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Fall of the Wall of Berlin

Creation of the Euro Zone

Attack to the World Trade Center

Election of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

1999 2000 20022001

CongressoSobratema

Government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso

SOBRATEMA 25 YEARS

25 years of a worldin transformation

Since 1988—when Sobratema was founded—many things changed in Brazil and in the world. Politic, economic, cultural and technologic transformations were accelerated at the end of the twentieth century, which saw the start of microelectronics and of the digital universe. In the following century, the revolution brought by cybernetic environ-ment also reached the area of engineering, allowing the creation of new patterns of quality and the establishment of unique levels of productivity, safety and innovation. In such context, each program developed by the Association came to attend a specific need imposed by this new scenario, since the world was shaken again by the singularity and the historic transformation.

Construtora Paranapanema concludes the first section of North-South railroad, connecting the cities of Açailândia and Imperatriz, in the state of Maranhão

The first section of the Road Ring around São Paulo, 30 km long, is

inaugurated in October 11

The descending lane of Imigrantes Highway is

inaugurated in December

FACTSWORLD

1988 1989 1990 1992 1995 1998

Promulgation of the new Brazilian Constitution

Government of Fernando Collor de Mello

Government of Itamar Franco

The Morumbi Bridge—built in the city of São Paulo by the contractor Queiroz Galvão—is open to the traffic. The bridge has a total length of 778 m and was built in successive spans

The bridge over Paraná River—for

road and railroad—connecting the

Brazilian states of South Mato Grosso

and São Paulo is inaugurated

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Start of world financial crisis

Brazil is confirmed to car-ry out the World Soccer Championship of 2014

Lula is re-elected

First Brazilian man in the space

Petrobras informs the discovery of pre-salt reserve

Statute of Disarmament

2005 2006 2009200820072011 20132010

Rio de Janeiro will carry out the Olympic Games of 2016

Custo Horário

GuiaSobratema de Equipamentos

Estudo deMercado

PrincipaisInvestimentos

SobratemaFórum

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AT THE DOORS OF THE FUTURE

Candidate to a place among world’s leading nations, Brazil is at the doors of the future. After overcoming a period of stag-nation that consumed several generations of professionals, the country is currently in a place that is more appropriate to its po-tential. When the country reached the mark of 202 million inhabitants in 2013, its ca-pacity of production was strengthened and tends to increase in the next decade.

In this scenario, Sobratema found its way to take its place in a changing background. Its inherent preoccupation with informa-tion, technology and training has being shown as completely visionary. After all, these are the main values of the contem-porary world, where knowledge became the main asset for any productive industry.

Five stadiums are finished in time to attend the Confederation Cup: PE, RJ, BA, MG and DF

A Brazilian woman became president for the first time in the country

Brazilian population reaches 190 million people

Line 4 – Yellow of São Paulo Subway starts to operate

The power plant of Belo Monte is considered feasible and the works of stadiums start to run well

The power plant of Santo Antonio, in the Madeira River near Porto Velho (RO) starts its power generation

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A HISTORY OF SURPASSINGIntroduCIng the dIffICult Context Where SoBrAtemA WAS Born And develoPed In ItS fIrSt yeArS,

one of the moSt turBulent PerIodS of the AlreAdy trouBled hIStory of BrAzIl

the history of Sobratema—and of the infrastructure and mining ma-rket—started to be defined many time before its foundation. to un-derstand the development of this industry in Brazil it is necessary to return to the period that lead to the coup d’état of 1964, when the eco-nomy was frail and the indexes of in-flation got terrifying values.

In 1961, for example, the inf la-t ion was of 33 percent and, two ye-ars later, was reaching 78 percent . At that t ime, Pres ident João goulart dec lared that a base reorganizat ion was necessary—mainly with ant i -t rust rest r ic t ive measures—to stop the progress of mult inat ional com-panies on the Braz i l ian economy and, as a by-product , to benef i t Braz i l ian pr ivate capi ta l . this spe-ech resul ted in the nat ional izat ion of pr ivate o i l ref iner ies and, some years later, in the c los ing of the ma-rket that lead to the scraping of the contractors ’ equipment f leet .

MIRACLE After the coup d’état, the country

opened its borders and financed the intake of international investments. these measures caused the arrival of great economic groups, including construction contractors and equi-

pment manufacturers that installed plants in the country. In this period huge projects of infrastructure were also started, to encourage the arrival of industries, mainly in infrastructu-re, logistics and energy generation. Agriculture also received incentives, mainly turned to exporting goods. Al-though politically si lenced, the coun-try was going through an “economic miracle”.

In 1974, in a situation aggravated by the oil crisis, the national debt—result of the loans to carry out the fi-nancing of works—was reaching the figure of uS$ 20 bil l ion. eight years later, this value was of uS$ 70 bil l ion. As a protecting measure, the commer-cial borders were closed again due to high importation taxes and non--tariff restrictions. At the same time, the country stopped to control public expenses. this combination was ex-plosive. Industry was scraped by the huge monopolies and the movement of people from the field to the cities generated high unemployment rates

João Goulart: restrictions to foreign capital caused the scraping of the industry

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Bresser: Innocuous attempt to stabilize economy and further defense of market opening

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and a lack of habitations in the cities. Inflation would reach a peak of 239 percent between 1983 and 1985.

PACKSInflation continued to grow even with the emergency

economic adjustments. trying to control inflation, the government started a nationalist shock: the “Plano Cru-zado”. this project was the first attempt of economic stabil ization and extinguished the former currency, the Cruzeiro. In spite of the deflation occurred in the first two months, the plan was a sound fiasco. It promoted a mone-tary reform, removed the indexation of economy and froze the exchange rate, supported by free and extremely high interest rates. to make things worse, the plan created a compulsory loan for the national fund of development (fnd), collected in the form of a tax to be returned in quotes. In other words, consumers were transformed in forced investors of public bonds.

With the return of the hyperinflation and the realign-ment of prices to compensate the freezing period, eco-nomy entered again in recession. Brazil ian gdP fell from 7.49 percent in 1986 to 3.53 percent in the next year.

due to these critical results—that eventually caused the reduction of trade surplus—the Plano Bresser was launched in June, 1987. the second attempt to stabil ize the economy fixed prices and wages for 90 days, besides implementing a devaluation of the Cruzado. many large works were suspended and 40 thousand functions of pu-blic administration were cancelled. But due to bad public

management of this freezing process and by the break of the moratorium with payment of interests, inflation came back, reaching 366 percent in december, a few months after the plan started.

In 1988, the new democratic constitution was received as a conquest for the country. nevertheless, the economic cri-sis was getting worse and the national industry was sinking due to the lack of investment and the long period of com-mercial barriers created as an attempt to solve the crisis.

As a way to get out of the crisis, Bresser defended the market opening, as shown in a report of the newspaper gazeta mercantil from August 12, 1988: “Without turning infeasible multinational capital in Brazil, the constituents approved a series of dispositions—definition of national company, preference for national companies for govern-ment supply, exclusion of multinational companies from new mineral explorations and prohibition of risk contracts in the oil industry—that will only contribute to put more away foreign investments in Brazil when our stagnant economy needs them so much.”

OPENING the first signals of an economic opening were felt with

stable, non-discriminatory rules in an attempt to create a competitive environment. former restrictions generated a structure of oligopolies that made difficult the entrance of new players. In just a year, the tax redundancy fell from 41 to 18 percent and the government started to give incenti-ve to the importation of new technologies.

With the commercial re-opening, a new plan was crea-ted in 1989 aiming to contain the growth of the inflation. former measures were repeated and a new freezing of prices and wages occurred together with a new negotia-tion of the external debt and changes in the return of savings accounts that brought losses up to 20 percent to the investors. the “Summer Plan”, as it became known, intended to contain inflation and to end the economic crisis in the country. In the same year, a new currency was put in the market, the Cruzado novo, which corresponded to a thousand Cruzados. these measures were not enough to stabil ize the economy and the inflation got an accumu-lated rate of almost 5,000 percent.

due to the persistent crisis, commercial barriers were almost completely eradicated. In 1990, at the beginning of Collor government, a new foreign trade Policy was ins-talled, becoming effective in the next year. this policy de-fined a time schedule of gradual reduction of importation taxes ti l l 1994. results were clear, allowing the entrance of new industries and technologies, mainly with no natio-nal similar products. Between 1989 and 1994, importa-tion taxes were lowered from 45 to 14.2 percent, a range that is sti l l in practice for several classes of equipment.

Collor: eradication of commercial barriers and income of technology

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EMBLEMATIC WORKS IN BRAZILPAST AND PRESENT

COnSTRuCTivE TEChnOlOgY ExpERiEnCEd An ExTREMElY high pROgRESS in ThE COunTRY

SinCE ThE EighTiES, whAT plACEd nATiOnAl EnginEERing AMOng ThOSE MORE AdvAnCEd

in ThE wORld. SEE SOME Of ThE MAin MARkS Of ThiS EvOluTiOn

POWER PLANTSDue to all technical aspects invol-

ved, maybe the Nuclear Plants of Angra I and Angra II were the main works carried out in Brazil during the eighties, representing a miles-tone in Brazilian construction his-tory. Delays and difficulties faced by the country demanded actions to develop its own technology of

uranium benefaction. This would become one of the main pillars of the nuclear submarine program, whose works started in this de-cade. Twenty years later, Prosub (Program of Development of the Nuclear Submarine)—in charge of the Navy—is one of the sons of the Brazilian Nuclear Program. The in-dustrial complex that is being built

in the city of Itaguaí, state of Rio de Janeiro, includes the installa-tion of a Navy base and a shipyard, besides a manufacturing plant of metallic structures (UFEM) where the submarines will be manufactu-red and assembled. The project in-cludes transference of technology from the Direction des Construc-tions Navales et Services (DCNS)

Angra I and Angra II nuclear plants, built in the eighties: Brazil comes into the nuclear era

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to the Navy and the operation of Itaguaí Naval Construction (ICN), an association between Odebre-cht and DCNS for submarine as-semblage. The project uses large equipment, as well as a modern system of project development and management tools for the works and logistics of materials, a trend that—from now on—will be established in Brazilian works of high performance. The first submarine of the new conventio-nal Brazilian fleet will be opera-ting in 2017 and three more sub-marines will be operating in the following three years. The first nuclear submarine has its opera-tion scheduled for 2025.

