A coffee con… Maider Zabala, Supply Chain Manager at Gestamp
My name is Maider Zabala and I am an Industrial Organisation Engineer from the University of Mondragon.
I have developed my professional career as a production and logistics engineer always in the automotive sector, previously in two cooperative companies of the Mondragon group, while at the same time I combined it with teaching in the Industrial Organisation department of the University of Mondragon.
I have currently been responsible for Supply Chain-Logistics for 8 years in the Engineering Department of Gestamp, a multinational specialised in the design, development and manufacture of highly engineered metal components for the main vehicle manufacturers with a presence in more than 24 countries and 115 plants.
L&A: What does it mean to be responsible for Supply Chain within the company, and what is a day’s work in the company like?
Maider: In my case, I am responsible for Supply Chain in the engineering department where we develop, offer and industrialise bodywork, chassis and battery box products. Our team is in charge of carrying out a complete study of the manufacture of the part in terms of material flow: from the moment the raw material enters until the finished part is ready.
A day’s work at Gestamp consists of reviewing the projects underway, holding meetings with the different departments involved, carrying out studies of the offers, simulating the cubing of parts, both components and finished product, receiving visits from suppliers and visiting the production plants.
L&A: Tell us, after more than 7 years of professional career within Gestamp, what do you think are the biggest differences/challenges that the group has faced in the logistics field if you look back on your professional career?
Maider: Since my arrival at Gestamp, I have applied my experience in internal plant logistics to help create the Supply Chain-Logistics department, which aims to standardise the development and supply processes in relation to the Supply Chain of the projects developed in the more than 100 Gestamp plants.
The most important thing has been to establish the working procedure in the development and supply of projects so that the entire flow of material and information is always included. This has been achieved thanks to collaborative work with the teams from the different manufacturing technology departments such as hot stamping, cold stamping, welding, painting, etc., which we implement to achieve the product demanded by the customer.
In the automotive sector we face the challenge of working with product projects whose mass production is going to be in 3 to 4 years. It is very important to be up to date with the present and future situation as it can directly influence the economic offer. Especially in those projects where we take care of the complete logistics of the part and have to include the transport to the customer’s production plant.
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