Automn/Fall 2006 · nº 47
Pune
The New Engineering
Design Centre
“T”stands
for Transport
Trends
and Colours
NEWS
Published by
Grupo Antolin
Grupo Antolin is an international
company at the cutting edge of
design and production of
components for car interiors for the
automobile industry.
Present in 21 countries, it has a
workforce of more than 10, 400
employees.
Legal Deposit: M-18594-2006
EDITORIAL BOARD
Grupo Antolin
Human Resources Department
Carretera Madrid Irún, km. 244,8
E 09007 BURGOS - SPAIN
Tel. 34 947 47 77 00
Fax: 34 947 47 79 48
www.grupoantolin.com
EDITORIAL OFFICE
Department of Human Resources
Leticia Fernández
· [email protected]
DESIGN
Germán Delgado
· [email protected]
PHOTOGRAPHY
Rafa Sáiz
PRINTED BY
COIMAN
C/ Marqués de Portugalete, 16
E 28027 MADRID - ESPAÑA
Tel. 34 91 742 12 03
Fax: 34 91 742 67 81
Summary
page 3
page 4
page 8
cover Engineering Design Centre in GA Pune
designing the future Trends and Colours
page 10
page 13
page 16
report e-financing: I+D+i
the major figures “T” stands for Transport
the history corner Ford, the dream becomes a business
page 18
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
the photo
B:58
page 20
in brief News in brief
page 32
health My head hurts
page 34 on
2
in first person
the way Lower Saxony
Ernesto Antolín Vice President
Enthusiasm and drive to be best in class
What do we understand by Management Excellence?
Organisations, which stand out as an Example, base their success on two basic pillars: their
capacity to improve and standardisation.
Organisations such as Toyota have demonstrated that their learning capacity is what has made
them a worldwide reference in results, growth and management. The important thing is to learn
from mistakes and to provide our systems with feedback so these mistakes do not happen again.
This attitude maintains the equilibrium between apparently conflicting values: rigour in compliance with the rules compared with agility and efficiency to continuously improve them.
Standardisation, correctly understood, is not “to everyone’s liking”. The key to success lies in
maintaining equilibrium, in being flexible and respecting standards. These turn into bureaucracy
if they do not evolve based on the users’ experience. All of this will lead us to share knowledge,
to speak a common language and understand what others do.
The Managers guide this standardisation and learning process heading the implementation of
systems and going in depth not only into “what” but also into “how”. The Intermediate
Managers get involved in solving daily problems trying to share their “know-how” and finally
the Technicians and Workers enter improvement dynamics that will lead them to increase their
competences and move towards Excellence.
In such a competitive sector as ours, the reason to fight, innovate and wish to be the best is not
a whim, it is not an ambition, either; it is a need to SURVIVE.
This is the decisive and critical time. The turning point of the market, where the best will triumph
and the mediocre will fail.
Each and every one of the areas and activities of our Group must become immersed in this
process. Design, Development and Industrialisation must adopt these dynamics.
We have potential, knowledge and opportunities within GA to be a leading company on a worldwide level. In January this year we launched SP (Grupo Antolin Production System) in our company as a Strategic Improvement Initiative that reinforces both learning and standardisation in
each and every one of our companies and managements. We are all going to have to give our
time and efforts to implement it. It is also going to require an important management commitment. We must not fall into the normal trap whereby solving daily complications does not allow
us to work properly. We must spend time on initiatives such as the one proposed, which are going
to prevent the existence of the day’s, week’s, month’s and next year’s problem.
...in first person
The epigraph of this editorial is one of Grupo Antolin’s VALUES, included in our Policy and
Strategy. This value spurs us on to be the best in product, process and management. We often
focus only on product and process excellence, but what also distinguishes the best companies in
the world is their MANAGEMENT excellence.
The Grupo top management is going pay special attention to how the implementation of the
SPGA advances. I am sure that with the support and commitment of the whole executive team
maximum we will obtain maximum yield from this important initiative.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin
3
COVER
Inauguration of NEW
Design Centre of Grupo Antolin
in PUNE
The opening ceremony for the new facility of the Grupo Antolin Pune Engineering Design
Centre on 4th. July by some members of the Board of Directors and local executives. The
Centre houses the corporate wing in this country apart from giving service to all companies
worldwide.
Last July, Maria Helena Antolin as the
DEOM Director, Pablo Baroja as DOAPP
Director and Ismael Del Moral, as Graphic Engineering representative graced this
occasion and opened the new facilities
of Grupo Antolin Pune in India: the Pune
Engineering Design Centre.
4
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
Although the old centre was located in
the heart of the city, last year’s growth
in the company begged a move to bigger
facilities.
Near to the city airport , the new facility
is located in a technologically upbeat Gi-
ga Space Information Technology Park
located in Viman Nagar, the newly developed suburb of Pune. A lot of effort has
been put in to making this facility a very
functional and comfortable place to work
bearing in mind the aesthetic sense and
a pleasing colour scheme.
Near to the
city airport,
the new
facility is
located in a
technologically
upbeat Giga
Space
Information
Technology
Park located in
Viman Nagar,
the newly
developed
suburb of
Pune.
The new centre is spread over 6500
sq.feet. The facility boasts various functional spaces, which also include a cafeteria and well appointed conference
rooms. The Design Centre will also house
the corporate wing of Grupo Antolin
Pune. The design centre has also set up
a CAE department to boost the allied design services and has started offering
meshing, static and dynamic simulation
services.
A piece of history
Grupo Antolin started its India operations
in 1996 with its strategy of accompanying its customers in various geographies
with its manufacturing plant in Ranjangaon. The think tank at Grupo Antolin
headquarters soon realised the growth
potential exhibited by the Asian automotive market and by the Indian Automotive market in particular. They also felt
that there is a vast pool of qualified engineers available in this region that can
work in the design and development
area if trained adequately. Thus a very
big decision was made to create a Global Resource for Design and Engineering for all the Grupo Antolin facilities.
The design facility had a very modest
beginning with an office of 1200 sq feet
and 3 workstations. The designers who
started with low priority 2D to 3D conversion jobs are currently integral parts of important project teams. The design centre operates in two shifts there by offering the customers a faster turn around
time. Even though the set up was small,
the investment was made rightfully in
creating a very robust IT infrastructure.
All the designers were trained initially
in Spain by the Graphics Engineering
team. Today the training plan for news
employees includes a three-month training period at the Headquarters in Burgos.
Right from the beginning the design centre was benefited by great support from
Graphic Engineering heads in Spain, the
Department of Asia Pacific and top
management of GA Pune.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin
5
Pablo Baroja -
From the internal to
the external
customer
The design centre has always consolidated before taking on the new customers
within the group. Grupo Antolin Ingeneria at Burgos was the first customer in
2002 followed by GA North America in
2003. The first co-ordinator Satish
Athavale was placed at the customer
location in 2003 at GA North America.
The centre has subsequently provided
services to other Group Companies like
Grupo Antolin France in Grupo Antolin
Loire, Grupo Antolin Deutschland or
Grupo Antolin Japan. This year the
design centre has made further inroads
into Grupo Antolin companies with
initiating services to Grupo Antolin Transport, Grupo Antolin Vosges in France,
and Grupo Antolin Bohemia in the Czech
Republic. Since this time, our designers
have worked onsite in various Grupo
Antolin facilities at Burgos, Auburn Hills,
Elsendorf, Colon, Velizy, Vosges, Loire
and Hiroshima. It can be noted that designers from GA Pune have represented
Grupo Antolin as the first line to the customer at Ford Cologne and also at
Mazda, Hiroshima.
Thus it can be seen that the GA Design
centre is providing key design resources
to almost all the important GA Design Locations worldwide. Our engineers have
also benefited hugely on account of
these onsite stints. They have used these
opportunities to learn various design
guidelines, procedures and standards.
The same have been imparted to the
team back home. The designers have
now worked on almost all the product
lines of Grupo Antolin including the new
ones like sunroof mechanisms and magnesium parts.
After proving its capabilities in the Grupo
Antolin engineering centres the Design
centre has been providing design
services to Indian Automobile majors
like Tata Motors, Mahindra And Mahindra and Maruti Udyog since 2005. With
India being poised as one of the emerging automobile markets, the design centre plans to target more external customers in the years to come.
DOAAP Director
Vilas Unavane -
Mª Helena Antolin -
CEO India
DEOM Director
* The President of the Spanish Government,
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was supposed to
have attended the inauguration ceremony but
it was cancelled on account of the sad train accident in Valencia. GA Pune Team expresses
solidarity for the victims of this train tragedy.
Ayay Apte
6
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
GA Pune Design&Engineering Centre General Manager
I feel really proud to be associated with Engineering Design
Centre right from its inception in 2002 and honoured to be
heading it currently. I was really lucky to join in the first batch
of 4 designers. The current strength of the design centre is
54 designers and 6 support staff and is one of the largest design and engineering resources for the entire group. The future plans for the design centre include ISO/CMM certification, participation in concurrent engineering programs for
automotive companies and capacity expansion. It really is a
great feeling that we are able to be the central resource for
all the Grupo Antolin Companies located all across the world.
It is a difficult task to be able to adjust to the various stringent requirements of these internal customers but our designers have exhibited a lot of skill and efforts to achieve a degree of customer satisfaction with all our customers. It was not
easy but we could pull it off with constant guidance and
support from Burgos Design Centre. For me it has been
such a satisfying and challenging journey, which I cherish a lot.
Ajay Apte
GA Pune Design&Engineering
Centre General Manager
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin
7
DESIGNING THE FUTURE
TRENDS
&
Colours
CHARACTER
A combination of t
radition and rebelliousness o
n a palette
with dark colours
Colour is a powerful communication
tool that can be used to create and
strengthen the image of a product.
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
FRESH
The sun, the sea...
are the main topics.
