· Noticias Winter 2009 · nº 56 News GRUPO ANTOLIN We interview the Chief Operations Officer Electric vehicles The environmental friendly alternative OTOTRIM Our bet in Turkey Adapting to our clients Grupo Antolin-Cambrai NEWS is published by Grupo Antolin Grupo Antolin is a multinational at the cutting edge of design and production of components for car interiors for the automobile industry. Present in 22 countries with 85 plants and 20 technical commercial offices and close to 10,000 employees. This publication is available for the employees in the GA’s intranet EDITORIAL OFFICE Grupo Antolin EditoriaL DIRECTOR Marketing GA. printed by Coiman Marketing Department · [email protected] C/ Marqués de Portugalete, 16 Carretera Madrid-Irún, km. 244,8 E 28027 MADRID - SPAIN Design Germán Delgado E 09007 BURGOS - SPAIN Tel. 34 91 742 12 03 · [email protected] Tel. 34 947 47 77 00 www.grupoantolin.com PHotograpHY Rafa Sáiz D. Legal: M-18594-2006 Territory Europe - South Territory America Africa - 6,742 employees* Asia - Pacific 1,503 employees* Territory North America 1,405 employees* * Nr of employees by territory as on the 31st of August 2009 contents page 20 the photo page 4 cover story XV Anniversary of the page 12 protagonists Interview with Carlos Newsletter Araujo Maté Grupo Antolin-Cambrai A look to the history of our company through pictures Our Chief Operations Officer tells us about This plant is placed in the north of France his professional career as well as the future in an industrial area. Since 2002 it is a page 22 plans for our company supplier of Renault designing the future Electric Vehicles page 8 plants Zero emissions, the future is already here. OTOTRIM The new vehicles will be more environmental friendly A multi-product & multi-client plant opens its doors to us in Turkey page 25 in brief News in Brief Art Competition page 15 report page 36 the history corner Plastic Convention Audi Centenary The four rings brand has celebrated its 100th birthday in 2009. The efficiency of its models page 16 special is a characteristic of Audi since its foundation Knowledge Management Let´s get to know in details this strategic line and the tools to share the knowledge in page 10 corp. responsibility Grupo Antolin Innoversia page 18 health Training as the basis for the development in the emerging countries Influenza A News Grupo Antolin 2 · Winter 2009 Editorial A new year starts, it is the time of re- flection and planning. In 2009, Audi is celebrating its centenary and it is José Antolin Toledano our birthday as well. It has been 15 Chairman years since the first number of our Newsletter was published. Would you like to see how much we have in first person changed? Additionally, in this number we would like to know better our Chief Operations Officer, Carlos Araujo Maté, and show you his opinion after The year 2009 is just about to finish. The crisis seems to his first months with us. have passed its peak in a year that has caused difficulties Grupo Antolin has been character- in all areas, especially in the automotive world. But the ized by pursuing customers´ satisfac- storm begins to ease up. The changes that have occurred tion and thanks to that, we will con- in the market demand us to adapt to a new scenario in or- tinue being awarded by them. The der to remain competitive; both financial and technologi- last prizes achieved from Volkswa- cal changes will require an additional effort to continue gen, General Motors, Nissan and growing. Ford are a good example of this. Keep on working like this! This effort has been supported by the renewal of a syn- A lot of us are familiarized with the dicated loan guaranteed by 40 banks, through a success- Knowledge Management model that ful transaction thanks to the unanimous support from the Grupo Antolin is setting up. As a very Financial Community in an environment characterized by important part of our organization the crisis. A fact that will enable us to face the invest- we offer you more details about its ments needed with the necessary financial strength to establishment. meet our strategic plan. There are still so many of our plants to visit. We invite you to discover Now is the time to join forces and maintain our position Ototrim (in Turkey) and Grupo Anto- as the market leaders. We have the capacity and the work lin-Cambrai (in France). Two plants, force necessary to carry it out. QUALITY, KNOWLEDGE two countries, two cultures and the and EFFFICIENCY are the key values that we must follow same aim - adapt to the changing to achieve our progress and to secure our future. automotive world and exceed with success the challenges launched by our clients. Therefore, we face a year in which the commitment of all of us is more important than ever to meet the demands Electric vehicles are a part of this of an extra effort to ensure the efficiency of our costs and change in our market. Is the mass the productivity improvement. production of them possible in a short period of time? Which are the Finally, I would like to send you a message of confidence, opportunities for Grupo Antolin? We enthusiasm and hope for the coming year. Thank you for provide you some clues to answer your fighting spirit and my best wishes for all of us, we all these questions and the other ones as well. are part of this great company, Grupo Antolin. But more stories are still waiting in this Newsletter. Keep on reading and find them. w Merry Christmas to all! w News Grupo Antolin Winter 2009 · 3 cover story Interview with our Chief Operations Officer On the 12th of May, the new organization of our company was launched, with the creation of the Chief Operations Officer position. Carlos Araujo Maté was appointed to that position News Grupo Antolin 4 · Winter 2009 What is your vision after these six months of management? These months have been determined by the strong crisis in our sector, obviously the same one in which I was in ZF, and by the need to keep a strong pressure in all our operations, started in the crisis committees of the Group from the end of 2008, in order to adjust to the situation of the market After six months we have made this in- as much as possible. In a special way, this situation became terview to know at first hand his opinion critical when two of our main customers in the USA, GM and Chrysler filed for Chapter 11. In these months, I have about the company and the future plans visited 31 plants of the group in three continents, and I have had to get to know the Group and our situation quickly. The measures taken from the end of 2008 have shown that Could you tell us about your professional expe- the effort and sacrifice made by us all have allowed us, on rience? the one hand, to negotiate again our syndicated loan with acceptable conditions and, on the other hand, to reduce My first job as an engineer was at the Spanish Society of significantly our balance point, thus containing the strong the Tudor Accumulator, a Spanish multinational company losses and getting ready for certain recovery of the market which manufactured batteries, and at the end of the 70’s such as the one arisen in the last two months. My vision is considered that the electric vehicles could be used in some that the taken measures were the most appropriate ones special applications and decided to prove it by carrying out and that we still have plenty of things to do, some of them the transformation of an urban bus into an electrical one, not too easy, which the new organization must be able to as well as a dozen mail delivery vans and a garbage truck undertake in the best conditions and about which I feel op- of 20 Tm. Performing that transformation and proving its timistic regarding the results for our future. usefulness for the service was my first job. When I look at it from my present point of view I can say that I had the chance of being a pioneer, although at that time it was too How is the management of a company devoted early for this project. to the manufacture of parts for the interior of the vehicles different from your former compa- I spent seven more years at Tudor and I was the manager ny, orientated to mechanics? of a company in the Group when I had the opportunity to come back to Burgos as the managing director of Ansa The truth is that I must point out two considerations when Lemförder, which then was part of a partnership between speaking about the differences in management: one related to the incipient Grupo Antolin and ZF Lemförder. I spent the the differences between the chassis and the interior of the ve- first five years, until 1994, being part of ZF Lemförder on hicle businesses, and the other one concerning the differences one side and of Grupo Antolin on the other side, and re- between a German and a Spanish multinational company. porting to the Antolin brothers. When they sold their part in the company in 1994 I stayed in ZF Ansa Lemförder To start with the easiest point, the differences between chassis for another ten years, the last five years, first as a corpo- and interior have surprised me in many ways.