About the author: Xavier Conesa
Xavier Conesa is the CEO of Kapture.io, a family business that has passed from generation to generation for 94 years. After almost a century of adapting to market demands, he has specialized in data digitization with the QMS Kapture.io and tells us in this interview how he sees the future of the sector, coinciding with the imminent publication of the guide “Enemies of Caliber and Quality“..
The industry in Spain is working to emerge from the crisis resulting from the global pandemic. The entry of the Next Generation European subsidies will be a great boost, which should push SMEs to increase their volume in order to continue strengthening innovation and the country’s competitiveness, a vision shared by different players in the sector.
“In the automotive components sector we have many SMEs that would be much more competitive if they increased in size, due to the synergies and economies of scale that could result. We must be imaginative, both the private and public sectors, and activate those levers that allow SMEs to grow in size,” says the president of the Spanish Association of Automotive Suppliers Sernauto, Helena Antolin. The vice-president of Grupo Antolin knows that small and medium-sized companies must play a key role in the evolution of the sector and that without their participation the exit from the crisis will be much more prolonged. She is moving along the same lines as the CEO of Kapture Intelligence, Xavier Conesa: “It is important that SMEs gain size to undertake more powerful R&D projects, innovate and resist crises such as the current one with greater strength. They are agile, propose innovative solutions and are key to improving competitiveness. European aid will come through the tractor projects, but it should be capillarized to reach SMEs. Without 85% of the fabric, it is unfeasible to talk about the future of industry in Spain.”
The automotive sector is essential to the Spanish economy, as reflected by the fact that it represents 8.5% of GDP, 20% of exports and employs 2.5 million Spaniards. It has to be one of the present and future engines of the economy and Xavier Conesa has the endorsement of the success of Kapture.io software, which is helping many companies to go digital. If the industry is increasingly global, Spain can use a reference model such as the German one to choose the best way out of the crisis and take the necessary steps to evolve.
“Germany has deployed its model by supporting especially its small and medium-sized companies, technifying them, turning them into national champions and exporting globally in niche markets,” says ESADE Professor of Operations, Innovation and Data Sciences, Xavier Ferràs. “What we need to do, and this is what countries like France and Germany are doing, is to support the strategic industry and encourage its growth. It means betting on innovation, progress, quality employment and social welfare; it means looking to the future,” says Helena Antolín.
That is why the Next Generation must also help to strengthen SMEs, through the projects of large companies. If the two sectors go hand in hand, the way out of the crisis will be faster and better, based on the good work of small and medium-sized companies in key sectors such as digitalization, which is transversal. “This is the last chance. Europe is not offering us a fund of generosity, but of competitiveness.The resources are to address that future of innovation, industry 4.0 and exponential technologies,” warns Xavier Ferràs. Spain’s industrial tradition is based mainly on SMEs, often pioneers and always protagonists of change. Domestic software, such as kapture.io, is powerful and competitive, already prepared to deliver satisfactory results without the need to look abroad for alternatives. “Entrepreneurship is the engine of innovation and job creation in society. Only with an entrepreneurial mentality and tangible projects will we be able to face the challenges ahead of us”, says the Chairman of Gestamp and ENDEAVOR, Francisco Riveras. The way out of the crisis is marked and passes through the growth of the SMEs.