TUNNELSWorks of São Paulo subway, in the

seventies and eighties, were one of the main focuses of improvement and diffusion of technologies that included the methods of Cut and Co-ver and NATM (New Austrian Tun-neling method), the use of tunnel boring machines and the produc-tion of modulated precast concrete elements of large dimensions.

In spite of the lack of invest-ments for almost 20 years, the country tries to accelerate the works needed, mainly using high--tech equipment. That is occurring in this decade when TBMs started to be bought and left to be a taboo: after the seventies, the first boring machine was bought for the works of Line 4 of São Paulo Subway, that started its operation in May, 2010. In the construction of its Line 4, the Rio de Janeiro Subway uses a TBM with diameter of 11. 46 m, length of 120 m and wei-ght of two thousand tons. The enlargement works of Line 5 of São Paulo subway will use three TBMs at the same time and For-taleza (CE) subway will use four machines. The first two TBMs are already in the worksite and the remaining two will be in Ceará till the end of this year.

HIGHWAYThe descending lane of Imigran-

tes Highway was opened to traffic in 2002. At that time, it was rema-rkable in terms of technological solutions and environmental prac-tices that were implemented in the works, resulting in an affected area of the Atlantic Forest 40 times smal-ler than that affected by the cons-truction of the ascending lane in the seventies. Works were carried out by Consórcio Imigrantes, formed by the Brazilian contractor CR Almeida and the Italian contractor Impregilo according with a design of Figueire-do Ferraz—that designed the origi-nal path—and of Italian companies In.Co. (specialized in viaducts) and Geodata (specialized in tunnels).

Two works stand out in the na-tional road scenario, both inspired in the design of the second lane of Imigrantes Highway. One of these outstanding works is the duplica-tion of Regis Bittencourt Road (BR-116) that connects São Paulo to the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina. Works include the transposition of Cafezal Hills, considered one of the main bottlenecks of the road, due to the number of traffic jams and acci-dents that occurred in its short ex-tension. Works foresee four tunnels with a total length of 1.8 kilometers

Extensive engineering work, Prosub already builds the first Brazilian submarines

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and 35 bridges and viaducts with total length of seven kilometers that alternate with small road sections in open sky.

The new road ring bordering Ca-raguatatuba and São Sebastião—in New Tamoios Road—also started after countless revisions of the pro-ject. These works are essential to unlock the access to the harbor of Santos, in the coast of São Paulo. Total length of the new road came from 36.9 km to 34.5 km. To get the-se figures, the total tunnel length was increased in 900 meters, going

from 5.5 km to 6.4 km. This change in design will allow the preserva-tion of other 17 acres of forest.

Finally, the country may have— for the first time—an optimized plan that will result in economy and speed in the construction works. The government of the states of São Paulo and the Ministry of Trans-ports signed an agreement to match the designs of the northern section of the Road Ring and the northern section of the Railroad Ring of São Paulo, what will ensure an economy of R$ 1.3 billion for the federal go-

vernment. With this matching, the railroad will follow the path of the highway, which will only have small changes in its original design since the strip of dominium of the road is wide enough to receive highway and railroad side by side.

Works of the northern section of the road ring of São Paulo (Rodoanel Mário Covas) will be concluded in 2016. The road will have seven tun-nels and 111 bridges and viaducts. This solution was decided by the de-signers to reduce the interventions

The new line of Rio de Janeiro subway: breakthrough in the country’s urban mobility

Second lane of Imigrantes Highway, concluded in 2002: international reference due to the design and

processes used to reduce its environmental cost

Works of São Paulo Subway, carried out in the seventies: the boring machine surprised the workers and was soon called “Tatuzão” (big armadillo)

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in the Cantareira Hills, main area of environmental preservation of the capital of the state. This sec-tion will have a total length of 44 km, connecting the sections West and East of the Ring and has an exclusive connection with the In-ternational Airport of Guarulhos. This will be the section with the heaviest traffic load after the West section, because it will receive the traffic from the roads Dutra and Fernão Dias to the west of the state and south of the country.

HYDROELECTRIC PLANTSIt is possible to trace a line of si-

milarity between the construction of the power plants of Itaipu, in the state of Paraná, and Belo Monte, in the Xingu River, state of Pará. Both faced a lot of environmental, politi-cal, financial and social obstacles to come into reality. Belo Monte is the third largest hydroelectric power plant of the world—losing only to Three Gorges and Itaipu—far away from large towns, with lack of quali-fied labor that will be needed in high number, and with demands from the local, Indian and riparian popula-tions. All these factors compose a scenario of extreme difficulties for the Brazilian government carry out these works, which will be the main engineering mark of this and of the next decade. But Belo Monte—in spite of all these problems—starts to go ahead.

First projects and studies started in the eighties but were changed many times until become feasible in a model of run of the river plant. Its capacity of generation will be of 11,233 Mw but only a part of this

total (4,500 Mw) will be regular-ly used. Even so, its construction is considered as a priority because it will give safety to Brazilian Inte-grated System of Energy. In spite of the problems, with countless stops, the works may celebrate an impor-tant achievement: two million cubic meters of rock excavation in the riverbed, in the unit Sitio Pimen-tal. Works started in the first half of February and were concluded at the end of July. Rock excavation in Pimental, aside the riverbed, con-sumed more than a thousand tons of explosives. After concluding this process of rock excavation, the foundations of the reinforced con-crete structure for the Spillway and the Complementary Power House will be installed. Works are being developed by a group of contrac-tors located among Brazilian largest companies: Camargo Correa, Ce-tenco, Contern, Galvão, J. Malucelli, Norberto Odebrecht, OAS, Queiroz Galvão, Serveng-Civilsan and the consortium leader, Andrade Gutier-rez. This is the largest worksite in the country during the current days.

Hydroelectric Power Plant of Itaipu: world record of clean energy generation

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Putting together technology, NETWORKING AND INFORMATIONSinCE 1988, SOBRATEMA dE-vElOpEd A SET Of pROgRAMS

fOCuSEd in COnSTRuCTiOn And Mining induSTRY And CREATEd An ASSOCiATivE MOdEl ThAT iS uniquE in ThE wORld whEn iT puTS uSERS, MAnufACTuRERS, SuppliERS And pROfESSiOnAlS TOgEThER in A SAME SpACE Of dEBATES And ACTiOnS. fOllOw

ThE hiSTORY Of ThE EnTiTY.

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Celebrating its silver jubilee this year, Sobrate-ma has a successful path marked by succes-sive strategic decisions—taken in critical mo-ments of the political and economic scenario

of the country—since the end of the eighties. When it was founded, the reality for most Brazilian off-road equipment was extremely complex, even critical: the lack of infor-mation and the high age of most equipment demanded a double-shift work of skilled people to maintain them in operating and productive conditions.

At that time, the difficulties found in equipment main-tenance resulted in most repair solutions being carried out only after a fail. This scenario stimulated the union of engineering professionals that resulted in the creation of a circle of debates about maintenance techniques and ma-chine technologies. The evolution lead to the birth of the Brazilian Society of Technology for Maintenance (Sobrate-ma) in September 12, 1988, clearly focused on exchange of information, spreading of technologic knowledge and networking, base concepts that guide the actions of the as-sociation till the current days.

At the time of its foundation, the national scenario was extremely challenging. In October, 1988, a new Consti-tution was issued, establishing new social and economic parameters that still guide country’s faith. The country was reinventing itself in political aspects and a series of failed economic plans also lead to the scraping of natio-nal industry.

High level of unemployment, conti-nuous reduction of GDP and uncontrolled inflation lead many economists and journalists to consider this period as “the lost decade” for Brazil and other Latin American countries, all of them coming out of military dictatorships and being in economic collapse.

To give an idea of the problem to the reader, the accumu-lated inflation in 1988 almost reached 1,000 percent per

IMAG

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In the starting minutes, the “birth certificate” of Sobratema

In the bulletin Notícias Lion, the board of directors installed in 1990 (from left to right, Nelson Costábile, Carlos F. Pimenta, Afonso Mamede, Antonio R. P. Ferreira, José R. Gantú, Marcos S.

Sader, Orlando Beck, Gilberto L. Costa, Edson F. Carvalho, Jader F. Santos and Luiz I. Vasconcellos)

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year, what leaded to a continuous im-plementation of palliative measures to keep away the real and persistent threaten of acute crisis and internal dissolution.

ORIGINSAt the end of the eighties, the en-

gineers Jader Fraga dos Santos and Nelson Costábile—that worked in Constran (Brazilian construction con-tractor)—felt in their skin this scena-rio of difficulties. One year before the foundation of Sobratema, they took part in some preliminary meetings turned to the creation of an associa-tion that could enclose equipment maintenance for the whole industry. “In a few months, we noticed that we needed a group of discussion focused

on the maintenance of construction equipment”, reminds Jader. “Then So-bratema came out.”