A carefree and easy-going attitude.
Colour
Sophistication and experimentation with respect to colour are increasing day by day. By
this, we are not merely referring to its implantation but also to the analysis of its relationship with space and its psychological
effects.
Warmth and coldness concern thermal sensations. Colours somehow manage to convey the following feelings to us:
Warm colours in light shades, creams and
pinks, suggest gentleness, femininity, kindness and hospitality; and darker tones with
a predominance of red: vitality, power,
wealth and stability.
Cold colours in light shades express gentleness, coolness, expansion, relaxation, solitude and hope; and darker tones with a predominance of blue: melancholy, discretion, mystery and depression. We can also
“warm up” or “cool down” a colour by
mixing it with one from the other type.
Apart from an object’s shape, the infinite
number of ways a colour can be blended
is an extremely versatile resource for the
effective transmission of all sorts of sensations.
8
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
COTERIE
Red colour,
fresh graphics,
energy and strength
Change is in the air
This change will mean saying goodbye to the
extravagant colours used in previous seasons. Simple motifs will emerge during the
spring/summer of 2007 and there will be an
abundance of subtle themes, refined neutral colours and different shades of black.
Many of us will welcome the arrival of harmonies of colour with a simple, normal and
natural appearance. Colours we are already
familiar with and which fit in perfectly with
our environment but which have been reinvented through the use of new combinations and treatments. Sweet colours will still
continue, but with a strange, disconcerting
appearance.
This is a reflection of the time in which
we live, in which most of us would rather
pass through the city unnoticed, instead of
standing out in the crowd.
2007
According to the guide on mixing trends, FUTURE INTERIORS,
2007 will be noticeably influenced by the following themes: WHIMSY,
FRESH, COTERIE and CHARACTER, represented by those images
reflecting some of the materials, motifs and objects that are characteristic
of each one, along with the colours that represent them.
The need for peace and quiet, and also just
the opposite: the desire for excitement and
adventure.
We want tradition and authenticity but at
the same time we are enthralled by the
high technology of tomorrow.
Designers are aware of the significance of
contrasting colours, using such confrontation to highlight and give importance to
small details. Apart from this technique,
they also use contrasting finishes and materials, such as, for instance, the combination of matt and satin finishes, or warm
materials such as wool and technological
materials such as steel.
In response to these demands, which are
a contradiction in terms, designers propose
meeting the two halfway, by creating futuristic relics that achieve a perfect balance
between an ethnic/handcrafted work and
a modern/industrialised product.
WHIMSY
A very feminine tendency t
hat combines fragility
with strength.
Slovenly but elegant
otoño 2006 · noticias grupo antolin
9
REPORT
efinancing: I+D+i
in the Financial Management of Grupo Antolín
Tools such as QFD (Quality Function Deployment), FMEA, Benchmarking or statistical
process analysis, which have been used until now almost exclusively to develop products and
process in industrial areas, have been used to design across the board processes of a financial
nature, providing a customer-orientated approach and resulting in robust and error-proof
processes.
GRUPO ANTOLIN ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT
The latest technologies in process design and
implementation can also be applied in the financial area. Following the Design for Six
Sigma (DFSS) system, the Financial Planning and Treasury and IT Systems Departments, both of which form part of the Economic-Financial Departament have developed the following processes:
How do we accomplish this? There are
different ways, one of them being liquidity centralisation.
· Centralised Liquidity Management
· Electronic Auto-billing
· Financing to Suppliers
What is required for optimum operation?
A financial entity that is present in the majority of countries where the Group is also
present. In our case, ABN AMRO. A common ERP* for all companies, In the Case
of Grupo Antolin, this is SAP R3.
Centralised
Liquidity
Management
What does this centralisation consist of?
The creation of an in-house bank, that is,
Grupo Antolin Irausa becomes the Bank for
the Group’s companies.
Access to financial resources is limited for
all economies; likewise, all resources have
a price that we must reduce to a minimum.
We, therefore, have to efficiently optimise
these financial resources.
* ERP- Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs)
10
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
ABN-AMRO. A financial entity that is
present in the majority of countries
where the Grupo Antolin
is also present.
Grupo Antolin is one
of the first Spanish
companies to
implement the
centralised liquidity
management system
in so many countries
Esquema explicativo de la
Autofacturación electrónica
G.A.
ERP
Extranet
Customer’s
supplier portal
File
Order
Invoice
Invoice
Supllier
An invoice is
generated
The supplier
accedes to visualize
How does it operate? We are going to
see it step by step in a simple and very summarised manner:
Each company opens an account for every
currency it works with, with the chosen financial entity, receiving all the collections
directly in the account and making all the
payments from this same account.
Every day the balance resulting from each
account of each company, either debtor
or creditor, is automatically transferred
to a Grupo Antolin Irausa account in each
country. Later and automatically, too, the
balances of these accounts are transferred
to a main account of Grupo Antolin Irausa.
This whole process is known as Cross Border Cash Pooling.
Finally a process known as National Pooling is applied to the balances of each account. This consists of applying a mean of
the creditor and debtor interest rates of all
the accounts in foreign currencies.
What do we accomplish with this
process?
· Eliminate inactive balances in the
companies.
· Reduce financial costs.
· Reduce administrative tasks.
· Increase the Group’s financial capacity.
· Speed up the Group’s liquidity
management.
Visualization of
invoices
The signed
invoice is stored
It is signed
digitally
Notification is
sent to the
Supplier
This system is applied by the majority of
the multinationals and our Group is one of
the first Spanish companies to implement
this system in so many countries.
the customer’s supplier portal.
The process started with the European
companies and has continued throughout
this year with the American companies.
Every fortnight the customer automatically generates the autobills in SAP, taking:
on the one hand, the prices from the file
managed by the Supplier Administration
Management and on the other, the entries
registered in the customer’s warehouse.
Electronic
Autobilling
The traditional invoicing or billing that
we all know consists of the supplier, who
supplies a material or renders a service,
sending an invoice to his customer for him
to give his conformity and if appropriate
proceed with payment on the date established.
In Autobilling the relationship is the opposite way round, that is, it is the customer
who sends the invoice to the supplier, corresponding to the material delivered or
service rendered.
This system, which is used by the majority of companies in the car industry, has
been used as the basis to develop a totally new system: The E-Autobill.
How does this process work? The supplier needs to have access to Grupo Antolin
Both supplier and customer sign an agreement that governs the operation.
The system automatically detects possible
errors in prices and quantities.
The representatives digitally sign the autobills to send them to the suppliers’ portal.
The supplier accesses the portal and downloads the autobill:
· On pdf format for printing and filing.
· On xml format, which, with a valid
certificate, will enable it to be filed on
electronic support, so it is not necessary to file it on paper.
If the supplier has an incident with the autobill he informs the customer of this
through the portal.
What are the advantages of this
process?
· The administrative work is reduced, the
invoices or bills no longer “travel”
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 11
· Administrative costs are reduced.
· Invoices do not get lost.
· The state of the account receivable or
payable is known.
· The collection and payment date is
guaranteed.
· Claims for incidents are speeded up.
What does the Grupo Antolin project
consist of? To solve this problem we have
eliminated the communication to the financial entity and therefore the communication from this entity to the supplier, reducing the time from forty-five days to
one day.
This new process has already been implemented in the Spanish companies of the
Group and it will gradually be implemented in the rest of the Group companies.
How have we managed this? Using the
suppliers’ portal as an “on line” communication channel between customer, supplier and financial entity with the collaboration of Caja de Burgos bank.
Financing to Suppliers
How does the process work?
· The supplier signs a contract with the
financial entity.
· Once our group companies have
generated our suppliers’ autobills, their
representatives sign them electronically.
· The relative settlements go automatically to the suppliers’ portal.
· Through the portal the supplier selects
the Group company and the bills he
wishes to receive payment for in advance.
· Once the selection has been made, our
Server establishes contact with the Caja de Burgos Server.
· Caja de Burgos returns the financial calculations.
· If the supplier agrees to the operation, he
accepts it and the information is sent
to Caja de Burgos through the portals of
both entities and under a secure connection.
· Finally, the portal of Caja de Burgos confirms the operation and the supplier can
dispose of his funds immediately.
Confirming is a financial product whereby a financial entity and a customer sign an
agreement to offer financing to the suppliers of this customer.
This product works as follows:
· The customer sends the financial entity
the list of payments to be made on a
certain date.
· The Financial Entity sends a notification
to the suppliers offering them the early
collection of their invoices at a specific
price and without remedy.
· If the supplier accepts the conditions,
the financial entity will transfer the
relative funds to him.
What are the advantages of
this product?
· The supplier receives payment for his
invoices in advance and without
remedy.
· The supplier achieves financing for his
working capital without having to
provide corporate guarantees.
· The supplier can use these guarantees
to finance his investments.
· As there is no remedy they improve his
balance ratios and therefore his
financial image.
The main problem with this product is the
time that elapses from the transmission of
the supplier’s invoice to the customer and
the receipt of the financing order from the
financial entity, which, on average, usually takes around forty-five days
12
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
What do we accomplish with this project?
Offer our suppliers a service.
Let’s imagine that the financial manager
of one of our group’s suppliers is away
from his office and they inform him that
he has to make an unforeseen payment
and therefore does not have the relative
allowance.
We help him; he only needs a computer
with Internet access, to connect to our portal and follow the process described. His
problem has been solved.
THE MAJOR FIGURES
“T” stands for
Transport
Grupo Antolin Transport
The mission of Grupo Antolin Transport is to “be a worldwide referent in the railway interior
design sector, in the aeronautical sector and in other transport sectors, being able to satisfy
customers' needs (related to innovation, development, service, time, quality and cost), within
an environment of competitiveness and profitability for the shareholders.”
rupo Antolin Transport (previously
Grupo Antolin FFI), is located in the
airport of Andrézieux Bouthéon
(La Plaine industrial estate), 15 Km from St.
