26 Dec 2014

Viking Group With its rubbers, large infrastructures are consolidated

Orlando Fuentes learned about the rubber business from his parents’ hands. With that experience, on March 17, 1983 he became “independent” and opened his own workshop of rubber craftsmanship under the name of Viking Rubbers. Although for Fuentes (who worked as a teacher at the Universidad Central), this initiative began as a part-time activity, the quality of its products allowed him to break through the industrial market. Three decades later, Grupo Vikingo has more than 5,000 varieties of items in its seven production lines, as well as products under design for public and private companies. Its rubbers can be found in more than 40 road projects such as the Guayllabamba River Bridge, the San Francisco Promenade, the Tachina Bridge (Esmeraldas), the Chillogallo Exchanger and the recently opened Ruta Viva to Quito Airport. In this last project, executed by the construction company Odebrecht, the firm installed more than 300 neoprene supports, 600 meters of expansion joints and 450 anti-seismic reinforcements for the construction of the bridges. “90% of the rubber of these works is ours,” says Francisco Fuentes, commercial manager. María José Ortiz, assistant subcontractor at Odebrecht, says that for this type of project, products that require quality certifications are needed. “Vikingo Group meets timely and efficient projects. In the installation of the bridges, its service was of quality,” says Ortiz. To ensure the quality of its articles, the firm works in conjunction with the Academy: the National Polytechnic School prepares reports on the hardness, strength and durability of the rubber they make. “90% of the rubber in these works is ours so we strive to manufacture the best,” says Fuentes. Also, the company produces its machinery and has its own metal-mechanic management to effect its production processes. As raw material it uses eight varieties of natural and synthetic rubbers. Patricia Medina, an employee of Agicom, a company located in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas and supplier of the Group since 2010, says that the company delivers 1 050 kg of natural rubber per month. “Its production has increased in recent years, which also benefits our company,” says Medina. In its factory located in the south of Quito has an installed production capacity of one tonne daily. Its 45 employees work two shifts to satisfy the demand of its clients and to fulfill the contracts on time. In 2010, Francisco Fuentes took command of the company. Its main strategy was the technification and training, not only of its collaborators but also of its clients. That is why they have held conferences for rubber handling in Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca. Also in this process of organizational redesign its investment in machinery increased to USD 157 000 and its factory expanded from 1 100 to 1 500 square meters in five years. Since last year Viking Group sales have surpassed USD 1.3 million and the goal for next year is to obtain permits to close businesses and start exporting. “We have received offers from Brazil, the US and Spain,” says Fuentes. The company soon Customers. The firm has a portfolio of more than 1,500 clients. Materials. Works with natural and synthetic rubber; Industrial silicones, nitriles, depending on the orders. Employees. Three people started and today there are 45 employees. THE INSIGNIA ‘We work on the improvement of the rubber’ Jorge Chango. Production Manager Viking Rubbers I work in this company since 1992 and during this last stage we have grown and become a strong company in the country.One of the most valuable things these years has been all I’ve learned about rubber handling with engineers, both with dad and young people. The work we do today, for the construction of bridges, motivates us as employees. We have several trainings and talks a year with chemical engineers to continue working on the improvement of rubber. So in the company, the work environment is pleasant. We all get along and there is a lot of confidence to deal with work issues. The phrase. “The work we do for the construction of bridges motivates us as employees”.

This content was originally published by Revista Líderes in the next link:

http://www.revistalideres.ec/lideres/grupo-vikingo-cauchos-afianzan-grandes.html.