After this first decision, next move was an invitation to fleet and main-tenance managers of the few Bra-zilian contractors that were still working. The purpose was clear: to join a group of professionals of the companies that had the best practi-ces of maintenance in the country, spreading this knowledge to the whole market. “The statute of the newborn Sobratema established that the founding partners would be the professionals that came into the Board of Directors during its first year of operation”, says Costábile.

The history is recorded in the edi-tion of June/ July, 1991 of Engenharia

Civil magazine, where Jader explai-ned that “the preliminary meetings before founding the Association were carried out in 1987 in the city of São Bernardo do Campo, when I was in-vited to take part in the group. Since I noticed that almost all participants were turned to industrial maintenan-ce, I looked for a way of leadership in the movement that could change this trend to automotive maintenance, to heavy construction and mining equi-pment”.

Jader, that would become presi-dent of the association for three ti-mes, said also that “the first Board of Directors was then established and I was indicated as adviser. La-ter I was moved to Director of Com-munications when—after gathering

Past and present: from equipment maintenance in 1990 to current insertion in international politics

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founding partners of 18 compa-nies—we definitely started Sobra-tema in September, 1988, in a ce-remony carried out in the Maksoud Hotel, in the city of São Paulo”.

Besides these two professionals, the founding group was formed by the engineers Carlos Fugazzola Pi-menta (Azevedo & Travassos), Má-rio Sussumu Hamaoka (Camargo Corrêa), Afonso Mamede (CBPO) and Gilberto Leal Costa (Odebre-cht), among others. Juan Manuel Altstadt and Orlando Beck also were part of this group of pio-neers, representing equipment manufacturers. Soon after, other executives of international manu-facturers, such as Permínio Amo-rim (Sandvik), Roque Reis (Case), César Schmidt (Liebherr), Sérgio Palazzo (Vermeer), Gino Cucchiari (Fiat Allis) and others would join the group.

As time went by, this mix of pro-fessionals of different origins in the market would become a trade-mark of the association. In other words, it was an association that joined users, manufacturers, parts and service su-

ppliers and rental companies. Since its start till current days, this remains being the philosophy of Sobratema.

PHILOSOPHYCurrent president of Sobratema,

Afonso Mamede remembers the star-ting point of the association in the Maksoud Hotel and sums up the foun-dation with a well-known proverb: “need makes man”. In the beginning, he remembers, discussions were about equipment maintenance. A few months later, they got an upgrade, talking about machines as a whole. Then questions about supply&service chain were discussed. This process was carried out with no stop in its evolution inside the association. “With the start of Grandes Constru-ções magazine in 2009, the approach was extended to the whole construc-tion business, what was consolidated during the Construction Expo 2013 exhibition”, emphasizes Mamede.

Pimenta, that was president du-ring the periods of 1994/1995 and 1996/1997, highlights other impor-tant point in the moment of founda-tion. “The engineers put aside the

competition between the companies where they worked to focus in the common goal of the change of know-ledge to get a more efficient mainte-nance”, points him. The professional path of this executive is a very good example of this point. In 1988 he was responsible by fleet management and maintenance in the contractor Aze-vedo & Travassos, and his difficulty was exactly to maintain equipment working looking at the same time for better productivity and for a reasona-ble operating cost.

In practice, the engineer’s challen-ge was to match this demand with the importation limits, that leaded to high costs not only for new equipment but also for parts and services. “With no alternatives, the only way was the de-velopment of home-made solutions, remarks Pimenta. “Location did not exist and essential processes such as earthmoving were using less efficient methods, with motoscrapers and cra-wler tractors instead of hydraulic ex-cavators, to remain in a sole example.”

Jader: spreading of knowledge

Pimenta and Mamede: improvement in the national technical level

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In a text published in 2008, in the edition 117 of M&T magazine, Gilber-to Leal Costa highlights other rema-rkable example about the difficulties found in equipment maintenance at the end of the eighties. “I remember a discussion where somebody said that had put an engine in a dynamo-meter and that it exploded due to the excess of programmed load”, he re-members. “Today we know that the problem was caused by a lack of te-chnical information.”

According to Hamaoka, equipment director of Camargo Correa at the time, this was not an isolated case. According to him, there was little communication between the engine-ers of different contractors and the main problem was just the exchan-ge of information about equipment operation, maintenance, new tech-nologies and other related subjects. “Sobratema came to fill this need in a good time”, he says.

EVOLUTIONStill incipient, the first activities of

the association were carried out in a room of Constran installations, space borrowed by Jader. Meetings were also carried out in the Senzalinha Bar, that is still working in Panamericana Square, in the city of São Paulo. Such meetings were a kind of symposium, where fried chicken, beer, Elma Chips snacks and Teacher’s Brazil-bottled scotch were served, within the limits established by the low allowance available. Some months later, the use-ful exchange of information created the need of a vehicle of information and, in 1989, the M&T magazine was born, an editorial contribution of the Board of Directors told in the chapter that starts on page 24.

After the integration of contractors’ professionals, Sobratema started to receive executives of equipment ma-nufacturers. This process was empha-sized at the start of the government of Fernando Collor de Mello, the first civil president elected after the dicta-torship period, whose initial gover-nment proposal emphasized market opening. For Sobratema, this fact re-presented the possibility of aggrega-tion of new associates, allowing that equipment users could enlarge the level of discussion about the supply of machines, parts and services. De-cisions that were based on the rela-tionship of each equipment manager with manufacturer’s dealers got a way of technical and analytical com-parison, rationalizing the business to business relationship.

Work rose significantly when Jader invited a universe of approximate-ly 2500 contacts—contractors, ma-nufacturers and part suppliers—to join Sobratema. The result was the

entrance of a group of professionals that represented several steps of the supply chain, including suppliers of tires, hoses, hydraulic systems, fluids and other components. “The admis-sion of component suppliers allowed, for example, discussions about re-source management in maintenance field”, explains the executive. “When we brought them for a cycle of discus-sions, we passed to discuss quality of products in other level. Thus, this en-vironment of change of ideas allowed us to discuss several factors that im-proved components and affected all people involved.”

The action described by Jader at-

Hamaoka and Costábile: technical and analytic comparison

Beck: manufacturer’s incorporation Gilberto Leal Costa: technical information

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tracted other professionals from contractors, including companies such as Queiroz Galvão and OAS. As result, the directing group of Sobra-tema included more representatives of manufacturers such as Case, Fiat Allis, Caterpillar and Dynapac. Orlan-do Beck, at that time working in Ta-mrock (brand that belongs currently to Sandvik), was part of this group. Together with Juan Manuel Altstadt, he was the first manufacturer’s re-presentative that came to the group. “We promoted speeches and courses about maintenance subjects”, he re-members. “With the market shut for importations, we just spoke about ad-vanced technologies used overseas.”

STRENGTHENINGThe scenario had a change with the

political opening. According to Beck, the years of 1991 and 1992 were marked by a change in the attitude of Brazilian equipment manufactu-rers. Differently of the previous pe-

riod—when players with local plants had benefits—imported technologies with reduced taxes become economi-cally more attractive.

Besides that, constructing and mi-ning companies knew the produc-tivity brought by the innovative te-chnologies and soon started to use imported solutions. “Many manufac-turers closed their local plants and became equipment importers, esta-blishing distribution and aftersales networks to attend field demands”, sums up Beck, showing the examples of Ingersoll Rand and Tamrock. The effects of these measures in the ma-rket were immediate. Importations had grown up, contractors’ fleet was renewed and productivity metrics increased their importance in users’ cost records.

Associated since the first call for individuals, Silvimar Fernandes Reis was also associated by the contractor where she went to work later. Accor-ding to him, the area of equipment

strengthened in the new scenario and, at the same time, was professio-nalized due to the action of Sobrate-ma. “With the market opening of the Collor government, the actions of the association got more muscles, rea-ching a technical level that could be compared with the highest levels in the world”, points out him.

LABORAll associates of Sobratema at that

time agree that the possibility of im-porting technologies was a water divi-der for the industry. But this process had also collateral effects, such as the reduction of labor available, a bot-tleneck that remains till the current days in national market. Besides that, without local plants the knowledge of the technologies used in the field was lost. And to make things more diffi-cult, Brazil did not have great works in course, limiting the employment capacity of engineers.

As a result, many engineers recen-

Work of the entity was important for the professionalization of the industry

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Board of directors in an event in 2011: growing expansion of construction business

Source:Sobratema: www.sobratema.org.br

tly graduated went to the financial area or to other kinds of business where they could apply their skills in calculation and project development. As many of us may remember, this was the period of “the engineer that became juice”, a well-known juice sto-re in the city of São Paulo, opened by an unemployed engineer.

At the end of the nineties, the lack of qualified labor was a reality pointed before by the mentors of Sobratema. Motivated by this context, the pro-gram Ferramenta (Tool) was born as a way to attract engineering students and show them the civil construction in practice. “We scheduled speeches in the universities and we took the students to know worksites”, remem-bers Beck. “We took 15 students to know European engineering compa-nies. For most of them, this was the first international trip and the first opportunity to be in contact with the

most advanced construction techno-logies available in the world.”

Operational leader of this pro-gram, he still keeps original do-cuments such as the presentation folder, named “Ferramenta: a sup-porting program for the students of technical areas”. The text highli-ghted its purpose: “to coordinate activities of integration school/student/company in a way to make easy to students of technical areas the access to the tools needed for their insertion in the work market; the starting point for a possibly suc-cessful career”.

The intention was fruitful. In July 29, 1999, the Fundação Armando Ál-vares Penteado, through its School of Engineering (Fefaap), sent to the Ferramenta a document proposing its support to these initiatives. One of the highlights was the creation of a contest that would award projects

of technologies to be used in cons-truction and mining. “Program Ferra-menta is one of the best ideas that we know to join interests of companies, students and engineering schools”, said the document signed by the vice--director of Fefaap at that time, Felix Saverio Majorana.