Etienne and about 30 Km from the old
facilities in Roche La Moliere.
G
Becoming that worldwide referent and
satisfying that mission are based mainly
on a strategy of growth supported by four
basic pillars-Customer, Product, Leadership
and Globalisation- and of course, sustained
and guaranteed by QUALITY.
The year 2006 has been, and is still being,
a hard and crucial year for the future of Grupo Antolin Transport.
On the one hand, the transfer of the facilities to more modern and appropriate facilities for the type of product we manufacture and will manufacture in the near future, has represented a considerable effort
in all aspects (technical, human, organisation, economic, etc.). On the other hand,
and in the second half of the year, the
foam integration and start-up of the main
railway projects, which will act as a basis for
growth for the coming years, have represented a clear wager on integration, diversification and customer service as maxims for our daily work.
The presence of Grupo Antolin Transport
in the railway sector is consolidated. Its
presence in the most important projects of
the international panorama also increases,
sharing in the growth of rail transport
(both in Europe and outside). The railway market is clearly growing all over the
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 13
GA Transport facilities
Main clients
to date of today
world, and these are markets where we
are present both directly and indirectly and
therefore we can clearly satisfy our customers' needs.
Grupo Antolin Transport wagers in a decisive way on part of this growth being supported by greater diversification, which will
enable us to offer the customer an integration of all their systems that make up and
will make up the interior design of trains
in the future.
Grupo Antolin Transport is also present in
the aeronautical sector, manufacturing
foam and seats, as well as in the coach and
bus market, with a great perspective for
growth in the medium and long term.
Our current CUSTOMER panorama will
change considerably over the coming years
(short and medium term) and new customers will appear, who will consolidate the
international presence of Grupo Antolin
Transport.
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news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
Related to PRODUCT; in the railway sector, we wager on the consolidation of the
current ranges, increasing them, completing them and developing them with
respect to design (more modern and integrated), with respect to modularity and the
application of new materials (magnesium,
fabrics, etc.) as well as related to ergonomic studies, which will enable us to offer
our end customers greater comfort and enjoyment, incorporating new ideas that
will permit a clear weight reduction. Always, of course, satisfying the most demanding crash, fire and smoke standards
and requirements, and not forgetting the
need to do all of this within an environment
of economic competitiveness.
The railway seats are configured, for the
moment, in three ranges (Asiano Range, Alcea Range and Apremia Range), with all the
possible variants in each configuration.
With regards to the aeronautical sector,
this is based on the development of a com-
INTEGRA is a
group of
companies
with a common
interest:
railway interior
design. It is
here where
Grupo Antolin
Transport is
the leader in
function
integration and
interior design
projects
Intercity Bus
Product Development.
Significant lightening.
3-point seat-belt.
Urban buses
Extension of Asiano
range
railway sector seats manufacture
plete range of seats, applying the same basic concepts as in the railway sector, but developing them beyond the traditional concept of plane seats that exists on the market today.
The coach and bus seats (each one in their
range) will seek to revolutionise the market
with a clear wager on the introduction of
new materials that will considerably help
reduce their weight, favouring the integration of three-point seatbelts, without encumbering vehicle structures, permitting
lighter and safer designs than those that
exist today.
The product strategy also includes diversification towards systems or subsystems
that may or may not be integrated with the
seats, miscellaneous accessories and/or services, which configure a complete range of
customer support and service. Different
strategies have been developed to achieve
this, highlighting INTEGRA ... among them.
INTEGRA is a group of companies with a
common interest: railway interior design.
It is here where Grupo Antolin Transport
is the leader in function integration and
interior design projects.
Our third pillar for development and
growth is LEADERSHIP, either with previous
initiatives such as INTEGRA or other future
initiatives that are currently in a development and implementation phase, and in innovation, a fundamental piece to attain
and to remain in a position of clear leadership of the sector.
coach and bus
sector
seats manufacture
And finally, we reach our fourth pillar: GLOBALISATION. Nowadays we cannot hope
to give our international customers a service just from France. We must, either directly or indirectly, and with the support
from the Grupo Antolin companies on a
worldwide level, give total coverage that
will enable us to clearly stand out from
our competitors, taking advantage of markets, prices, organisation and structure.
This strategy supported by these four pillars
will enable Grupo Antolin Transport to
become a leader of the sector, giving that
added value that is demanded so much
by the sector or the sectors.
Aeronautics foam
Year 2010 is the key materialisation date for
all the expectations placed in the strategic plan.
aeronautical sector seats manufacture
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 15
THE HISTORY CORNER
Few companies
are as closely identified with
the history and development
of industry and society
throughout the 20th century
as Ford Motor Company.
Ford Motor Company entered
the business world on June
16th, 1903, when Henry Ford
and 11 business associates
with $28,000 in cash gave
birth to what was to become
one of the world's largest
corporations.
The Dream
becomes a business
Michigan, US) in 1913, the new technique
allowed individual workers to stay in one
place and perform the same task repeatedly on multiple vehicles that passed by
them. The line proved tremendously efficient, helping the company far surpass
the production levels of their competitorsand making the vehicles more affordable.
s with most great enterprises, Ford
Motor Company's beginnings
were modest. The company had
anxious moments in its infancy. The earliest record of a shipment is July 20 th,
1903, approximately one month after
incorporation, to a Detroit physician. With
the company's first sale came hope a
young Ford Motor Company had taken its
first steps.
The First Vehicles
Perhaps Ford Motor Company's greatest
contribution to automotive manufacturing was the moving assembly line. First implemented at the Highland Park plant (in
Henry Ford insisted that the company's future lay in the production of affordable
cars for a mass market. Beginning in
A
16
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
1903, the company began using the first
19 letters of the alphabet to name new
cars. In 1908, the Model T was born. 19
years and 15 million Model T's later - in
“any colour you want so long as it’s
black!” - Ford Motor Company was a giant industrial complex that spanned the
globe. In 1925, Ford Motor Company
acquired the Lincoln Motor Company,
thus branching out into luxury cars, and
in the 1930's, the Mercury division was
created to establish a division centred
on mid-priced cars. Ford Motor Company
was growing.
“Whether you think you can or whether you
think you cannot, it is true”
Henry Ford
Becoming a Global
Company
In the 50's came the Thunderbird and the
chance to own a part of Ford Motor Company. The company went public and, on
Feb. 24, 1956, had about 350,000 new
stockholders. Henry Ford II's keen perception of political and economic trends in
the 50's led to the global expansion of
FMC in the 60's, and the establishment of
Ford of Europe in 1967, 20 years ahead of
the European Economic Community's arrival. The company established its North
American Automotive Operations in
1971, consolidating U.S., Canadian, and
Mexican operations more than two
decades ahead of the North American
Free Trade Agreement.
strategic point of view.
The Future
But, who is The Ford
Motor Company
today?
Nowadays The Ford Motor Company embraces a number of very well known
brands: nd Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda,
Mercury, Lincoln and Ford itself. Over the
past few years we have seen closer cooperation between these brands from Engineering, Purchasing and Manufacturing
The Ford Motor Company is forever changing, for the future we need to understand
these changes and put ourselves in a position to present advantages to our customer
as a result of these changes. The future? The
supplier base is being reduced and for the
future the customer is looking for companies that can offer world-class levels of engineering capability, global presence, commitment to Total Quality and competitive
pricing across the whole spectrum of interior commodities; in short they are looking
for suppliers like Grupo Antolin.
Ford and Grupo Antolin
The history of Grupo Antolin is linked to the recent
growth of The Ford Motor Company;our expansion over
the past twenty years reflects the changes that Ford Motor Company has undergone.
These changes include many aspects of our business:
Globalisation: if you overlay the manufacturing
presence of Grupo Antolin with that of Ford you can
see the evidence of this “follow Ford” philosophy.
Modularisation: in 1996 we supplied the first
modular headliner to Ford Valencia for the Ka.
Nowadays we supply modules to many of our customers
around the world and in particular around 1.2 million
modules per year to The Ford Motor Company in Europe.
Pan-Brand expansion: as Ford has acquired additional brands so our opportunity to develop these
brands as customers as also expanded.
Multi product supply: Ford wants suppliers to be
able to supply a variety of products within the car.
Today we supply headliners, hard trim, parcel shelves
and seat mechanisms as well as providing JIT logistics
services.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 17
THE PHOTO
B58:
a car interior meant
to be shared
18
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
The unveiling of the new Citroen C4 Picasso at the 2006 Paris Motor
Show marks the beginning of a new adventure for the B58 project.
Grupo Antolin ARDASA, Grupo Antolin
VIGO and Grupo PSA have, for the first
time, accepted the challenge of
turning the interior of this people
carrier into a place that provides
comfort, encourages sharing and
makes life a whole lot easier for the
occupants.
Thanks to the ingenious functioning of
its seats, the fast and easy modularity of
the Xsara Picasso substitute permits up
to seven people to travel comfortably
inside. Attention is drawn, in this
respect, to the specific reclining
mechanism, which is the only one of its
kind on the market, and developed
entirely by Grupo Antolin. With its
original arrangement of seat kinematics,
it enables movement of the cushion and
backrest to be combined using a single
remote control, leaving a continuous,
flat, lightweight, and open-plan floor in
the vehicle, made possible by the use of
a novel magnesium seat frame.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 19
IN BRIEF
Many of you will enjoy this
original Outdoor training which
the Human Resources Department has prepared for you in
order to: raise the participants’
awareness in Grupo Antolin
Values and show, trial after trial, the critical factors that intervene in each one of them. It is a
question of exchanging the office for the countryside for a day
and a half and through the common theme of an “Expedition
to the Tibet of Values” get
though activities posed as challenges until the team success is
attained. Do you fancy it? The
challenge has been launched.
