EMPRESAS COMPANIES
“Pretendemos ir más allá de ser un mero estampador, ya que podemos ofrecer un producto innovador apoyados en nuestra propia troquelería” (Bixen Núñez y Ricardo Gómez de Segura, gerente de Ingeniería y director de Irudi)./”We aim to be more than a mere stamping firm, as we have the capacity to offer an innovative product supported by our in-house diemaking capability.” (Bixen Núñez y Ricardo Gómez de Segura, gerente de Ingeniería y director de Irudi)
considering our strategy with a view to setting up operations in another country in the region, or perhaps continuing in Hungary but under different circumstances. Costs in these countries are rising and, for example, we know of one case in which a German automotive-industry company has chosen the Basque Country as the site for a new plant. The Basque Country has an extremely diverse market in which tier one firms can find all the ingredients they need to make exactly what they want.” This complementariness is exemplified by firms like Grupo Auxin, an export consortium comprising four companies — Gabi, Gol, Microdeco and Saljoar — which work together in foreign markets. “This model is fairly common in the Basque Country, where it has had a great deal of success, and our consortium is the oldest in Spain. Working through a single structure, supported equally by all the members, keeps costs lower, as every bit of work done can be used by all four companies. It also makes things easier for clients, which receive the best possible technological solution when a part is made. Often, when one of the companies gains access to a client, it also opens the door for the other three,” points out Tony Goffard, the firm’s Exports Manager. Overall, the four member companies (Gabi, which specialises in high-pressure aluminium injection and machining; Gol, which makes special coldstamped fasteners; Microdeco, an expert in precision bar-turning; and Saljoar, which produces formed and stamped parts) invoice around €80 million per year. Exports account for over half of this amount and the consortium has 10 plants in the Basque Country and two in Romania.
La complementariedad se plasma en ejemplos como el Grupo Auxin, un consorcio de exportación, en el que cuatro empresas, Gabi, Gol, Microdeco y Saljoar, operan de manera conjunta en el exterior./ complementariness is exemplified by firms like Grupo Auxin, an export consortium comprising four companies — Gabi, Gol, Microdeco and Saljoar — which work together in foreign markets.
Cost-oriented suppliers
y podemos citar el caso de una empresa alemana de automoción que ha elegido el País Vasco para una nueva implantación. La diversidad del País Vasco es muy grande y, haciendo un símil, un Tier 1 tiene a su disposicón lechuga, tomates, cebollas… y puede combinarlos para hacer una ensalada a su gusto. Se le puede ofrecer el ingrediente que desee”. Esa complementariedad se plasma en ejemplos como el Grupo Auxin, un consorcio de exportación, en el que cuatro empresas, Gabi, Gol, Microdeco y Saljoar, operan de manera conjunta en el exterior. “Es una figura bastante utilizada en el País Vasco donde ha tenido mucho éxito y el nuestro es el más antiguo de España . Una estructura única, soportada a partes iguales, genera menos coste, pues se trabaja para cuatro compañías y se 46 • AutoRevista
Sources at Inauxa, a firm with significant international reach and an outstanding technology capacity, state, “Our strategy revolves around having a manufacturing presence on the world’s three main vehicle-making continents — Europe, America and Asia. Our aims are to adjust production capacity in Europe to current demand and to grow significantly on other continents, which is where most growth is going to come from. In our opinion, Europe is going to remain a replacement market for the next four years and will not show any growth in that time.” Sources from the company from Álava, which manufactures chassis, transmission and suspension components, among others, state, “Countries that do not have their own brands [automakers] are condemned to be cost-oriented suppliers, which means that productivity, flexibility and automation become vital to them maintaining their posi-