The history of Sobratema went by with other programs that, as well as Ferramenta, had the purpose of spre-ading engineering knowledge. Recen-tly, this mission surpassed activities related to equipment management and maintenance to reach all the uni-verse of civil construction and mi-ning, as we will tell in the chapter that begins on page 18. But this happened gradually, in a movement always tur-ned to the exchange of knowledge that started in that spring of 1988.

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Highlight in the world CONSTRUCTION

AGENDA

Between September 16 and 20, 1995, Sobratema carried out the first “M&T Expo” exhibition, in the Bienal Pavilion of Exhibitions, located in the city of São

Paulo. Under the technical name of First Maintenan-ce, Equipment and Applied Technology Exhibition, the event joined about a hundred exhibitors that were spread over an area of 7,300 square meters and that were seen by 7,500 visitors. Since its origin, this exhibition marked an important position in the equi-pment market, opening a new stage of development in the history of the Association.

President of Sobratema at that time, Carlos Fuga-zzola Pimenta, remembers the birth scenario of the exhibition. “We were living the government of Fer-nando Henrique Cardoso that gave impulse to the development of Brazilian infrastructure with huge works carried out by joint ventures of contractors”, says him. For Pimenta, M&T Expo found a way to cap-ture that moment of resurrection, getting quickly in-ternational projection and allowing the development of new projects.

Working as an integrating vector, the exhibition enhanced the relationship with its associates and generated sales of about R$ 3 million, value that So-bratema estimated to triple in the period immedia-tely after the event. Looking back, the executive re-marks that this figure may be quite low if compared to current values, but in that scenario of retaking of infrastructure investments, with national currency

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SOBRATEMA COnSOlidATES iTS inTERnATiOnAl pOSiTiOn

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valorized in relation to the dollar, the event became an unquestionable case of success.

GROWINGTo prove that such success was not

just a rhetorical feature, it is enough to detail the unfolding of this first edi-tion. Carried out two years later, the 2nd M&T Expo became too large for the charming but restricted space of the Bienal Pavilion, as tells Hugo José Ribas Branco, commercial director of Sobratema. “The space had no condi-tion to receive heavy machines such as a 50-ton hydraulic excavator with a three cubic meter bucket, positio-ned—in the first exhibition—after a lot of maneuvers much more difficult than those performed by the equi-pment in the field”, he says. “Due to such problems, we moved to the Expo Center Norte, where the exhibition was supported by several government organisms and by entities such as Na-tional Bank of Development (BNDES), Brazilian Association of Machine and Equipment Industry (Abimaq) and

Engineering Institute (IEE)”. The number of exhibitors and vi-

sitors in the second edition was the triple of the first, reaching 302 exhi-bitors and 20,000 visitors. As result, sales generated were of about US$ 300 million, corresponding to a hundred times the value generated in the first edition.

With the country still marked by

economic stability, the second M&T Expo was addressed by Sobratema’s president in an editorial of M&T ma-gazine: “With a wide program of con-cessions and privatizations in course, the State shows political maturity and is changing slowly its culture , leaving the development of works to take care of their planning” wrote Pimen-ta. “It is therefore in this scenario that

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M&T Expo (image of 2009 edition) followed the rebirth of national industry of construction

Events improve professional development of the industry

PROGRAMS CONSOLIDATE THE vOCATION FOR DEBATESAs part of its mission of integrating construction industry,

Sobratema develops other programs that stimulate debate and exchange of information such as meetings, seminars and congresses. Among the most long-lived, the elacom – latin American meeting of Construction and mining, for exam-ple, was carried out together with m&t expo of 2006 and 2009, changing its name to Sobratema Congress since the exhibition of 2011. A total of more than 5000 professionals participated of their national conferences about the most relevant subjects for construction and mining industry.

In the same way, the Construction Congress—carried out together with Construction expo exhibition—represents a precious opportunity of diffusion of information and of exchange of experiences between professionals, represen-tatives and companies that work in the area of edification and infrastructure works. In the last edition, subjects such as technologic development, sustainability, safety and confor-

mity—aligned to the huge goals of quality of the industry—were debated. the Sobratema Workshop started in 1989 to spread knowledge and promote the technical development of professionals. taking care of subjects of technical, pro-ductive and managerial content, this event had more than 40 editions, where about 6000 professionals took part.

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we are also seeing the growth of our entity, Sobratema, and we will conti-nue to search our goals in spreading new knowledge and technologies ap-plied to construction and equipment.”

CONSOLIDATIONThe number of visitors increased

at each edition of M&T Expo, in such a way that in 1999, after the end of the third exhibition, the space avai-lable in the Expo Center Norte was not enough again for the event, what leaded the entity to choose the Imi-grantes Exhibition Center to carry out the next edition. Then the editions of 2001 and 2003 consolidated M&T Expo as a definitive entrance door for Latin American players, what became clear with the participation of inter-national entities and the creation of new international pavilions, unprece-dented till that time.

In 2006, redeeming the entity’s vo-cation for the debate, the exhibition passed to offer also a congress area.

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Events encourage professional development

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The Elacom – Latin American Meeting of Construction and Mining was tur-ned to the professionals and compa-nies that used equipment and to the whole universe of parts, components, services and aggregates of construc-tion engineering. “In this edition, the exhibition received 34,000 visitors and the sum of sales that occurred during the event reached R$ 700 million”, remembers Ribas, pointing also that—after that edition—the event passed to be carried out each three years, following the trend of the largest international events of the construction industry.

JUMPIn 2009, M&T Expo was a factor of

trust improvement for the Brazilian sector of infrastructure works, which was then coming into the highest gro-wth of the whole history, as shown by market numbers. With the participa-tion of 65 countries and 436 exhibi-tors, this edition received more than 41,300 visitors, 21 percent more than the former event and got the best re-sults achieved by the exhibition area of Sobratema. But there was more to come. In 2012, Sobratema had a substantial increase as organizer of exhibitions for construction and mi-ning industry, carrying out a histori-cal edition of M&T Expo. The eighth International Exhibition of Construc-tion Equipment and the sixth Inter-national Exhibition of Mining Equi-pment transcended all expectations when received 54,500 visitors of all regions of the country and of 71 fo-reign countries. In an area of 62,057 square meters, more than one thou-sand of brands of 494 exhibitors were shown, in a total of 3,500 machines. A real construction show!

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Carried out every end of year, the fraternization party is an event that became a tradition in the area. Carried out the last 18 years, the fraternization gathers about five hundred people per edition, most of them associates of Sobratema that come from all regions of the country. Always with a thematic approach, the party celebrates the accomplishments of the year offering costume ball, musical groups, trip ballots and gifts offered by the sponsor companies.

YEARLY PARTY CELEBRATES ACCOMPLISHMENTS

AGENDAThe agenda of huge Sobratema

exhibitions was then complete. In 2011, the Association carried out a test edition of its two new exhibi-tions: M&T Peças & Serviços (Parts and Services) and Construction Expo, which were created to inclu-de distinct market areas that were traditionally joined in M&T Expo. 26,000 persons came to this shared event, which joined 360 exhibitors.

Maintaining its three-year perio-ds—as the largest exhibitions around the world—Sobratema passed to carry out a different event each year and in 2013 closed the cycle of these initiatives carrying out the 2nd Cons-truction Expo, now independent and turned to technology, processes, ma-terials and services for construction.

The event gathered 332 exhibitors from Brazil and other 15 countries that presented the highest technolo-gies currently available to optimize

worksites. Construction Expo also established a remarkable position re-ceiving support of class entities—135 from Brazil and 15 from foreign countries—and establishing a new concept of exhibition based on seven thematic areas. During the next two years, Sobratema will carry out the 2nd M&T Peças & Serviços (2014) and the 9th M&T Expo (2015).

INTERNATIONALIZATIONWorking as an organizer of huge

exhibitions, Sobratema already has an active participation in the world agenda of construction and mining since the first editions of M&T Expo, stimulating with these events a pro-ductive and informative interchange between the five continents.

Such process was initiated with an approach towards the similar entities over the world. Responsible by the in-ternational area, vice-president Jonny Altstadt was chosen to present M&T

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Sources:Construction Congress: www.constructioncongresso.com.brConstruction Expo: www.constructionexpo.com.brM&T Expo: www.mtexpo.com.brM&T Parts & Services: www.mtexpops.com.brMissions: www.sobratema.org.br/MissoesEmpresariaisSobratema Congress: www.sobratemacongresso.com.brSobratema Workshop: www.sobratemaworkshop.com.br

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Internationalization placed Sobratema among main entities of construction business and off-road equipment in the world

Expo in foreign countries. “I made a trip to Italy, then to France, Spain and Germany, where I introduced the Association and all its products”, he says. “And the reception was imme-diate and unanimous, placing Sobra-tema among the main entities of off--road equipment in the world.”

Since then, the international ac-tivity—established mainly through the program Missões Empresariais (Business Missions)—is allowing data sharing in statistic studies about trends in development and use of equipment. A remarkable case was the presentation of Brazilian equip-ment industry during the congress of CECE (Committee for European Cons-truction Equipment), whose most re-cent edition was carried out in Berlin, in October, 2012.

Representing Sobratema in the event, Altstadt participated of the economic forum “Making it in Euro-pe, Expanding to New Markets”, that

included a debate with delegates of countries such as United States, China, Russia, India and Australia. During the event, the Brazilian dele-gate presented an overview of Bra-zilian market of construction equip-ment till 2014.