At the monastery of Santa
María de Bujedo, on 7th and 8th
September, the team of professionals forming part of the
DEOM (Department of Strategic Operations for Improvement) were the first in taking
part in this iniciative.
Sometimes there is nothing
like an example to clarify the
precise meaning of a concept
and that is exactly what we
have achieved with these
News
in Brief
work sessions. By means of
various different tests, of
greater or lesser complexity,
we have endeavoured to clarify the values represented by
words such as: Pro-activity, Ingenuity and Creativity, or Determination to be the best,
and thus all of these ideas
have taken on a new and
more realistic meaning.
We have also discovered new
personal skills that we might
never have had the opportunity to test, but, above all, we
have seen our colleagues as
people who are willing to offer us help whenever necessary. We were all surprised by
our capacity for reflection and
self-criticism and realised that
when working as a team, 1+1
adds up to much more than 2.
In these two days working
outside our normal environment, the opportunity to get
to know ourselves a little better and, above all, the experience of working side by side
with our colleagues has made
us feel proud to belong to this
Group.
values · values · values · values · values · values · values · values
Real-life
experience
of the
Grupo
Antolin
VALUES
“Express
your
feelings”:
2006 Work
Climate
Survey
· Focus on the customer
· Ingenuity and
creativity
· Agility and flexibility
· Enthusiasm and drive
to be best in class
· Team Spirit
· Respect for individuals
and their
individualism
· To be proactive
· Job well done
· Tenacity to achieve
goals (Purpose)
· Availability and
inclimation to take
over responsabilities
everywhere
· Integrity and ethical
behavior
In 2006, we are hoping to assess the opinion of all the
Grupo Antolin employees once
again, in order to get to know
first hand the “opinion and feelings” of the employees that
form part of the company all
over the globe.
The aim of this work climate
study, within the framework of
the Values of our Group, is to
offer employees the chance
to objectively and sincerely express their perceptions about
different processes, projects, results, decisions, procedures,
etc. as well as their desires in order to achieve an even better
work environment.
From DRH we intend to encourage everyone to take part
in the survey as this time it will
enable us to channel the employees’ opinions through an
official tool, making them
known and taking them into
account to manage to optimise
our “Climate” even more.
20
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
New AUDI
Q7 comes
from
BRATISLAVA
Grupo Antolin LOGISTIK
DEUTSCHLAND GmbH:
Reliable partner of the
car industry
Grupo Antolin becomes
consolidated as one of the key
suppliers in the interior
module area, with a logistics
centre for Volkswagen Sachsen in Crimmitschau.
Logistics centres represent an
important pillar in the production of Volkswagen vehicles in
the region. Grupo Antolin, an
important supplier of interior parts for VW since 1999,
has joined forces with them
to create one of these logistics centres for Volkswagen
Sachsen in Crimmitschau.
Why Crimmitschau? Apart
from it being close to the customer, it has good communications and excellent infrastructures. It also has the
city’s support.
In the beginning, only the
production of modular headliners was the object of contract relations with Volkswagen Sachsen. However, the
reliability together with the
constant improvement in all
the processes formed the basis for a continuous increase
of the production volume. It
started off with a turnover of
approximately 14 million euros and now, the turnover for
2006 is scheduled to be
more than 50 million euros.
This has logically had a positive effect on employment.
The staff started out with 20
employees and now there are
more than 130. This figure also includes a considerable
number of women employees from Crimmitschau and
its surrounding area.
Apart from continuing to
work as a reliable partner of
the car industry, the company
concentrates its activities on
searching for new opportunities through different collaborations in the area. Another
important challenge, in this
regard, is the future participation in the initiative developed
by Volkswagen Sachsen to
create a “Automobilregionalcluster Suedwestsachsen”.
Here the company sees the
possibility of sharing its experiences and ideas to contribute to improving the location of Sachsen.
Thanks to our results in terms
of external and internal ppm or
logistics services handling thousands of variants which were
confirmed by the A-supplier
certificate, Grupo Antolin has
won the tender for next VWGroup-SUV AUDI Q7 (at
that time named Pikes Peak).
The Audi brand stands for a
top technology car maker
with a typical slogan “Vorsprung durch Technik“, which
could be translated in English
as “Audi technology“. Grupo
Antolin could follow this culture. Our Ingolstadt team has
developed a new headliner
module in a very short time.
During this year we had a
chance to optimise our internal processes and met client
requirements following our internal lean manufacturing.
Whilst robots and automatic
machines are important, our
money is on our people. We
are working with our colleagues, building UET teams
and raising the knowledge
and skill level of all our human
resources. We invest time to
train our teams methodically
and organise safe and appropriate working conditions.
Grupo Antolin Bratislava has
been delivering headliner
modules for Volkswagen
Touareg and Porsche Cayenne
since 2001. This higher and
luxurious car segment combined with high qualitative demands from our client Volkswagen AG proved our capabilities. GA-Bratislava as a
Just-in-Time plant provides full
service to our client and eliminates potential logistics or
qualitative problems from the
whole supply chain.
When the Q7 is positioned at
all markets over the world, we
are lucky to have the opportunity to supply headliner modules working non-stop over
the week. We are also waiting
and preparing also for the
new facelift of the Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche
Cayenne at the end of this
year and to gain a new project
for PSA Slovakia.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 21
BRAZIL, a
wager on
success
that is now
ten years
old
that have marked and still
mark our existence in this
country.
For many, ten years simply
mean the passage of time, but
for others, ten years give rise to
a story.
One important conquest to be
highlighted, which has been
accomplished in this decade by
the Brazilian companies of the
Group, is the consolidation of
the companies’ financial situation. We owe this, to a great
extent, to José Maria Astobieta,
who, with a firm pulse and
strategic vision, has taken the
three companies to satisfactory financial profitability levels.
For Grupo Antolin BRASIL, ten
years have created a success
story. And success stories
must be full of conquests; and
for TRIMTEC, INTERTRIM and
IRAMEC there have been
quite a few. Here, in chronological order, is a summary of
the most significant events
Finally, the management of our
companies in Brazil wishes to
use these lines to express its
thanks to all the workers. It
also counts on their customary collaboration to consolidate
our present and future conquests even more in the coming decade.
Trimtec
Intertrim
Iramec
Here, in chronological order, is a summary of the most significant events that
have marked and still mark our existence in this country.
TRIMTEC
INTERTRIM
IRAMEC
1996
1st customer: FORD
First customers:
VOLKSWAGEN, FORD, GM
Incorporation of company
between G. Antolin y Kuster
1997
New customer:
VOLKSWAGEN
Start of manufacture
of modular roofs (Ford Ka)
First customer: VOLKSWAGEN
1998
QS9000 Certification
New customer:
RENAULT QS9000 Certification
New customers: RENAULT, FORD
QS9000 certification
1999
Quality award - VW
2000
Start of injected technology
- GOL G3
Development in USA
with Ford –Amazon Project
2001
New customer: PSA
ISO/TS16949certification First GA
Start of operation of the
Curitiba site and the Camaçari
site (JIT operations)
New customer: Nissan)
New customer - VW
ISO/TS16949 certification First GA
Start of product development
activities such as codesign VW
ISO/TS16949 certification –
First GA
2002
New customers: TOYOTA,
GM,HONDA, FIAT
New customers: AUDI y FIAT
Start of sunshade manufacture
New customer: TOYOTA
New customer: PEUGEOT
2003
VOLKSWAGEN
Development award
New customer: HONDA
New customer: CITROEN
2004
TOYOTA award
Start of operation
of Curitiba site
ISO/TS16949:2002 Certification
ISO/TS16949:2002 Certification
Best GA Company award
ISO/TS16949:2002 certification
2005
New customer: RENAULT
ISO 14001: 2004 certification
ISO 14001: 2004 Certification
New customer: VW Camiones
2006
Q1 award - FORD
Q1 award - FORD
Inauguration of
new plant – Taubaté
ISO 14001:2004 Audit
22
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
New customer: AUDI
Start of operations at Curitiba site
UITENHAGE
JIT:
we are
moving to
NMB
logistics
park
A solid project timing plan,
dedicated and committed team
members plus passion and execution made possible a successful move of Uitenhage JIT to
NMB LOGISTICS PARK
last July.
In May of this year, we made
the decision to move the facility which assembles the Golf
& Jetta (Bora) Modular Headliners, to the NMB Logistics Park.
Six weeks later, we were ready
to supply the first sequenced
unit to VWSA with no problems
whatsoever.
The fact that the timing (from
the point of decision to the relocation date) was only six
weeks, and that we moved all
the equipment in the space of
a day and a half, is a phenomenal achievement. What was
even more phenomenal, was
that on Saturday 1st July 2006,
we were assembling units for
delivery to VWSA until 14:30
that afternoon, and only then
moved all the equipment to the
new facility, to be ready at
06:00 on 3rd July 2006. Just one
day and a half!
Q1
Award for SOLIHULL
Although we have been officially recognised as a Q1 supplier since
15th December 2005, the presentation ceremony for this award
took place recently, in Grupo Antolin’s installations in Solihull
(United Kingdom) on 12th September 2005.
LUSITANIA
opens its
doors
again
As is our custom, the 9th
“Open Day” was held at
Grupo Antolin Lusitania, and
honoured by the presence of the
VIPs: our families and friends.
The event was very popular
and, as the visitors arrived,
they were divided into groups
and accompanied by their corresponding guide on a visit
round the company grounds
along pre-set routes.
After the usual welcome by
our director, Ramón Ilarri,
there was a presentation of
our products as well as some
of the company’s own curiosities. The visit continued with a
tour round the various workstations, accompanied by
demonstrations of some of
our processes.
Local dealers provided us
with various different vehicles, which remained on
show all over the factory.
However, the Micra Cabrio
was unquestionably the fo-
cus of attention for everyone
present.
