change of attitude and are much better. When you move, change. "The results come alone." Carrillo said his case in the wake of one of the points dealt with by Indra: "the tendency of the multinational is looking for a single interlocutor." I I am dedicated to the machining and I have partnered with a company that is dedicated to the transformation of sheet metal, wiring and painting. "We have grouped in order to provide the complete solution for single-source and on the other hand another essential point: the internationalization".

Ramiro Bengochea confirmed that "cooperation is a key issue." In Spain do not have companies tractors in quantity. The only way to make a tractor effect is that small businesses gather together, work together, go to look for work in international markets, become stronger and they themselves are making a small effect tractor in your area, to give the smallest who cannot work. "It must begin to move the wheel".

Inter-firm collaboration makes sense at a time of crisis. Fidel Gomez, of the Chamber of Commerce of Alava, stated that "this crisis has made lose some defenses to cooperate." When things are going well there are other concerns as continue milking the cow because not just milk. When the market, the need for cooperation is evident and the barriers are lowered to meet with the competitor and do things together. "The idea of creating consortiums or associations of 6 or 7 companies so far was preaching in the desert and now the companies are beginning to sit and reflect." As an example, Ángel Hernández spoke of the cluster set up in the Basque country that lifted the business community at a time of crisis, a spirit which would "have to return to, although it seems that no one to pull the chariot there is".

But in the debate he spoke not only of the duties that must be done, but also recavó on the strengths of Spanish machining, such as many SMEs have already invested in their innovation and are competitive. As stated by Fidel Gomez: "There is a tradition of working, at least in recent years, with cutting edge technology, with equipment for first-line, which has developed a capacity of microinnovación that look small improvements on a daily basis". Many participants advocated this competitiveness and the capacity of the Spanish industry in overcoming obstacles and leave to seek markets abroad. But also they agreed in the abandonment in which are SMEs with respect to the administration. Pedro Carrillo recalled many times what the industry needs is not both financing and protection from low cost markets: "it would be useful would be that they take us from the hand to a big company that is contracting out work in emerging countries of low-cost"that is it obliged to subcontract a proportion of its production in Spanish companies. "This would be a more interesting and more real aid to facilitate the consumption". By way of example, Fidel Gomez recalled an anecdote succeeded in a French fair contract with the Minister of industry of the country: "the French industry Minister told French major businesses, that they exist and many and very strong"", they have to take care of the national provider and try to that provider does not die".

In addition, not only does not care to Spanish provider, they are demands very demanding conditions, while the recruitment in countries of low-cost is precisely by its price. In the wake of the battery of requirements that Indra presented in his paper, Pedro Carrillo recalled this double standard of recruitment: "In Spain want companies to have good equipment, the facilities are clean and a series of additions is costly for the company." And when the multinational purchase, purchase price. "The Spanish company should begin to take care of their suppliers".

Talking with the sponsors of the 'meetings of machining'

If this day is not intended to sell, but to help SMEs, do by which leading companies of the sector are involve in this forum? In Interempresas talked with sponsors: Intermaher, Carinox and WNT (we ran Doroteo Olmedo of IAM).

According to Roberto Hernando, managing director of Intermaher: "the machining are our customers and in some way be a forum where they will gather and to listen to their opinions always is very important." "On the other hand we also used this forum to be able to comment on how we see the actions that have to be done to improve your productivity".

For Jorge Rodríguez, director-general of carinox steel plant: "We want to support a sector which in the end and all live in it." "With efforts so we can improve all". Rodríguez also gives importance to the contacts and that multinationals are aware the domestic supply: "need to be relationship between companies, as for example major firms that we are calling to give you is that there are small machining enterprises that need to work and that you do not need to go outside." "The key is bring the big company to small."

Ramiro Bengochea was satisfied of what happened in Seville: "among all have generated this space where the four values that are based on the meetings have given: there are people who have made new contacts;" they have identified new markets; It has given rise to innovation with the presentation on new technologies; "and it has been suggested cooperation as a fundamental solution to the current situation."

The director-general of WNT Ibérica hopes that these meetings make the foundations of something bigger: "It is true that people are raising and let us put face to people who really want to work for the sector"", then we can just create something stronger, such as a network of collaborators and even a cluster of machining".

For Bengochea, on the Organization of this forum much "staff". "I sincerely believe that I do not I can continue to sell tools if not machines more." "It is planning for the future."