AD MAGAZINE 342

16 March 2018 | AutoData SUPPLIERS » REACTION CAPACITY us at the same pace. And overall it’s res- ponding well”. One of the VW initiatives was to bring BNDES suppliers closer, with the support of the manufacturer’s purchasing and fi- nancial staff. Carlos Zarlenga, president of GMMer- cosul, shares the concerns of VW’s colle- ague. He believes that “supplier capacity will be a challenge that the entire industry will have to cope with in the next three to four years by the expected growth rates.” The executive understands that for the chain “growing is difficult, it requires working capital, maintenance and invest- ments that need to be done in a time of recovery from the crisis”. One of the issues involved in the process, in its view, is that during the golden phase of the Brazilian market “many investment decisions were not the best from the point of view of effi- ciency and sustainability. Some suppliers have improvised stocks just to meet de- mand, without worrying about expertise, the quality”. So, it reveals, GM have been talking about it with its suppliers since last year trying to fill any gaps that threatens their spreadsheets. “Hopefully we’ll find the way. So far it’s working, but the strongest part of the growth has not come yet”, he warns. GM’s projection is to grow its produc- tion by 22% this year, in addition to facto- ries in Brazil and Argentina. The executive says that so far the manufacturer did not register a lack of components, partly be- cause of “rationalization work done by the supplier network during the crisis”. MORE AND EVEN MORE In turn, Nissan endorses the chorus of statistics well above Anfavea: it plans to raise its production indexes by 25% in the country in 2018, thanks to large part to the consolidation of Kicks’ local production, launched in the second half of 2017. Marco Silva, president of Nissan Brazil, reveals that for the suppliers, in practi- ce, the increase will be even greater, in addition to the growth of the production itself the manufacturer still conducts a program to increase the nationalization indexes, replacing imports. “We are now discussing with suppliers the possibility of a new increase in pro- duction beyond what is already contrac- ted”. A Nissan study found that 80% of the partners are optimistic and see this as an opportunity, but 20% have some resistan- ce . “It comes from the past three years, when some have failed to survive and those who have succeeded have barely survived. For these a reaction takes more time to happen, it depends on howmuch they are capitalized”. For this group Nissan is carrying out individualized studies, also offering finan- cial, technical and management support, even if these are restricted cases, accor- ding to Silva. Nissan works in Resende, RJ, in two full shifts, but if there is “consistency in market growth” it may even have a third shift. “We do not discard this possibility”. A person who do not share these con- cerns is Stefan Ketter, COO of FCA Latin America. For him, it’s a question of “how “There are suppliers in difficulties even to buy raw material” Pablo Di Si, Volkswagen “We do not discard the possibility of producing in three shifts in Brazil” Marco Silva, Nissan Christian Castanho Ana Colla