The day’s event was rounded
off by the traditional serving of
a Spanish wine, during which
a small parting gift was offered
by the company as a souvenir.
It is worth mentioning the
positive comments made by
the visitors, in particular those
of people that had attended
on previous occasions and always find something that has
changed ‘for the better’. We
take advantage of these commentaries to thank the group
in charge of organising this
event for all their effort, and
also those who volunteered to
act as guides, photographers,
assistants during the prize-giving ceremony, and possibly
the most important duty of
all: working on the production
lines. We would not like to
overlook the presence of colleagues from other companies belonging to the group,
like G. A. PGA, G.A. Plasbur
and G. A. Vigo, as well as suppliers and local entities, such
as the Escuela Superior de
Ciencias Empresariales (Higher School of Business Studies),
City Council, etc. And last but
not least, our families and
friends.
The JIT for headliners at Grupo
Antolin Kent in Solihull has recently been awarded the “Q1
Award” by the Ford Motor
Corp., which means it has
reached the highest level of
quality in the automobile industry for TIER1 suppliers.
Pedro Santesteban, as the
main representative of the UK
territory and Belén de Pedro,
Quality Manager for the
Group in the Headliners department, attended the award
ceremony, thereby accompanying all the members of the
Solihull team at such a special time.
On behalf of the Ford group,
the ceremony was attended
by the team of STAs, Mark
Richardson (STA engineer), Paco Taronger (STA manager)
and Bjorn Sallen (Senior STA
Manager) as well as Jackie
Evans, and Alan Edwards on
behalf of the Sales Department for Jaguar and Land
Rover, who presented the
award to the company director, Salvador Peris, and his
team.
The Q1 Award offers an important foundation for the future, with the award winner
being duty-bound to provide
irrefutable proof of their performance at such standard on
a daily basis.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 23
CSIC students visit
Grupo Antolin
Putting theory into practice.
Students from the High-level
Plastics and Rubber Specialisation Course offered by the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología
de los Polímeros (Institute of
Polymer Science and Technology) at CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) visited the Group’s facilities in June, to gain
first-hand knowledge of what
the company is really about.
The visit organised for these students in the company of the
course coordinator, Dr. Fernando Catalina, commenced at
12.30 midday on 22nd June
at Grupo Antolin Plasbur, where
they were given the opportunity to see how a factory works
along with the various different
processes that are available. After the visit, they went to the
Group’s Head Office to acquaint
themselves with the world of
R+D+i, and were shown round
the various different laboratories, workshops, etc.
The long-standing High-level
Plastics and Rubber Specialisa-
tion Course commenced activity in 1958, although it was not
until 1961 that the Ministry of
Education and Science recognised it as an Official Degree.
With such studies it is hoped to
promote a high level of specialisation in plastics and rubber including knowledge of the science and technology of polymer materials. The main aim
is to perfect the training of
graduates, engineers and doctors that wish to develop their
career in the industrial sector
for plastics and rubber, take
an academic degree at the
highest level in any university
department, or else carry out
research in the field of Material
Sciences. There are now over
1,500 students that have taken
part in these courses.
It should be noted that the
CSIC Institute of Polymer Science and Technology is one of
the World Centres that leads
the way in researching polymer materials and their applications, in collaboration
with various companies and
institutions.
News from
GA PLASBUR
Projects, whether accompanied
by the term assignment, launch
or entry into mass production,
are what mark our present and
future activities.
Thanks to the entry into mass
production of the X61 (Renault Kangoo) in 2007, Plasbur now has a new project including 5 items for the power window mechanism for this
model: casing, drum, back
and forward slides with and
without clip, and the clip itself.
In the next few months, we
shall commence industrialisation of the moulds in collaboration with our colleagues
from Grupo Antolin-France.
We have also been allocated
the manufacture of pillar A,
pocket and Roof+Rack part for
the F91, a light truck made by
Nissan, as well as the catches
and locking pawls for the rear
seats in the P14 -Volvo S30.
We would also like to draw attention this year to another
assignation, which is the result
of launching another important project, in this case, with
PSA. Ever since PSA confirmed last year that the Citroen factory in Vigo would be
the sole production plant for
Europe for the new C4 Picas-
24
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
so, replacing the current Xsara
Picasso, Grupo Antolin was allocated the supply of part of
the seats for the future people
carrier. In particular, the second and third row, with Plasbur being assigned production of most of the plastic trim
on the seats. We are going
to receive a total of 7 moulds
for this project, with a total
weight of machinery ranging
from 250 to 800 Tn. These
parts are mounted on the second row with 3 seats, which is
the same in both the 5 and
7-seaters,with many of these
being fitted to more than one
seat, and the daily recurrence
rate of each one in theory
reaching as many as 4500
mating pairs.
Furthermore, we are going
to produce 3 new parts for
Ford, which were previously
being outsourced to another
supplier: Pillar Brace B C214;
Pillar Brace B 3-door C307
and Pillar brace B 5-door
C307. These concern parts
that are not visible, mounted
underneath plastic pillars type
B in models C214 and C307.
The object of this part is to
make the whole item stiffer
and thus avoid any distortion
when the rubber lining the pillar is added.
Grupo Antolin Silesia
Constructing
future:
NEW
CHALLENGES,
NEW SPACES
DOES
Sales Plan
for 2007
For the purposes of launching the
drafting procedure for the Sales
Plan for 2007, a meeting was
held on 31st August in Burgos attended by the KAMs and Heads
of Department at DOES.
From Morocco to Poland, passing through Brazil,
Spain and India, all these countries have a common denominator: Grupo Antolin. As an example of the Group’s expansion policy, from the
General Services Management we have played
our part in the last works that have finalised as well
as works in progress or in tender phase.
Antolin Tanger
Iramec Taubaté
At the end of the first four-month period of this
year the construction of the Grupo Antolin
MAGNESIO factory came to an end. This factory is located in Burgos, in the “Montenuevo”
Industrial Estate of Valdorros, next to the N-I
road. The production building covers an area of
10,206 m2, with another 1,333 m2 occupied by
the offices and auxiliary area used for facility
room, changing room, etc.
In July last, the construction of the ANTOLIN
TÁNGER S.A.R.L. factory also came to an end.
This factory is located on a 26,000 m2 plot of land
in the Duty-free zone of Tangiers and covers an
area of 7,563 m2. It is currently engaged in the
manufacture of covers for the NCV2 seat project
and at the end of the year its activity will increase
with the production of sunshades.
We cross the ocean and we reach Brazil where
the IRAMEC Taubate facilities have just been delivered. We will inform you about their inauguration in coming magazines. With just over 7,000
m2, 5,403 m2 are used for the production building and 1,766 m2 for offices and auxiliary area.
GA Magnesio
Changing continents once again we return to
Poland. Grupo Antolin SILESIA is located in
Strzelin on a plot of land covering 50,000 m2.
With the production building already finished, the
facilities where the offices will be housed are currently being built and the area is being developed.
The construction of a new plant will soon start
in the south of India, which will initially base
its activity on the manufacture and assembly of
headliners for Hyundai, Ford and Mitsubishi. Located in Chennai, within the Hyundai suppliers’
park, the building is planned to be finished by
the end of the first quarter of 2007.
The end of the summer brought
to the Grupo Head Office the
Key Account Managers for our
various clients along with the
company Managers for firms
belonging to the European and
South American territories with
just one objective in mind: to
come to an agreement regarding the scale of productivity we
shall consider in our budgets for
2007.
Attention should be drawn to
the fact that at this type of
meeting, which is organised according to projects, both the
sales representative and also the
plants involved may exchange
information and reach an
agreement. It is also an ideal opportunity to encourage direct
communication about the current and future concerns of
each member with regard to
the market.
In short, it is possible to say that
in spite of the relative stagnation
of the European market and the
fact that our “star models” such
as Megane and Polo have
reached the end of their lifetime, the arrival of new projects
means that sustainability of the
growth in our annual turnover
is guaranteed.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 25
Ford Q1
award
travels to
Grupo
Antolin
SOUTH
AMERICA
With the Q1 award, Intertrim
Caçapava and Camaçari and
Trimtec, are acknowledged as
global Ford suppliers, being
able to carry out business with
any Ford unit in the world.
The fact that the Grupo Antolin Brazilian companies have
obtained this award means
that our companies have
reached excellence in customer satisfaction according
to the worldwide guidelines
of Ford Motor Company.
To be worthy of this distinction, the suppliers must satisfy a series of requirements
such as:
· ISO/TS 16949:2002
certification;
· ISO 14001:2004
certification;
· MS9000 favourable
self-assessment
(Logistic System) –
Approved by Ford:
· Q1 Site Assessment
favourable self-assessment
(Quality System) approved
by Ford;
· PPM within the objectives
established by Ford over
the last 6 months;
· Supply competence with
an average score of 85
points over the last 6
months.
26
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
Certification
ISO/TS
16949:2002
in GA
TURNOV
Ceremonia de entrega en Trimtec
Peter Kermanar receiving
the Q1 Certificate
Mauro Juriki receiving the Q1 prize
Once these requirements have
been satisfied, the compensation for all the effort and enthusiasm of every person who
forms part of this great human
team was rewarded on different dates with the presentation
of this long-awaited distinction
by Ford representatives..
INTERTRIM CAMAÇARi was
the first to receive it in the
North-east Ford complex in
May last, when Mauro Juriki,
after receiving the Q1 plaque
and the flag from Ford’s Miguel
Barril, expressed his satisfaction
and pride in having been distinguished with such an important award.
