ANDASA CARPENTRY
ANA DE LA FUENTE CRUZ 3ยบ ESO A
SECONDARY SECTOR This report is about my father’s company. The name of the industry is Andasa. This name is formed by the initial letters of the owners’names: AN- Ángel, DA- Daniel and SA-Santiago. It's a microenterprise, because they are five workers and it's a private limited company. The year of foundation was 1989. The business started in a 30 squared meters nave and with time the business expanded, because machines were purchased and they received more orders and they moved to a bigger nave 500 squared meters. Ten years after, they had to move again to a new nave in the industrial park. They are three owners and they received the correspondent subsidies at the beginning, after becoming members of the Social Security. The initial capital was about half a million of pesetas, around 3.000 €. The industry is a carpentry. They produce many things with wood like: doors, furniture, stairs, kitchens, bookcases, chairs... They buy the raw materials directly and through intermediaries. They work only by order. In this carpentry they have two employees and they belong to a different category: one is First Officer and the other one is Second Officer. Their salaries are the minimum, they are qualified workers and they don't belong to any union. The workers earn about 1,200 € and the owners about 1,600€. The benefits are divided evenly and one part is destined to the company and they have fixed salary per month sometimes. The working conditions are: - The working schedule is from 8:00 to 13:00. And they work from 15:30 to 19:00 in the afternoon. - Two hours and half of break time. - They have 20 days of holidays. - They follow the safety rules of their profession, but they don’t use specific clothes to work, because it isn’t necessary. The workers haven't got any collective agreement. The process of production First they work in the workshop: they make the works that they have to do with the plans that the designer gives them. And then, when they have finished, they have to go out to assemble the items they have made. The raw materials they use are wood and board.
The different types of wood they use are pine, oak, birch, chestnut, walnut‌ Machines that they use:
PLANER It’s used to cut the wood with a specific measure.
SAW This is to cut wood planks
SHAPER It’s used to make mouldings and recesses in the wood.
SQUARING MACHINE It’s used to chop boards
CALIBRATING SANDER It’s used to calibrate and sand wood.
PLANER It’s used to plane wood.
PRESS It’s used to glue pieces.
They invest about 3,400€ monthly. Depending on the works they have to do, they spend different amounts of money to produce their products. So they don’t spend a fixed amount of money. The percentage that they invest in: - Raw materials: 30% - Technology: 0% - Energy supply: between 400€ and 500€ per month - Salaries: 40% - Taxes: 30%
The activity is profitable sometimes, because some works aren’t finished in the time planned. If they don’t meet the deadlines, they reduce the prices sometimes. Their profit margins are around 20%. Some examples of the prices of products they make: -
A library 3,000€ An inside cupboard 2,200€. A door costs 2400€.
Prices vary depending on the measures. The people who buy their products are private customers and they don't export their products. They find their customers through builders, architects and designers and they don’t have marketing campaigns, they don’t promote their products and they don’t work for bigger companies. The present situation of the industry is good. They have benefits, but the future perspectives are uncertain and they are not going to enlarge the firm. One example of the process to make a door: First you choose the type of wood. Afterwards you saw the wood, you brush it and you mark the parts where the spikes and the mortise lock will be. Then, you assemble the door and you measure the boards. You disarm the door, you prepare the boards and finally you assemble the door again, you calibrate it and varnish it. It takes about six hours to do this. All this process is to make it. After this, they have to assemble it to the place. The main problems are: · Submitting invoices and collecting them. · Tax increases. · Few subsidies for the microenterprises.