The industry of Navarre claims its role as an economic pillar.

Yesterday the III Encuentro Industria Diario de Navarra was held, which brought together a broad representation of the sector. Around fifty people from the business, academic, union and institutional spheres participated in the seminar.

In full “period of contrasts” characterized by the succession of “fast-paced moments”, the industry of Navarre remains as “the jewel in the crown”. With these words yesterday began the III Meeting Industry Diario de Navarra held in Cordovilla, an event organized for the publication of a supplement on the manufacturing sector, and attended by fifty key people from the business, academic, trade union and institutional. After a brief presentation by José Ignacio Roldán, of the Information Group, publishing company of Diario de Navarra, the person in charge of entering the matter was the deputy editor of the newspaper, Miguel Ángel Riezu, who highlighted the industry’s capacity to create jobs, with more than 10,500 new jobs since 2013, and wealth, whose contribution to economic activity represents 3.4% of the entire sector in Spain, twice the weight of GDP that Navarra brings to the whole nation (1, 7%). A privileged position that has been achieved thanks to a “persevering work” that began more than 50 years ago, as recognized by Riezu, and a leadership that needs a continual bet as a community to maintain itself. In the third edition of this meeting, focused on praising the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the social and economic welfare of Navarra, the protagonists were the four speakers who took part in the talk-colloquium that served as the central act. The first to speak was Elisa Genua Santamaría, director of the factory in Puente la Reina of the French multinational Schneider Electric, which addressed, among other issues, the profound transformation in which the plant went from manual production to a fully automated process. Genua was followed by Eduardo López Milagro, CEO of Gvtarra and Riberebro group, a company resulting from the merger of three family businesses with a century-old tradition. Lopez Milagro warned of the risk for the sector of entering an escalation of “falling prices”, a “bad strategy” that only leads to a reduction in wages. For Ana Monreal Vidal, co-founder of Industrial Augmented Reality (iAR), one of the keys to the success of her company is the selection of people who, beyond her experience, demonstrate a great ability to adapt. Finally, Alfonso Antoñanzas Aranguren, co-owner of the company manufacturer of refrigerated cabinets Exkal, put the most vindicative note of the day to appeal to the responsibility of companies to contribute to social and environmental sustainability. After a brief turn of questions from the audience, the event concluded with a guided tour of the newspaper’s facilities.

Young people as a challenge for new governments

The speakers at the III Diario de Navarra Industry Meeting presented their demands to the leaders that emerge after the elections.

The urgent need to provide a dignified future for the new generations was the unanimous request that the four invited speakers at the III Diario de Navarra Industry Meeting presented to the governments that emerge after the general and regional elections. With an unemployment rate of around 40% and low salaries that do not reach one thousand euros, the CEO of Gvtarra and Iberebro group, Eduardo López Milagro, pointed out that young people do not have before them a very hopeful horizon. “We are stealing the future,” he summarized. Ana Monreal Vidal, of Industrial Augmented Reality, was disappointed by the flight of young talent to other countries due to the scarce job opportunities that are presented in Spain, a concern shared by the representatives of Exkal, Alfonso Antoñanzas Aranguren, and Schneider Electric, Elisa Genua Santamaría The speakers also called on future public officials to provide solutions to other problems, such as the loss of population that is suffering in Europe, as proposed by López Milagro, or the endemic delinquency that puts companies in trouble, according to Monreal. Antoñanzas also called on politicians to harmonize legislation in the European context in order not to diminish competitiveness and Genua asked them for a “clear plan” for the future for Spain and Navarre.

The ideal employee, the one who does not stop learning

Without losing importance to the specialization achieved in the education system, companies prioritize the ability to adapt.

Beyond the academic qualifications or a long professional experience, attributes that are taken into account in the personnel selection processes, what industrial entrepreneurs value the most among the aspirants to The ideal employee, the one who does not stop learning to occupy a position of work is above all the ability to continuously learn to adapt to the changing needs of the market. This was the main conclusion to a question to the four speakers invited to the III Encuentro Industria Diario de Navarra, presented by the rector of the Public University of Navarra, Alfonso Carlosena, about the pressure exerted by the private sector on academic centers to train professionals specialized.

“The market was wrong”

Exkal came to the market in 2005 with the aim of demonstrating that what the experts said could not be achieved.

Exkal was born in 2005 with the bold idea of ​​”making it clear that the market was wrong”, according to yesterday Alfonso Antoñanzas Aranguren, co-founder of the refrigeration furniture manufacturer. The current of dominant thought said that these products had become commodities, a type of technologically very mature merchandise that needed “great efforts to obtain few benefits”. And when nobody thought it was possible, they manufactured a line of products in 2010 that reduced energy consumption by 40% in their life cycle. Such was the security of its possibilities, which set the same goal for 2015, so that consumption fell to 36%. And for 2020, they intend to reduce it another 40% to leave the mark at 22.6%. A countercurrent behavior that responded more to an “emotional” than “rational” motivation, according to Antoñanzas before those attending the III Encuentro Industria Diario de Navarra. Thanks to a clear desire for “development and growth”, Exkal has experienced a “meteoric” evolution, above all due to the commitment of its promoters to reinvest all the benefits. One of the obsessions that Antoñanzas’ entrepreneurial adventure has taken, endorsing the conclusions of the Rio de Janeiro summit, has been the importance of balancing “the economic, the ecological, and the social.” Precisely at the beginning of his speech reminded attendees that humanity consumes 70% of resources annually more than the planet is able to provide, an overexploitation that will continue to grow: “If today we do nothing, our grandchildren will have no chance ” Antoñanzas recalled that Exkal is raising in Marcilla “what will be the largest factory in the world for commercial refrigeration furniture”, a project declared of statutory interest that they intend to complete – “if someone helps us”, he dropped – before finishing this year.

Source: Diario de Navarra