Dura Automotive inovates in Brazil to face low cost countries
Gazeta Mercantil - 03/26/2008
Dura Automotive Systems, the Brazilian subsidiary of the American manufacturer, has been able to keep up with the speed of the makers in launching different car models and be competitive with the Chinese manufacturers under the vertical concept of production. "Without a variety of products in a single plant it is difficult to keep a sound company in Brazil, capable of competing with low cost countries, such as China, India, Mexico, Romania, and Slovakia", told to Gazeta Mercantil the Dura's CEO in Brazil, Mário Enrique Buttino. The vertical integration system is applied only in Brazil. In all other branches around the world Dura is specialist in the production of one single type of product. In Brazil, Dura's strategy in producing multiple products has brought positive results, with growth in sales at a rate of 20% to 25% per year since 2000. In the market of cables and shifters the company is the leader in the Country, with 50% and 40% of market share, respectively. In 2007, due to the good moment of the car industry, the company had gross sales of R$ 230 million (US$ 131 million), an amount 10% above the 2006's. For 2008, the estimate is that the expansion be of 15%, which means adding more R$ 40 million (US$ 23 million) to the financial balance with new orders. In order to comply with the high consumption of cars in the Country, Dura launched 34 products for 10 customers last year, which resulted in R$ 25 million (US$ 14 million) in new businesses. The most important products were shifters for Renault, pedals for Honda, and shifters, control cables and jacks for Ford. To support the development of the components, the company invested US$ 6.3 million (US$ 3.6 million) in new machinery, tools, facilities, and layout. Only in the acquisition of 10 presses the company spent R$ 2.5 million (US$ 1.4 million). This year, the company has already plans to launch 11 new components that are under production, such as shifters for Volkswagen and Nissan; brake cables for Bosch and General Motors, and pedals for Honda. But the company is already working in the development of new products that will equip the cars in 2010. The investments in this period will amount R$ 30 million (US$ 17 million). In its plant in Rio Grande da Serra, located in São Paulo Metropolitan Region, Dura keeps 95 production cells that manufacture several types of products. In order to guarantee the quality certificate, listed by an international rule, and be in the spotlight of many makers in Brazil, Dura has kept its Engineering Center equipped with quality laboratories with capacity to develop, test and validate the products manufactured in the Country since 1998 in the Brazilian plant. The other units of development are located in the USA, Germany, France, and India. "Besides gaining time with logistics operations, we are able to speed the production and deliver the parts for the makers in shorter time, without having to wait for the final decision of the headquarters", says Dura's CEO.