They were just as proud and
satisfied at the TRIMTEC
CAÇAPAVA LTDA. offices on
5 August last when the presentation started following the
programme set with the customer and with the participation of all the employees. After
the opening ceremony by Peter
Hermanar, who highlighted the
importance of the role played
by everyone for this conquest,
Mr. Santiago and Cuirillo presented the Q1diploma and
Paulo de Nardi receiving
the Q1 plaque
Q1 flag given to Intertrim Camaçari
The day was brought to a close
by the South America Territory
Director, Francisco Alcala, who
highlighted the importance of
this award and the fact that our
customer, Ford, has become a
pioneer in acknowledging its
suppliers.
plaque to Peter Hermanar and
Paulo de Nardo, respectively, on
behalf of Ford Motor Company. The Q1 flag was given to
the Ford UET Leader, Julio Cesar, by the STA. Renata Fortes.
The day was brought to a close
by the South America Territory Director, Francisco Alcala,
who highlighted the importance of this award and the fact
that our customer, Ford, has become a pioneer in acknowledging its suppliers.
The next Brazilian company to
enjoy a similar event will be INTERTRIM CAÇAPAVA followed
by IRAMEC – TAUBATE. We will
inform you about this presentation in coming magazines.
After the ISO 14001 certificate we received in October
2005, GA Turnov can now
also boast the ISO/TS 16949
certificate successfully obtained in June 2006.
After certain administrative
problems with the Czech certification company we asked for
the certification from the Spanish association for certification
and standardisation – AENOR in
cooperation with GA central office. The certificate was issued
to Grupo Antolin Turnov after
an audit smoothly without any
especial problem.
By gaining the certificate a new
phase started for GAT. We
joined the group of the highly
developed suppliers in the automotive industry who make an
effort to get Q1 status at customer FORD and “A” evaluation at VW.
By gaining the certificate a new
phase started for GAT. We joined the group of the highly developed suppliers in the automotive industry who make an
effort to get Q1 status at customer FORD and “A” evaluation at VW.
MS 150
BIKE TOUR
and GANA:
a successful
project
Whether the weekend looked
hard , on July 15th and 16th
Grupo Antolin North America (GANA) participated in
a cycling event to raise money for research to fight Multiple
Sclerosis
Kevin Degan works full time at
Plante & Moran. Kevin only
has the use of the left side of
his body. Still, he succeeds in
his chosen profession, and at
the same time bikes thousands of miles each year to
raise money for various charities. He is an inspiration to his
co-workers because he has also found the time to be a core
team member of World
T.E.A.M. Sports, an inductee
of the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame, and Olympic
Torch Bearer for the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Stories like this challenged our
team to rigorously train in
preparation for the ride. We also challenged ourselves to get
financial support raising $4,600.
One of the extraordinary programs organized by the National MS Society is the yearly
MS 150 Bike Tour. Since 1981,
hundreds of thousands of rid-
DURBAN
validation
as Toyota
supplier
ers have logged more than 10
million miles to help those living with the devastating effects
of MS. This year 700 riders
joined together to ride in the
Michigan event, including
teams from companies such as
GM, Ford, Visteon and ACH
and, of course ourselves.
GANA participants included
Glenn Gruner, Mike Biro, Mariana Nakashima, John Anderson, Ted Pruss and other
family members and friends.
Keith Learman also participated
in the event, but had previously
committed to another team.
Cyclists could ride either 75
or 100 miles each day. We
rode from Davisburg to East
Lansing, home of Michigan
State University where we
spent the night. The weekend
of the ride, weathermen informed listeners to “stay indoors, do outdoor activities only if necessary, and if you do
work outside avoid strenuous
activity.” The forecast was for
95-98 degrees Fahrenheit.
Saturday and Sunday lived up
to the forecast; it was hot in
the morning, hotter at noon,
and for those still on the road
after 1 pm it was rather unpleasant. However, through
diligence and the motivation of
one rider’s story below, our entire team completed the 150
mile ride with two of our riders
completing 200 miles.
Since participating in this
event, Grupo Antolin has received compliments from customers who saw our team
participate in this event and
appreciated Grupo Antolin for
supporting in event of this nature. The GANA team plans
on participating in this ride
next year as well. Our objectives for next year are to double the donation dollars and
to double the participation
which is open to all.
We want to thank everyone
who contributed in one way or
another to the success of the
GANA team in the MS 150
bike tour. We would especially like to thank the team members, Miguel A. Vicente, who
supported the effort by providing jerseys and shorts for the
team to wear and Ted Pruss for
being our team captain.
Grupo Antolin South Africa
in Durban, were awarded
supplier status after conducting mass production trials to
demonstrate our capability in
terms of quality and productivity in the presence of Toyota personnel.
The years of planning and
launching of the Durban
plant started bearing fruit in
December 2005. This was the
beginning of the second
phase of receiving and clearing the shipments of new machinery. We started the industrialization phase in
January.
After overcoming many hurdles, the last major stumbling
block was the installation of
an upgraded transformer
which was finally installed by
the end of April.
Production trials and staff
training were conducted in
the following month along
with programming of the water jet cutter to cut all the Toyota IMV models.
From Left to Right: Keith Learman, John Anderson, Claudia
Anderson, Cliff Fleener, Robert Hutchinson, Mariana Nakashima,
Ted Pruss, and Glenn Gruner.
Simultaneously staff selection
and appointments where finalized in June and further training for the second shift was
completed in September.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 27
VIII
First Classified
Doubles
GOLF
TROPHY
Rafael Junco and
Álvaro Velasco
(prize awarded by
José Antolin)
Avelino Antolin
Memorial 2006
Once again this year, and surpassing participation expectations, the AVELINO
Antolin Memorial 2006 took place on 8
July, offering an excellent lesson of fair
play at the Lerma Golf Club course in
Burgos.
Second Classified
Doubles
Mariano Herrero and
Vicente Corral
(prize awarded by
Ernesto Antolin)
This year was the eighth trophy organised
by the Grupo Antolin with the collaboration of the Lerma Club and it was the
witness of the professionalism shown by
all the players over the 18 holes that comprise the course. The prizes, awarded to
the pairs classified in first, second and third
place as well as to the winning pair of
Scratch and to the pair classified in first
place in the children’s category, were presented in the same enclave in the midst of
nature.
All the participants received a gift for
their participation and a draw took place
with different prizes for those attending the function. The day ended with an
a vino español (aperitif).
28
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
Third Classified
Doubles
Javier Corsini and
Francisco Garmendia
(prize awarded by
Mª Helena Antolin)
Scratch Doubles
Champion
Eduardo Castillo and
Basilio Martín
(prize awarded by
Pilar Arribas)
Autotrim Cycling Club
Grupo Antolin- AUTOTRIM
wagers on communication
Achieving greater involvement
and motivation, aimed at making the worker identify with the
organisation and improving internal communication in all its
aspects, is the objective set by the
Communication Committee
from the G.A.-AUTOTRIM
Management.
sporadic participation of department heads in the UET
meetings).
· Optimisation of communication channels.
· And, in short, collaborating in
the adhesion of people
It was decided, with this
mission, to give the Internal
Communication Committee
another push forward, acquiring a new, more professional,
innovative and efficient complexion, to date.
Always with Management
support and based on a prior
identification of improvement
areas, the Committee establishes some strategic lines,
which are broken down into
operative objectives aimed at
reaching the planned vision.
All of this is expressed in a
management table with its relative follow-up and guided by
our values: Professionalism,
empathy, important social impact and objectiveness, information clarity and quality.
Comprised of a team of people
from different departments,
the Committee has an Internal
Communication Plan that is
especially designed for the
company, whose mission is to
guarantee appropriate internal
communication within G.A.
AUTOTRIM, ensuring:
· Information objectiveness.
· The satisfaction of the internal customer's communication needs, adding value
(through, for example, the
Our method
· Advise the different company
departments on channels,
supports, etc.
· Create, implement, assess
and optimise the communication tools (e.g: improve the
quality of the company magazine).
· Favour interpersonal relations
inside and outside the work
environment.
An example of this is the collaboration in the creation and
monitoring of sports groups by
company workers, as is the
case of the Autotrim Cycling
Club. Comprised of a considerable group of employees who
have a passion for cycling, it
carries out different activities
and outings throughout the
year, inviting, from Almussafes, all group employees to
accompany them on their adventures.
CHINA:
New
ISO/TS
16949
certification
Thanks to the effort of all the
people working at Antolin
Shanghai Auto-Parts Co.,
Ltd. in China, we were able
to obtain the TS ISO 16.949
certificate last June, awarded
by TUV. Congratulations to
everyone!
Our functions
· Calibrate the company's continuous and punctual communication needs.
· Design the communication
strategy.
From left to right: Yolanda
Ramón, Pau Varo, Gracia
Escoms, Inmaculada Robles,
Carmen Puig, Federico Taroncher
and Merche Sanz (Absent in the
photo: Javier Pérez)
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 29
tell you about how exciting
my trip was to Disneyland. I
got up very early to go to
Barajas Airport (Madrid) and
after a flight of almost 2
hours, we landed at Orly
(Paris). A bus was waiting to
take us to the hotel
Cheyenne. It was very different from the ones I had been
to before, a town full of cowboys and Indians just like the
ones you see in the Westerns.
Every day we caught a bus
that would take us to the Park
where we had breakfast.
2005 Art competition
My trip to
Disneyland
Paris
Taking advantage of the local
bank holiday, Lorena de Bustos, winner of the 2005 painting competition in the eldest category, enjoyed her well-deserved prize: a weekend at
Disneyland Paris.
Hello, my name is Lorena. I am
12 years old and I am going to
The Park was divided into different areas: Fantasyland, Discoveryland, Frontierland, Adventureland and Main Street
U.S.A. The part I liked most
was Adventureland because
this was where my favourite
attraction, “Pirates of the
Caribbean”, was, although
they were all really good. I also really liked the Haunted
house, Alice in Wonderland’s
Labyrinth and “Star Tours”.
Before our return to Spain, on
the last day we went to Disney
Studios and boarded a train
on which we seemed to be
shooting a film with special effects.
We really enjoyed ourselves
and had a fantastic time that I
will never forget.