RELATIONSHIP Besides participating in important

events of the global industry of equi-pment, Sobratema also maintains a strategic relationship with main asso-ciations that represent these profes-sionals in Brazil and foreign countries. According to Arlene Vieira, director of International Relationships, from these partnerships—established in national and international level—the entity gives support to the integration of the whole chain of construction in-dustry, organizing groups to visit the main international events of the area, such as Bauma, Conexpo Con Agg, Bauma China, Bices, Intermat, Samo-

ter, Smopyc and WOC, that open to Brazilian professionals opportunities of networking, new businesses and direct contact with new technologies.

Since 1995, the Association orga-nized 33 missions, including 3254 professionals of the whole country. Considered the largest event of the construction industry in the world, the German exhibition Bauma (Inter-national Exhibition of Machines, Ma-terials, Vehicles and Equipment for Mining, Construction and Works) re-ceived in 2007 the largest delegation already taken overseas by a Brazilian professional entity, including 628 vi-sitors of high decisional and profes-sional level.

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ALWAYS FOCUSEDon information

BESidES M&T And gRAndES COnSTRuçõES MAgAzinES, vEhiClES SuCh AS inTERnET SiTES, BOOkS,

guidEBOOkS, RESEARChES And fORuMS COMpOSE ThE SET Of pROgRAMS OffEREd BY SOBRATEMA, All Of

ThEM TuRnEd TO COMMuniCATiOn And dEMOCRATizATiOn Of TEChniCAl dATA.

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A few months after its foundation, Sobratema noticed that the intense exchange of experien-

ces that started in its conception demanded a more comprehensive communication media. Then—in July, 1989—the first issue of Manu-tenção & Tecnologia (Maintenance and Technology) magazine—that soon started to be known as M&T— was printed under the technical di-rection of Jader Fraga dos Santos, administrative direction of Maria Teodora Garcia, advertising ma-nagement of Nelson Costábile and participation of all founders of So-bratema that were listed in the Edi-ting Council. With 24 pages and 12 advertisers in its first edition, the magazine came out to improve the communication actions of the entity that years later would have reper-cussion overseas.

According to the current president of the Association, Afonso Mamede, M&T magazine was a pioneer pro-gram to increase the conceptual tri-pod of Sobratema: exchange of infor-mation, technologic knowledge and networking. “After M&T magazine, other vehicles and programs were created, such as the exhibitions M&T Expo, Construction Expo and M&T Pe-ças & Serviços, Instituto Opus, Gran-des Construções magazine and the Workshops”, points him. “This shows that our prosperity depends on the continuous focus in this tripod, and that communication media are fun-damental to structure and spread it.”

M&T MAGAZINECarlos Fugazzola Pimenta remem-

bers the start of this publication and the pioneering spirit that was develo-ped at that time in the entity. “Today, I look back and I am proud of the maga-zine, that did not have any edition out of circulation since its first issue”, he says. “Since the beginning of the entity, it was the main media of communica-

tion with the associates and with the whole market of construction and mi-ning equipment.”

The executive committee of the Council was established by the Direc-tive Board, which designated Cláudio Afonso Schmidt, Paulo Oscar Auler Neto, Silvimar Fernandes Reis, Permí-nio Alves Maia de Amorim Neto and Norwil Veloso.

As a communication tool, M&T ma-gazine was issued each two months through 18 years. In 2007—starting from the edition 99—it became issued monthly. “We intended to publish it this way and we were successful after ensuring a production increase with freelance journalists and a new editor”, emphasizes Paulo Oscar Auler Neto, vice-president of Sobratema and mem-ber of the Editing Council of M&T. “In a second step, we adjusted the circula-tion schedule to put it in the hands of our readers in the first half of the edi-ting month.”

The magazine passed recently by a large graphic and editorial re-building. Besides a more dynamic

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Issued continuously since 1989, M&T magazine was the pioneering program that enhanced the conceptual tripod of

Sobratema, focusing information, technology and market

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This specialized magazine became reference of information for the area. The image shows the magazine being exhibited by Geraldo Alckmin, Governor of the State of São Paulo

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layout, new sections, such as A Era das Máquinas (Machine Era), with historical texts about the evolution of off-road equipment, and Compac-tos & Ferramentas (Compacts and Tools), a supplement about tools and portable solutions were crea-ted. “Compactos & Ferramentas is a part of the magazine that has its own life and that—according to its editorial and commercial perfor-mance—tends to become an inde-pendent magazine”, says Auler Neto.

The editorial rebuilding was based on a survey carried out with readers and advertisers in 2012. According to Márcia Boscarato, entity’s director of communication and marketing, the survey indicated that M&T did not need a concept revolution but just an evolution. “Besides the new columns, we enlarged the covering subjects to agriculture, where many machines of the Yellow Line are also working”, says her. The content of both magazines—that already had digital versions and newsletters—was made available for

smartphones and tablets, putting the-se programs aligned with new trends of on-line communication.

Near to also complete 25 years, M&T magazine circulates in Brazil and Latin America, containing matters in Portu-guese and abstracts in Spanish. Each

edition has 13,000 copies, quantity audited by the Instituto Verificador de Circulação (IVC). “This commemora-tive edition also marks the successful path of the magazine when it brings the history of 25 years of Sobratema to its own pages”, highlights Márcia.

NEW IDENTITY REFLECTS INTEGRATIONIn 2012 the Assoc iat ion carr ied out a st rategic survey

that had shown that i ts dnA of equipment was widely ex-t rapolated. “We made a judic ious evaluat ion dur ing ten months analyz ing each program to f ind out how Sobratema should be pos i t ioned in the market”, expla ins márc ia Bos-carato, d i rector of communicat ion and market ing. “At th is point we not iced the need to ef fect ive ly t rans late th is ex-pansion and new way of act ing to the community of cons-t ruct ion and mining, what leaded us to change the name of the ent i ty to Assoc iação Bras i le i ra de tecnologia para Construção e mineração (Braz i l ian Assoc iat ion of techno-logy for Construct ion and mining) .

Bes ides th is updated name, Sobratema also gained a new v isual ident i ty. In the new logo, the let ter S in white sends to a road and represents large Braz i l ian projects in inf ras-t ructure. In the other e lements, red means technology and gray means concrete, showing that the ent i ty i s present in a l l s tages of the work.

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The change of the logo, passing by commemorative versions: comprehension

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GRANDES CONSTRUÇÕES

As time went by, the good receptivity of M&T confirmed the vocation of So-bratema as an editing house, what sti-mulated the creation of other products in that line along its path. The main event in the area of specialized journa-lism was the creation of Grandes Cons-truções magazine. Its first edition was issued in November, 2009, when Brazil surprised the world quickly recovering from the world financial crisis started by American real estate market.

At that time, Brazil was the best op-portunity and had the expertise of so-meone that survived to multiple and subsequent economic turbulences during former decades. As one of the largest generators of employment and income, the construction industry had a strong and active participation in this process—together with consumer goo-

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Communication vehicles spread the mission of Sobratema: integration of several aspects of action in the industry

ds and automotive industries—suppor-ted by a series of stimulating measures issued by the Federal Government. It was a moment “never seen before in this country”, when the construction industry included more than 205,000 companies in the whole nation and ne-eded a new form of communication.

“Due to these and other factors, Bra-zilian construction and engineering were—since a long time—needing a vehicle of information that might show with fidelity the dimension reached by the sector, highlighting its importance in the economic context of the country and having an editorial line anchored in good practices of journalism: exemp-tion, impartiality, commitment with truth, updating of information, deep analyses and critical behavior”, rema-rked the editorial of the first issue of Grandes Construções, signed by Afonso Mamede, president of Sobratema.

The creation of this magazine not

only gave a new vehicle for the cons-truction business, but also positioned Sobratema as an entity involved with that production chain. “Grandes Cons-truções was a water divider, showing clearly that the association was now in the worksite showing not only heavy equipment technologies but also all as-pects that could turn construction pro-cesses more efficient and profitable”, defines Auler Neto.

The new magazine was the second printed magazine of Sobratema, that already was also publishing technical books (see Box on page 28) and was preparing a way to spread notices through the Internet using the portals of Grandes Construções itself and of M&T, its elder sister.

Grandes Construções got very soon a strong publishing volume and a lar-ge number of advertisers based on its editorial content—that included constructive features, engineering

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trends and design solutions for the areas of infrastructure and civil cons-truction. But the technical character by which Sobratema is acknowled-ged also was present in the publica-tion, what leaded to the composition of a specific Editing Committee. “The intention was to establish a format with directors and vice-presidents of Sobratema, but we needed to include professionals that were well-known in construction and did not neces-sarily work with heavy equipment. This allowed us to enlarge options to

architecture, concrete, steel, etc.”, ex-plains Auler Neto.

For Hugo José Ribas Branco, com-mercial director of Sobratema, the pu-blishing of Grandes Construções—that maintained the same Editing Council of M&T—ensured a definitive evolution of the entity towards the integration of the industry, a movement that would be followed in the next two years by the 1st Sobratema Forum (2010), the creation of the web TV channel Cons-trução Hoje Notícias (CHN, that started in 2011) and Construction Expo exhibi-

tion, whose first edition was carried out together with M&T Peças e Serviços in 2011 (see chapter starting on page 18).

INFRASTRUCTURE FORUM

Carried out in 2010 in the installa-tions of Fecomércio, in the city of São Paulo, the first Sobratema Forum sho-wed the main investments in the seg-ments of infrastructure and industry foreseen for Brazil. At that moment, a universe of nine thousand works was

TECHNICAL LITERATUREIn these 25 years, the team of spec ia l i s ts assoc iated to

Sobratema has grown and now gathers the best mecha-nica l engineers of Braz i l , may be of the wor ld. With f ie ld exper ience and theoret ica l background, some of these profess ionals had shown the capaci ty to expla in thei r knowledge in a pr inted way.

