José Ferreiro, Chief Supply Chain Officer in Techint Engineering & Construction, spoke at the Supplier Day organized by the specialized energy media outlet, Econojournal.

Synergy with SMEs, training, digitalizing processes and innovation were the main topics of the talk given by José Ferreiro, Chief Supply Chain Officer, at this year’s Supplier Day, held on August 21 in Buenos Aires. During his speech, Ferreiro explained how Techint Engineering & Construction works in an integrated way with the value chain, relying on these pillars.

Ferreiro was speaking on the panel “Optimization & Competitiveness I”, alongside Daniel Herrero, former president of Toyota Argentina, and Guillermo Acosta, the Minister of Economy and Public Management of the province of Córdoba.

After sharing a video of the Reversal of the Northern Gas Pipeline project, Ferreiro outlined the challenges the company has faced while building and laying the 100-kilometer pipeline in the province of Córdoba—a project that is now nearing completion.

“The first thing that tends to happen with projects like these, as was the case with Fortín de Piedra and the President Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline (GPNK), is that productive capacity becomes maxed out pretty quickly,” the executive observed. He then touched on the difficulty of finding enough skilled workers, explaining how the company overcame this challenge during the GPNK project. Its solution was to set up a welding school that offered 30,000 hours of training in welding skills, and also taught students how to operate pipelayers, emphasizing essential safety practices.

He highlighted that one of the biggest challenges is ensuring the current workforce has the knowledge and skills needed to undertake projects of this scale. “This is where the ProPymes program really makes a difference, as it involved 1,000 SMEs and trained over 40,000 people,” stressed Ferreiro.

He also underscored the increasing importance of process digitalization and innovation within Techint E&C. “We've embraced artificial intelligence, deploying over 30 bots to automate routine tasks,” he noted. “Beyond that, we're using Machine Learning to streamline contract management, and we're actively working on a generative AI initiative to improve our materials catalog.”

He also mentioned that the company is working on a number of innovations, including 3D printing in concrete, which has already been tested and received approval in both Argentina and Mexico, and robotic welding for spools manufacture , which has passed its first round of tests with flying colors.

In his speech, he emphasized that the potential convergence of large-scale projects in Argentina will pose a substantial challenge to construction capacity. He also outlined the strategies the company is implementing to tackle these challenges head-on.

To finish, the executive issued a call to action: “I invite you to get ready. We’re heading into years that will bring a lot of stress, and I hope it’s that way because it’s the kind of stress that drives growth.”

Access the full talk by clicking on the following link .