A decade of football
with CLUB DEPORTIVO
Grupo Antolin
The phrase that says “behind a
ball there is always a child” is famous, and in this case it is true
and it has been so for no less
than ten years. An idea accompanied by enthusiasm, the wish
to have fun, effort and sportsmanship, has been sufficient for
CD GRUPO ANTOLIN to
give its first kicks and continue
scoring goals today.
nies, who assumed the responsibility, together with the Board
of Directors, for making this
enterprise a success.
It was way back in 1996 when
our chairmanship, had the idea
of forming a football club within the group for young people who could and wished to
play this sport. With a call to all
the children of employees of
our companies in Burgos, the
first step forward was taken to
formalise Club Deportivo Grupo Antolin.
The training sessions were difficult to start with, especially
the first year, because, like
many other teams, we did not
have a training field so we all
got together at the back of the
municipal football ground. Fortunately, this situation did not
last very long, as, in record
time, the Villalonquejar ground
was constructed at the Grupo
Antolin ARA facilities, where
we began to train and play official matches. This ground is
still being used, today, for physical and tactical preparation.
However, thanks to the Provincial Football Delegation, the official matches are played at the
Pallafria ground.
Blue and yellow were chosen
as colours for the strip and it
did not take long for these
colours to be recognised and
respected by fans and other
teams from Burgos.
Beginnings are always difficult,
but after an often uphill struggle and a lot of hard work the
efforts soon began to show
their fruit. It was Jorge Heredia,
helped by his brother Tito and
Jose Luis Llorente, all of them
working in the group compa-
Division
Junior
6 & 7 years
st
division
Tito Heredia
division
Pedro De la Cal
1
Junior 10 & 11 years
2nd division
José Luis Llorente
Junior 12 & 13 years
1st division
Tito Heredia
Youth 16, 17 & 18 years
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
2
Coach
Junior 8 & 9 years
Youth 14 & 15 years
30
nd
st
1
division
Antonio Hidalgo
st
division
Félix Campo
1
Little by little, the dream became true. The first successes
began to arrive, obtaining
promotions, titles and training
players who were and are demanded by the leading clubs
in the city. The number of
players is increasing all the
time, which enables us to register more teams each year.
Ten years ago we started with
three teams: one under-12
junior team, one under-14
junior team and one under-16
youth team; and today we
have seven. (See table below)
From here we wish to thank
everyone for their effort – directors, parents, players and
coaches, past and present –
without whose priceless determination and willingness it
would have been impossible
to make such a challenge a reality. We believe that keeping this ship afloat is a really
worthwhile task and we hope
that with the help of everyone
involved we will continue
growing for at least another
10 years. Thanks!
The latest
news from
the London
Motor
Show
Despite the arrival of summer,
the car industry does not grind to
a halt. The main car manufacturers presented their latest wares
at the Excel Centre in the London docklands until 30th July.
Until now only Detroit,
Geneva, Frankfurt, Paris and
Tokyo seemed to be shaping up as top car show venues. However, in the past
few years, other fairs have
had increasingly important
repercussions, including the
shows held in Madrid,
Barcelona, New York or even
London. And it is the latter,
the British International Motor Show, that provided a
stage from 18 th to 30 th July
for a large number of world
debuts by makes that, either
because they are manufactured in Great Britain, or because they have been successful in that market, or else
merely because they have
something for immediate of-
fer, were reluctant to miss
the invitation.
Standing out as being
amongst the most outstanding innovations were the Opel
Corsa, Seat Leon Cupra,
BMW M6 Cabrio, Chrysler Sebring, Jaguar XKR, Land Rover
Freelander 2 and Maxda MX5 with a hard top roof.
London has recovered its Motor Show, but still needs time
since the fact that it has
opened its doors merely heralds the dawning of a new
era. The presentation of these
8 world premieres bodes well
for the future.
Acknowledgements
Rachel Wang Antolin Shangai Autoparts. Tito Heredia GA Ara. Luz Bezares GA Ardasa. Communication Comittee GA Autotrim,
Josef Banas GA Bratislava. Gill Beltrams and Thomas Stoerh GA Deutschland. Enrique Dr. Fernández, Equipo de Diseño Industrial,
Ismael del Moral, Julian de Bustos and Raúl Martín Para GA Ingenieria. Amador Diez, Ana Irene Solas, Carolina Melgosa, Ernesto Antolin,
Estela Díaz, Javier Blanco, Luis Vega, Menchu Santamaría, Merche Rodríguez, Natalia Blanco, Oliver Maljean, Paquita Herreros, Pedro F.
Antón, Raquel García, Ramiro Orcajo, Rosalía Arribas and Servicio Médico GA Irausa. Salvador Peris GA Kent. Nazareh Cunha GA
Lusitania. John Anderson GA North America. Raúl Moya GA Plasbur. Ajay Apte GA Pune. Miguel Cámara, Paul Van Der Merwe,
Riaan Goosen and Wayne Norte GA South Africa. Katerina Semíková GA Turnov. Lee Rutter GA UK. Teresa Villot GA Vigo. Francisco
Alcalá and Raúl Pedro Neto Trimtec.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 31
HEALTH
My head
HURTS
“Doctor, my head hurts”. Behind this well-worn phrase, which refers to
something from which we occasionally suffer in our lives, there is an
ailment that brings up an endless number of questions. There are millions
of people in the world who, like you, suffer from headaches. If this is the
case, then don’t worry, because you are not alone. Fortunately, you can
control it.
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT-GRUPO ANTOLIN MEDICAL SERVICE
What is a migraine?
Migraina o recurring headache are identical terms that define a type of headache
that is characterised by a pain crisis (generally in one or both temples) lasting between
4 and 72 hours, and in generally it is incapacitating, meaning that the person is
forced to stop their normal activity, or at
least limit it, while the pain lasts. It is usually accompanied by nausea, vomiting and
hypersensitivity to or distress (irritation or
discomfort) from light and sound.
Most migraine sufferers recall or know of relatives in their genealogical tree (grandparents, parents, siblings, uncles, etc.) who suffer or have suffered from migraines. In general, migraines begin before 30 years of age
and constitute a characteristic of the person,
32
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
due to the fact they will have to live with
them for most of their lives. This indicates
that as of today, there is no treatment that
makes it disappear, meaning that there is no
treatment that cures it, although there is
treatment for controlling it satisfactorily.
What are the
causes?
The exact cause of a migraine is unknown,
although in recent years research has advanced considerably in this respect, and it
has been possible to locate the part of
the brain where the changes occur that
lead to a recurring headache crisis. In brief,
we can say that these changes result in the
inflammation and dilation of certain cere-
bral arteries which cause the pain. Many
times, the process begins with the presence
of certain stimuli to which a person is sensitive. In this regard, you could say that
there are a wide variety of situations that
are capable of triggering a migraine crisis
in many people, which situations include
the following:
Affective area: stress, anxiety, conflicts or
other circumstances that cause distress.
Stimuli: intense smells, smoke, tobacco,
bright light, temperature changes.
Gynaecological area: menstruation, contraceptives, oestrogen therapy.
Sleep: too much, insufficient or interrupted.
Diet
recommendations
Foods: cured cheese, milk derivatives,
citric juices, chocolate, sausages, smoked
foods, Chinese food, sweeteners, nuts,
crisps.
Diet is an important factor. Foods such as
meats and fresh fish, eggs, soups, vegetables, fruits, fresh milk, legumes and starches, cookies and desserts are foods with low
amounts of tyramine, meaning that they are
foods that reduce the risk of suffering from
recurring headaches.
Beverages: alcoholic (wine, hard liquors
principally) and caffeinated.
How do you prevent
a migraine crisis?
To prevent episodes of recurring
headaches, try the following recommendations:
· Identify the factor or factors that cause
the migraine attacks (the episodes) or
that aggravate them. You will thus always be able to manage this illness better.
· Try to avoid situations that cause stress,
as much as possible.
· Don’t sleep more or less on the weekends.
· Have meals at the same time and in similar quantities.
· Avoid food and beverages that at one
time may have triggered a migraine attack and avoid noisy places or penetrating smells.
What is the
treatment?
Although all migraines are associated
with pain, the severity and frequency differ. It is therefore necessary to create a
custom treatment that considers the
individual needs of each patient. There
are two types of treatments currently
available for taking care of migraines:
The symptomatic treatment (meaning,
for when the headache appears) and
preventive treatment, which is indicated in complicated migraine cases or
when there are more than 3 crises per
month.
Symptomatic
Simple analgesics or sedatives (acetylsalicylic acid or paracetamol): although
they are scarcely effective if used often,
alone or in the different combinations that
exist on the market. These types of medicines should not be used because, apart
from their low effectiveness, they can
cause an important migraine complication: the chronic daily headache, a clinical
condition consisting of the transformation
of the migraine (an episodic phenomenon) into a headache with daily or almost
daily presence.
Anti-inflammatories (such as diclofenac
or naproxen): They are used in slightly
intense crises. They have the problem of
undesired effects, especially regarding the
stomach (for example, gastritis or ulcers).
Ergotics: Highly used in association with
simple analgesics. The people who use
this medication should be warned to consult their physician in the event that
numbness, tingling, coldness, weakness
or persistent muscle cramps in the lower
extremities appear. Moreover, as with simple analgesics, they can trigger the transformation of the migraine into a chronic
daily headache.
Triptans: They are specific drugs for treating migraines that have very recently appeared, and they constitute the first option in most migraine episodes with intense pain.
Some foods and beverages can unleash migraine attacks. Check to see if any of the following foods trigger a headache crisis for
you, in which case you should avoid them:
Foods with a high content of tyramine, histamine, phenalalanine or phenolic flavanoids:
· Chocolates (histamine, tyramine).
· Hard and fermented cheeses (histamine,
tyramine).
· Citric fruits.