In 2007, the engineer Ivan montenegro gave the f i rs t s tep when suggested to publ ish h is wr i t ings in the shape of a book. this fact s tarted a new program, the establ ish-ment of a publ ish ing house for technica l books. With 159 pages, h is book excelênc ia operac ional (operat ional ex-ce l lence) presents step by step the procedures that have to be carr ied out by f leet managers to achieve best re-sul ts in thei r act iv i ty.

then the book gerenciamento e manutenção de equi-pamentos móveis (maintenance and management of mo-bi le equipment) wr i t ten by norwi l veloso—member of the edi t ing Counci l of m&t magazine—was issued in 2009.

this work descr ibes in i ts 280 pages the main features of equipment management compared to industr ia l mainte-nance, a not usual approach in technica l l i terature.

the publ ish ing house a lso sold the book manutenção e operação de equipamentos móveis (maintenance and operat ion of mobi le equipment) , wr i t ten by the engineer José eduardo Paccola, d i rector of zdP Consul tor ia . In i ts 271 pages, the reader may f ind the concepts and expe-r iences acquired by the author in the operat ion and use of mobi le equipment a long his career.

In 2012, the most recent technical publication of Sobra-tema , the book Conversando com a máquina (talking with the machine)—written by the director of equipment and Supply of galvão engenharia and member of the editing Council of m&t magazine, Silvimar fernandes reis—was issued. In its 198 pages, this book helps the reader to iden-tify wear processes and prescribes diagnostic, proactive, preventive and corrective maintenance actions.

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mapped, showing a preview of R$ 1.3 trillion in investments between 2011 and 2016.

Presented in the Pesquisa Principais Investimentos em Infraestrutura (Main Infrastructure Investment Survey) car-ried out by Sobratema during that year, the gathered data showed the force of the entity as a catalyst of relevant studies, such as the Study of Brazilian Equipment Market, issued since 2007, and the Yearbook—currently called So-bratema Equipment Guide (see more details on page 31).

In 2009, as the vice-president at that time, Mario Humberto Marques, re-members, Sobratema was seen as an essentially technical entity. “But this classification was dissociated from the actions carried out towards construc-tion and mining industry at that time”, says him. Directors were working in this new approach but its repercussion was still limited to the internal groups of Sobratema. “There was a need to show this new identity to the market, what was made through a more effi-

cient divulgation in the press and a closer contact with other entities of the segment”, remembers Marques.

MARKET STUDYHowever, the capacity of Sobratema

to analyze complex data—even inter-nal, as reported above to demarcate the new phase of the association—started

with the first Study of the Brazilian Ma-rket of Construction Equipment, car-ried out by the companies Criactive and Exit8 and presented in 2007. “At that time, there were no consolidated and reliable data that could allow the com-panies to develop a market planning”, says Marques. With this report, Sobra-tema gave a substantive jump of quality offering to the equipment manufactu-rers projections that would allow them to know quantity and the characteris-tics of machines sold in the country, te-chnologic trends, market perspectives and other strategic information.

Consultant of Sobratema, the British journalist Brian Nicholson is the res-ponsible by carry out this survey every year since its first edition. Each survey presents also an economic evaluation developed by the Professor Rubens Sawaya, of Insight Consultoria Eco-nômica. “I am a partner of Sobratema since 2003, working in the version of presentations in foreign languages, says Nicholson. “When I was invited to carry out the market study, I promptly accepted.”

Nicholson is economist by gra-duation but became a professional

Events such as the Infrastructure Forum show the strength of Sobratema in catalyzing relevant analyses about complex subjects

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Nicholson: mix of journalism and economy makes feasible the market study

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of journalism after experiments in newspapers issued in Brazil in En-glish language. This mix between journalism and economy was one of the features that allow the consul-tant to collect and analyze market data with the technical and detai-ling level required by Sobratema. This year the entity will publish the sixth edition of the study, with projections till 2018. In the former survey, carried out in 2012, the coun-try bought 29,700 machines, a total 3 percent below that that of 2011. For this year, the expectation is of a growth of 13 percent over this volu-me, reaching a historic sales mark of 33,500 construction machines.

In 2012, Sobratema also published the survey Brazilian Fleet in Activity that mapped the universe of equipment in the whole country to draw a map of reference that complements that of the referred Market Study”.

INVESTMENT RESEARCHThe quality of data about construc-

tion machine commerce in Brazil en-couraged Sobratema to face new chal-

lenges in this area. For the entity, this was the moment to know how cons-truction works were distributed in the country and to offer to the market the possibility of developing plans about them. This resulted in the first survey Main Brazilian Investments in Infras-tructure, presented in the Sobratema Forum Cities, in 2010. “This was the first time that the market received consolidated information about works carried out on the several sectors of national infrastructure, indicating the amount to be invested by public and private initiative during the next five years”, highlights Marques.

The editorial of issue 151 of M&T has shown the good expectations of the market at that time: “Data pre-sented by Mário Humberto Marques, vice-president of the Association had shown that we have R$ 1.48 trillion of investments for next five years, divided in eight different areas of in-frastructure. In fact, this is the highest expectation already lived by Brazilian construction professionals together

INTERACTION vIA SOCIAL NETWORKSIn a way to be even c loser to i ts publ ic , Sobratema shares re levant informa-

t ion with the profess ionals of construct ion, mining and agr icu l ture through soc ia l networks. Bes ides i ts porta l and blog, the ent i ty i s present in tools such as facebook, l inkedIn, twit ter, Instagram, youtube and f l ickr.

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Sources:CHN Channel: www.canalchn.com.brEquipment Guide: www.guiasobratema.org.brGrandes Construções Magazine: www.grandesconstrucoes.com.brInvestment Research: www.sobratema.org.br/PesquisaMarket Study: www.sobratema.org.br/EstudoSobratemaM&T Magazine: www.revistamt.com.brPublishing House: www.sobratema.org.br/SobratemaEditoraSobratema: www.sobratema.org.br

with the national population, that will take profit of good and modern struc-tures that go from basic sanitation to sophisticated transport systems, such as the High Speed Train, if it actually comes to be built.”

The Research of Main Brazilian In-vestments in Infrastructure is now being carried out each year. The issue of 2013 will be the third to be publi-shed, mapping 11,500 works that are or will be carried out till 2017. This set of works corresponds to an invest-ment of R$ 1.68 trillion and prove that Brazil is still living the virtuous cycle detected and presented by Sobratema in 2010.

EQUIPMENT GUIDEDuring its 25 years of life, Sobra-

tema always maintained a strong

conviction that— even expanding it-self to attend the whole construction business area—its technical features would not be loosen. In fact—at the entity’s point of view—these two worlds are complementary and may be mapped and intersected. The re-building of M&T magazine proves that the technological approach on equipment continues to be a first--order subject for the Association, as well as the Sobratema Equipment Guide—formerly called Brazilian Ye-arbook of Construction Equipment—synthesizes the comprehensive pro-posal of its products.

Reshaped to present different clas-ses of machines, the current edition will support the buying decisions of equipment managers between 2012 and 2014. This reference work inclu-

des 1674 machines of 108 different brands, grouped in 35 families. With such a wide approach, the Guide lists practically all equipment models in the areas of excavation, loading, trans-port, paving, concrete and materials handling that are available for sale in the country.

In the last edition, manufacturer’s representation increased 18.6 per-cent if compared with the previous year and new families, such as tower cranes, shotcrete pumps and dumpers were added.

Expansion of programs helped to complement the technical bias performance of Sobratema

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In 2001, more accurately in February 5, Sobratema started its first pro-gram completely turned to the qualification of construction equipment operators. “Our main goal with this program—that is now presented to the public—is to build a link before the low-level knowledge of our equi-

pment professionals and the huge availability of modern technologies existing and to be created by human intellect and his computers”, said Afonso Mame-de—the President of Sobratema—in the inauguration speech of the Instituto Opus.

At that time, operating safety was already a quite spread subject in the world market of off-road equipment, with several programs established to qualify professionals. Only in the United States, 552 accidents with cranes occurred between 1995 and 1999, with a total loss of US$ 13.8 million. In Brazil—that at that time had a fleet ten times lower than the American fleet—54 fatal ac-

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cidents were reported in that period, resulting in the same rate. Studies carried out at that time also showed that only 6 percent of these accidents were caused by mechanical failure. The remaining 94 percent were cau-sed by operator’s inefficiency, plan-ning failure and/or lack of supervi-sion of foremen and managers.

TRAININGIn this scenario, engineer Carlos

Gabos made a trip through Cana-da looking for a program content of training courses for equipment ope-

rators that could be carried out in Brazil. Then the Instituto Opus star-ted its activities with the “mission to promote and contribute for a more safe and efficient operation of equip-ment through a modern training pro-gram whose credibility will be result of contents that fit the needs of the

market”, as told in the text that des-cribed the mission of the new quali-fying center.

First groups, including 174 stu-dents graduated in the operation of heavy equipment such as mobile cranes, crawler tractors, hydraulic excavators, tower cranes, backhoes and motor graders, as well as rig-ging supervisors, were attended still in 2001. “Along the years, the num-ber of graduated people was always growing”, says Wilson Mello, current director of Instituto Opus. “In 2012 we had a total of 1099 graduated stu-dents, maintaining always a projec-tion of growing for the next years.”

INAUGURATION Mello—that entered in the program

in 2005—has an interesting report of curiosities about his history. Enthu-siast of the progress of the students—whose careers were started by Opus

FLEET MANAGEMENTCreated in 2005, the program equi-

pment hourly Cost gives a reference table for fleets and managers, custo-mizing the calculation in accordance with user’s needs. variables conside-red include property, maintenance, fuel/lubricants, crawler undercarriage and operation of 113 different mo-dels of machines. Program equipment Standardization supports the iden-tif ication of non-conformities based on ABnt, Conama and fundacentro standards and resolutions. 17 manu-als were issued ti l l this occasion.

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MAIN COURSES CARRIED OUT BY INSTITUTO OPUSTechnical evaluation of operation Operator of overhead and gantry cranes

Disclosing NR-35 Operator of mobile crane

Maintenance and management Operator of tower crane

Fleet management Multitask Operator

Tire management Operator of articulated crane

Aerial platforms Operator of yellow-line machines

Rigger Operator of small machines

Rigging Supervisor Operator of concrete pumps

Signaler/Load Tier *Includes graduation, updating and certifying

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Sources:Hourly Cost: www.sobratema.org.br/CustoHorarioInstituto Opus: www.sobratema.org.br/OpusSobratema: www.sobratema.org.brStandardization Manuals: www.sobratema.org.br/Normalizacao

CHECK THE EvOLUTION OF THE NUMBER OF GRADUATIONS PER YEAR

training—the director keeps docu-ments that show the development of the institute, including the schedule of the inauguration event, with full programming from 10h30 to 14h15.

In the opening of that event, the Ins-titute made clear its purpose. At this time, Carlos Gabos carried out a sam-ple practical class for crane operators and detailed the teaching structure of the Instituto Opus. José Aníbal, Se-cretary of Science, Technology and Economic Development of the Sta-te of São Paulo presented a speech and Roserley Neubauer, Secretary of Education of the same State also took part in the event, that was ended with a fraternization cocktail.

ACTIONIn its 12 years of operation, the Ins-

tituto Opus carried out more than 400 courses, graduating almost six thou-sand operators that work in almost four hundred companies. During this period, the Institute also carried out courses in foreign countries, such as Libya, Venezuela and Mozambique.

In 2013, another important step in its mission of joining safety and productivity was accomplished by the program when it was associa-ted—for the first time—to manufac-turers and dealers with nationwide action to format new courses. The

use of operating simulators—in par-tnership with Tracbel—for example is a direct result of this association, as announced during the Construc-tion Expo 2013 and noticed by M&T magazine in its edition of July of the current year.

The most recent partnership was signed with Schwing-Stetter to car-ry out the 24-hour course “Quali-fying of Concrete Pump Operators”. Students must have basic school learning and Driver’s License Class

D or E. Program content covers sa-fety equipment used in operation, types of pumps available, operating principles, pump cleaning after use, care in positioning outriggers, pro-cedures when operating near power lines, care with piping and other re-lated subjects.

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Regional directors enhance REPRESENTATIONThROugh diRECTORShipS lOCATEd in STRATEgiC pOinTS Of BRAziliAn TERRiTORY,

SOBRATEMA SpREAdS ThROughOuT ThE whOlE COunTRY iTS ACTiOnS Of EnCOuRAgEMEnT

Of ThE COnSTRuCTiOn And Mining induSTRY

In each of the 27 states of the Federation, working cultures are distinct and large distan-ces are impeditive to ensure

an efficient and standardized action of several companies from North to South.

Heavy rains that fall in the North demand work planning and sche-duling completely different of tho-se carried out in the arid regions of the Northwest. Soil treatment used in southern roads—to give another example—is completely different of that used to attend the needs of cen-tral roads. Such differences—that are normal in a country with continental dimensions such as Brazil—lead to a non-controlled need of local acting, developed by Sobratema through its Board of Regional Directors. Read more about this branch of the Asso-ciation, that is becoming stronger in the last years.

PROXIMITY One of the first directors of the en-

tity, José Luiz Vicentini is Supply and Equipment Manager of Terrabrás and is headquartered in the city of Salva-dor, from where he leads the repre-sentation of Sobratema in the states of Bahia and Sergipe.

Remembering the time of con-solidation of the entity in these

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states, this engineer tells that the first meetings were carried out in the associated contractors. With the start of M&T Expo exhibition and of the first technical and com-pany Missions, the Association got nationwide renown that also allo-wed the regional office to grow and to install its own headquar-ters. “At that time, all programs of the entity entered in a growing process”, points him. “If we had only 50 persons in the first tech-

nical missions, we now have more than 600 in each event.”

For Vicentini, the growth of So-bratema during the last years was a complete surprise for construc-tion industry. The entity came from a name just linked to the ima-ge of M&T (exhibition and maga-

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zine) to get visibility through its other programs such as Instituto Opus, Market Studies and others. For him, the increase in the num-

ber of associates and workers and in the investment in events for the industry made Sobratema similar to a real corporation. “We made

a jump. Now we have three well--known exhibitions and several programs of qualification for the professionals of the area.”

INTERLOCUTION With its activities concentrated in

the city of Belo Horizonte, the en-tity is present in the state of Minas Gerais since its foundation in 1988. Since then, the Regional Directorship propagates the actions of the entity to the local construction and mining companies sharing information and opinions among the associates to map the needs of local heavy equip-ment market.

The directorship of Sobratema in the state is currently in charge of

SOBRATEMA IS INCREASING THE NUMBER OF REGIONAL DIRECTORS

After 25 years of activity, Sobratema is continuously working to increase its presence in the Brazilian territory. Currently, there are seven regional directors, as shown below:

ESTADOS DIRETORCE / PI / RN José Demes Diógenes (Empresa Industrial Técnica)

RJ / ES Gervásio Edson Magno (Construtora Queiroz Galvão)

PE / PB José Érico Eloi Dantas (Construtora Odebrecht)

BA / SE José Luiz Vicentini (Terrabrás Terraplenagens do Brasil)

RS / SC Rui Toniolo (Toniolo, Busnello)

PR Luiz Carlos de Andrade Furtado (CR Almeida)

MG Ameríco Renê Giannetti Neto (Construtora Barbosa Mello)

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engineer Ameríco Renê Giannetti Neto, director of Construtora Bar-bosa Mello. Talking about the past, this executive remembers that he took part in the Commission for Equipment in the Syndicate of He-avy Construction of the State of Minas Gerais (Sicepot/MG) when he was invited for this function in Sobratema. “I was invited in 2010, when the president was Mario Hum-berto Marques”, says him. “At that time and still now we change infor-mation with Sobratema and help to propagate and spread the entity through the region.”

During the first years acting in the state, the engineer found some diffi-culties because not all local contrac-tors knew Sobratema. The approa-

ches were made arm-to-arm or even by phone, in a non-stop activity of in-formation spreading where him and his team established interlocution with the companies to show the ad-vantages offered by Sobratema to its associates.

DIVULGATION Regional director for the states of

Ceará, Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte, José Demes Diógenes leads the repre-senting actions of Sobratema from the city of Fortaleza (CE), where he also works as equipment superintendent of Empresa Industrial Técnica (EIT). The director develops a non-stop ac-tivity of divulgation of the entity in these three states, even establishing

direct interlocution with the compa-nies to show the advantages offered by Sobratema to its associates.

According to him, the work of regio-nalization has to be one of the most important focuses, since the Associa-tion is now very strong in large urban centers but there is a long way to tra-vel to improve its influence in other parts of the country. “Sobratema rea-ched a huge dimension but it is still concentrated in the largest capitals”, says Diógenes.

As an acting plan, the executive proposes to intensify communication works with the market. “I believe that we have to increase the development of the local market making a high di-vulgation of the activities of Sobra-tema and of its importance for the

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construction area in a way to make the Association more and more kno-wn and with a deeper penetration in the region”, emphasizes him. “This is our role.”

STRATEGYRegional director of Sobratema

for the state of Paraná during the last two years, Luiz Carlos de Andra-de Furtado believes in carrying out local events—extrapolating punc-tual meetings carried out around the largest exhibitions—as a way to move the market in the state. Con-sulting of equipment engineering in CR Almeida Engenharia de Obras, Furtado bases his strategy in the idea that is easier to bring lecturers from outside than to move large groups of people to Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo. “Obviously, it is easier to bring a professional for a confe-rence here in Paraná than to move the whole audience to São Paulo”, says him. “And this is being debated, preparing the idea of carrying out events in the state.”

Since he started as regional di-rector, Furtado organized two mee-tings with entrepreneurs, company directors and contractors of Paraná, gathering approximately 150 profes-sionals. And—according to him— the reception was excellent. “Local pe-ople is very fond of these events, so I believe that it is necessary to carry out more activities of this kind in our state, a more local thing”, says him.

INTERCHANGEEngineering director of Construto-

ra Odebrecht, José Érico Eloi Dantas leads the actions of the regional di-rectorship for the states of Pernam-buco and Paraíba. Expanding local representation of Sobratema, this engineer undertook the function one year ago when—according to him— the local activities of construction

Events enhance the interchange with regional directorships

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and mining had a strong increase. “During this period, new players and rental companies came to the market, what resulted in a significant contri-bution for market moving”, says him.

Among the advantages offered by regional directorships to the associa-tes, Dantas points out market resear-ches, technical courses, workshops, technical visits and mainly the con-tinuous interchange of updated in-formation among the associates. “In fact, the actuation of Sobratema in this scenario is very interesting, sin-ce it adds quality, training and rela-tionship with companies and profes-sionals”, assesses him.

About the future, the engineer believes that Sobratema will con-

tinue to develop its role of encou-raging the industry, making avai-lable resources for integration and stimulation based on those currently carried out. “From my point of view, the Association had to create more new tools, trainin-gs and events to encourage com-petitiveness in the market”, points him. “In this way, working as di-rector in the states of Pernambuco and Paraíba, we carry out the local divulgation of all events of Sobra-tema, specially the huge three-year exhibitions”, ends him.