· Bananas (tyramine).
· Red meats and processed meats that contain sodium nitrate, such as deli meats,
sausages, bacon and ham (tyramine).
· Shellfish.
· Red wine (histamine, tyramine).
· Beer (histamine, tyramine).
· Peanuts, walnuts.
· Alcohol.
· Food additives (preservatives, artificial colorants and flavouring agents, aspartame
and monosodium glutamate, which are
used to bring out the flavour of foods:
olives, dehydrated broths and soups, fish
preserves and semi-preserves, sauces and
products for confectioneries, pastries,
bakery items, desserts and cookies).
· Caffeine.
Conclusions
Preventive
It is advisable, for any doubt about your illness or about medicines, to consult your
physician in order to thus decide on the
most appropriate treatment for your case.
Preventive therapies are used daily to prevent attacks or reduce their frequency or
severity. They include both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies.
Likewise, it is very important to take only
the medicines prescribed by your physician, as indicated, and not to take any other drug for treating migraine crises.
fall 2006 · news grupo antolin 33
ON THE WAY
Lower Saxony
a special mixture of high
technology and nature
Lower Saxony is a region of contrasts that deserves a
visit. Not only does Germany's second-largest state have
cultural, scenic and traditional appeal, it has proven itself
as a successful location for industry and commerce.
Think lateral and act straight is the motto of
Lower Saxony
nover area into the world's most important location for trade fairs.
The universities of Brunswick (Braunschweig) and Göttingen with their long
and distinguished history, Hannover Medical School and numerous non-university
research institutes attest to the close interdependence between science and industry.Many people will have pleasant memories of Lower Saxony as host of the EXPO
2000 World Exposition.
he federal state of Lower Saxony
is located in the north-west of
Germany. To the west it borders
the Netherlands, and it also shares a frontier with other German states: North
Rhine-Westphalia to the south-west,
Hesse and Thuringia to the south, Saxony-Anhalt to the east, MecklenburgVorpommern to the north-east, and
Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein to the
north. The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
and the town of Bremerhaven, which together form the federal state of Bremen,
T
34
news grupo antolin ·Autumn 2006
are enclosed within Lower Saxony's
boundaries.
Located in Wolfsburg, Volkswagen AG is Europe's second largest automaker, having
produced well over 50 million VW cars. Lower Saxony has twice as many automobile-related jobs as the national average for Germany's federal states. Agriculture plays a
similarly important role. But to pigeon-hole
Lower Saxony as an agrarian region is to
fail to do it justice. The Hannover Fair and the
CeBit computer show have made the Han-
The state - comparatively unspoiled by development - offers appealing countryside
between the Ems and Elbe rivers, between
the mountain summits of the Harz region
and the maritime climate of the North Sea.
Lower Saxony is committed to nature conservation: more than 20 per cent of the
state's area has been designated as protected, with the mudflats of the Wattenmeer National Park taking in the entire
North Sea coast, and the Harz National
Park extending over the state border into
Sachsen-Anhalt. The Elbtalaue river landscape enjoys protected status as a biosphere reserve. In between lie countless
peat bogs, secluded areas of heathland
and extensive tracts of mixed woodland.
From North to South:
a brief armchair tour
with German accent
Perhaps you're already familiar with our
point of departure: the seven East Frisian
islands of Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Baltrum, Langeoog, Spiekeroog and
Wangerooge. Broad white beaches, the
ebb and flow of the tides, sand dunes, and
more hours of sunshine than anywhere
else in the state.
Across from the islands lies East Frisia,
known as "the land beyond the dyke",
whose independence outlasted that of
every other region in Lower Saxony. This
is seafaring country and the hiding place of
the notorious pirate Störtebaker (my grandpa told me he was our ancestor…); a region
whose towns have a Dutch feel to them
and where tea consumption is the highest in Germany.
To the south, the Emsland region extends
down to the Dutch border, much of which
was inaccessible only 100 years ago: the
vast Bourtanger Moor was not drained
until the mid-twentieth century.
The adjoining region, the Oldenburger
Münsterland, has developed from impoverished farming country into a leading European stock-breeding centre - not far from
Osnabrück, the city near Teutoburg Forest
associated with the Treaty of Westphalia.
From the old principality of SchaumburgLippe, via Hamelin of Pied Piper fame, the hilly
country of the Weserbergland extends as
far as the town of Hannoversch Münden. The
legends and stories surrounding the Weser,
this fairy-tale German river, were recorded by
the Brothers Grimm in Göttingen.
The stories in the Harz - Lower Saxony's
mountain range whose silver mines formerly bestowed abundant wealth - are, however, about witches. Where German emperors once built an imperial palace, it is now
half-timbered towns and enchanting
woods that attract the tourists.
Today Lower Saxony's economic power is
concentrated to the north of the Harz region, where five sizeable cities lie in close
proximity: Hildesheim, whose churches feature on the World Cultural Heritage list; the
still-young steel centre of Salzgitter; Hannover, which plays host to the largest trade
fairs in the world; Wolfsburg, with Volkswagen's new "Autostadt" automotive theme
park; and, right in the middle, Brunswick,
the city with a high-tech tradition stretching back 250 years.
Country Germany.
Área It is the second-largest federal
state in Germany with 47.618 km2.
29570.8 sq. miles of land.
Population 8.002.916 inhabitants.
Weather Very oceanic and the rain
falls the whole year round; the
winters are relatively mild and the
summers comparatively cool.
Language german.
Currency euro.
Useful links
· www.international.niedersachsen.de
· www.germany-tourism.de
Still further north we find the Lüneburg
Heath, named after the city of Lüneburg
which owed its prosperity in the Middle
Ages to salt. Discovered as a recreation area
only 100 years ago, for a long time this
heathland region lay off the beaten track
near the border to the former East Germany; it has to this day remained sandy,
idyllic and a haven of solitude.
In spring, apple trees in blossom attract
hordes of visitors beyond the dyke of the
Altes Land area just outside Hamburg. Here
the so-called "Wet Triangle" begins: flat
country between the estuaries of the Elbe
and Weser, criss-crossed by peat bogs,
home to the fishing town of Cuxhaven and
the artists' colony of Worpswede.
The journey takes us via Bremen, a federal state in its own right (although enclosed
by Lower Saxony), along the Weser and
back to the university town of Oldenburg.
The region of the same name extends from
the Münsterland area to Wilhelmshaven,
the state's largest port. Or, to be more precise: up to Wangerooge, the seventh of the
"East Frisian" islands (although it has never actually belonged to East Frisia).
At first, the people are not very talkative.
But if you make contact with us, you will
find us open-minded, friendly and humorous. We describe ourselves as storm-resistant and home-bounded. And the area
of Hannover and southern Lower Saxony is
the only region in Germany where pure
High Germany is spoken – without the
sometimes funny accents you can find especially in the eastern and southern parts
of Germany. But many people still speak
Low German, which is a relic of the origin
of our language and in many words close
to the English language.
Weyhausen
and the city of
Henry the Lion
The nearest big town to the Head Office
of Grupo Antolin Deutschland in Weyhausen is Brunswick: the city of Henry the
Lion is the biggest city in the south-eastern part of Lower Saxony with a population
of around 240,000. It is characterised by an
appealing and exciting blend of the past
and the present, tradition and the future.
The city has been given its distinctive profile
by the steady development of its cultural,
research and technological scenes. The surrounding areas are just as varied as the city,
with their cultural, historical and economic richness: a fertile symbiosis, that is unparalleled in Germany.
verano 2006 · noticias grupo antolin 35
SPAIN
Grupo Antolin (Headquarters)
Grupo Antolin - Alava
Grupo Antolin - Ara
Grupo Antolin - Aragusa
Grupo Antolin - Ardasa
Grupo Antolin - Autotrim
Grupo Antolin - Dapsa
Grupo Antolin - Euroepsilon
Grupo Antolin - Eurotrim
Grupo Antolin - Ingenieria
Grupo Antolin - Linara
Grupo Antolin - Martorell
Grupo Antolin - Navarra
Grupo Antolin - Palencia
Grupo Antolin - PGA
Grupo Antolin - Plasbur
Grupo Antolin - RyA
Grupo Antolin - Vigo
ARGENTINA
IRAUTO
GERMANY
Grupo Antolin - Autoform
Grupo Antolin - Deutschland
Grupo Antolin - Logistik Deutschland
BRAZIL
Intertrim
Iramec
Trimtec
SLOVAKIA
Grupo Antolin - Bratislava
Slovakian Door Company
FRANCE
Grupo Antolin - France
Grupo Antolin - HFR
Grupo Antolin - IGA
Grupo Antolin - Ingenierie Sieges
Grupo Antolin - Logistique Douai
Grupo Antolin - Loire
Grupo Antolin - Transport
Grupo Antolin - Vosges
TANIS
PORTUGAL
Grupo Antolin - Lusitania
UNITED KINGDOM
Grupo Antolin - Kent
Grupo Antolin - U.K.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Grupo Antolin - Bohemia
Grupo Antolin - Turnov
USA
Grupo Antolin - Illinois
Grupo Antolin - Kentucky
Grupo Antolin - Louisiana
Grupo Antolin - Michigan
Grupo Antolin - North America
Grupo Antolin - Wayne
MEXICO
Grupo Antolin - Silao
International Door Systems
Mexican Door Company
CHINA
Office of Representation in Shanghai
Antolin Shanghai Autoparts
Chongqing Antolin Tuopu Overhead Systems (JV)
INDIA
Krishna GrupoAntolin
Grupo Antolin - Pune (Desing Centre)
Grupo Antolin - Pune
IRAN (Technology License)
JAPAN
Grupo Antolin - Japan
MOROCCO
Antolin - Tanger
SOUTH AFRICA
Grupo Antolin - South Africa
THAILAND (Technology License)
TURKEY
Ototrim