PARTNERSHIPSEquipment Superintendent of the

The mediation role of Sobratema includes the creation of a collaborating environment between industry competitors

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Ten years ago, the entity started to expand its regional presence

contractor Queiroz Galvão, Gervásio Edson Magno is the Regional Direc-tor of Sobratema for the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo. Appointed two years ago, Magno di-rects the activities from the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he develops a work turned to open dialogue and to expand his actuation, always ac-cording to Sobratema guidelines. “In 2013 the Association carried out some changes, including a dee-per research for partnerships with other entities”, explains Magno. “This is a very important step to be closer of several areas, and become stronger with the recent develop-ment of Construction Expo exhibi-tion.”

Analyzing the regional performan-ce of the entity, the engineer points the trend to a closer proximity to the less industrialized areas of the country, in a way to maintain cons-tant contact and to increase the flow

of information available. “We do not have here so many manufacturers as São Paulo does, ensuring a stronger presence of the dealers”, points him. “That is why I believe that Sobratema will come closer through meetings that may be carried out locally at le-ast once a year.”

Dantas highlights also that Sobra-tema is having a growing influence on equipment users. “Undoubtedly, the actuation of the Association pro-motes a higher interchange of infor-mation, contributing for the develop-ment of the industry.”

COLLABORATIONThree years ago, the engineer Rui

Toniolo, director and partner of the contractor Toniolo, Busnello, was the first director of Sobratema in the sta-tes of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. “To achieve a stronger presen-ce in the South was a very old idea of Sobratema”, reminds him, “and this

was finally formalized with the ap-pointment of the current president Afonso Mamede.”

Since that time, the entity is co-ming closer of local companies, promoting yearly events to discuss statistics and trends of heavy equi-pment market and clearing doubts about its history and structure. To-niolo tells that—since the start of Southern operations—many com-panies looked for the directorship to become associates of Sobrate-ma. According to him, the interest of these organizations is to help to maintain Sobratema active and with conditions to proceed with the po-sitive results obtained with its pro-grams such as exhibitions, publica-tions and market studies.

Like the other directors, that of Sou-thern region also carries out events, conferences and workshops, most of them in the city of Porto Alegre (RS). “For the time being, our focus is in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, but we already planned an expansion to the state of Santa Catarina, if the number of companies headquartered there increases”, says the executive. In So-bratema, says Toniolo, the associates get benefits such as the access to in-formation about the market, qualified and updated through studies, resear-ches, guides and magazines, as well as other tools used by the entity to spread information. “Sobratema has a role of mediator that puts it as a kind of regulator of equipment industry, including the approximation of com-petitors to create a condition of reci-procal collaboration that is worth for everybody”, ends him.

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AFONSO MAMEDE

C urrent president of Sobratema, Afonso Mamede started his career in 1972 working in the Compa-nhia Brasileira de Projetos e Obras (CBPO), in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In this company, engineer

Mamede worked in several jobs, such as the International Airport of Galeão (currently International Airport Antonio Carlos Jobim), the Rio de Janeiro Subway and the start-up of the hydroelectric plant of Itaipu.

Later, Mamede went to the Construtora Norberto Ode-brecht, starting his actuation in field works. He remains in the company till these days, directing the area of Equipment Management (Equipment Functional Support) that is part of the Engineering and Construction Section.

In Sobratema, his path of leadership started in its birth phase, at the end of the eighties. Invited by Jader Fraga dos Santos, president at that time, Mamede took part in the first meeting of the board of directors, remaining since then wi-thin the founders’ group. In 1998, he became its president for the first time and took again the same position for two more periods, in a total of 13 years (1998 to 2001, 2004

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to 2009 and 2011 till current days). In this interview, Mamede analyses the current Brazilian market of mi-ning and construction and highli-ghts the importance of his leading experience in Sobratema. Look what he says.

M&T – What does Sobratema me-ans professionally for you, conside-red as an engineer?

Afonso Mamede – An achieve-ment. Through these shared ideals we succeeded in putting together Brazilian and foreign professionals, companies and associations, joining efforts to achieve common goals in construction and mining industry, including spreading of knowledge, application of technology, impro-vement of productivity, upgrading of qualification, safety of professio-nals and others.

M&T – What is the main role of So-bratema in this approach?

Afonso Mamede – Sobratema is focused in proposing paths and so-lutions for the technologic develop-ment of the area, in spreading kno-wledge and information through

the market and in taking part in the evolution, specialization and upda-ting of professionals that work in construction and mining, improving national engineering capabilities.

M&T – Which are the main chal-lenges that you faced in your diffe-rent periods of presidency?

Afonso Mamede – In the begin-ning, we had financial problems because the contribution of spon-sors and associates was not enough to maintain all activities running. Later, we worked to enlarge our representation aggregating volun-teers that shared our ideals. Ano-ther challenge was to follow tech-nologic evolution of equipment, to spread this knowledge through the professionals and to conciliate the interests of agents and associations that have relationship with Sobra-tema.

M&T – What means 25 years for a specialized professional association?

Afonso Mamede – Construction and mining industries acknowledge our work, marked by continuity and integration, besides a lot of effort

and dedication of our members. We started from zero and went to this stage of development. Many projects and programs were deve-loped during this period, allowing us to be seen as a class entity that contributes effectively for the deve-lopment of construction and mining industry. That is why Sobratema occupies nowadays an important space in construction and mining market. Through these years we got the trust of agents—in Brazil and foreign countries—due to the se-rious work developed by the group since the beginning of its activities in 1988.

M&T – How would you define this concept of unity?

Afonso Mamede – This unity co-mes from outer view of team work, not only of the presidents that were managing the association but also of the board of directors and of all professionals involved in our pro-grams. Along the history, this unity was enhanced by other professio-nals and companies that also share the same ideals. Since its founda-

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tion, Sobratema is being managed by a group of professionals that have continuity in mind, in a way that successes achieved are a conse-quence of the work of several mana-ging periods and of the dedication and work of all people involved.

M&T – What changed in the Asso-ciation through all these years?

Afonso Mamede – I would speak more in evolution than in changes. We started with the relationship be-tween professionals and companies in the area of equipment maintenan-ce. Then we enlarged the focus to equipment management, new tech-nologies and productivity, involving also field civil engineers. A few years ago, we reached a new stage, inte-grating the whole construction chain, joining professionals, companies and associations that use sophisticated construction methods and technolo-gies to get improvements of producti-vity, ensure the safety of workers and improve competition in the construc-tion industry.

M&T – How all programs are in-serted in this process of evolution?

Afonso Mamede – Our programs are adjusted to the niches where we may and have to aggregate value. M&T magazine and Instituto Opus—among others—are offered since the association’s beginning and are un-doubtedly attending to market de-mand; but we also had programs that were abandoned because they were not necessary anymore. What matters is that we are always working with the subjects that may add value to the market, contributing with technical knowledge and spreading relevant information and new technologies. Therefore, the work of Sobratema is in constant evolution.

M&T – By the way, what changed in construction and mining techno-logy and market during the last 25 years?

Afonso Mamede – The techno-logies that are used in construc-tion and mining industry are in a strong process of evolution. In a way to contribute to this effort to overcome these challenges, Sobra-tema developed forms of commu-nication that—through magazines, exhibitions and events—bring to the professional the correct infor-mation and the industry news at the time that he needs them. When we started in 1988, equipment and construction methods followed the current technologies. We had equi-pment with high fuel consumption whose operation demanded high--skilled operators and we had di-fficulties to carry out training and professional development of that labor. As time went by, this scenery improved. We have today on-line monitoring, customized and remo-te-operated equipment, drivers and operators qualified through courses and advanced simulators, etc. The evolution is being very fast, not only of machines but also of people and processes. I would say that this evo-lution is fundamental to give mo-tivation and make the industry go ahead.

M&T – What are the main chal-lenges for the country at this time?

Afonso Mamede – The main pro-blems that block the development of the infrastructure in our country are high inflation, difficulties to get en-vironmental licenses and short-time thinking of politicians. In this sen-se, the manifestations carried out recently in the whole country are positive. It is fundamental that peo-ple demand corrections in the ways that political subjects are managed. Politicians have to hear the streets; many times they work in an artificial environment—created by themsel-ves—that is com-pletely different of the reality. We are going through a phase of ad-justments that really have to be performed to allow Brazil happen. Public authorities are more recepti-ve to the protests, as shown by the important subjects stopped before, that now are going on again. Thus, I believe that the transformations are only a matter of time because they are part of a much larger process.

M&T – Does the country have conditions to overcome its obsta-cles in infrastructure?

Afonso Mamede – Yes. Brazilian market of infrastructure has criti-cal needs and we have to build or rebuild almost everything in the country. In the former years, pu-

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blic money was used for this buil-ding and rebuilding, but now there are many Brazilian and foreign in-vestors carrying out a strong work in infrastructure market, a very important area where Brazil still losses a lot of money. To impro-ve it, it is also necessary to make changes such as tax refurbishing, a fundamental matter that the sta-te governments have tremendous difficulties to manage. With the existing difficulties, we pay too much in taxes. When we move a load from one state to another, for example, we pay taxes in the pla-ce of start and in that of arrival. Situations like this have to be ad-justed, as well as those of politics and law. The country has money but needs a better management.

M&T – What is the current level of Brazil, speaking about manage-ment of mobile assets?

Afonso Mamede – A country such as Brazil is formed by people and companies of all levels. We have companies that work with state-of--the-art technology using processes of the developed world, we have others that still are in process of

evolution and even others that sim-ply did not have any evolution. The-refore, we may say that the country has companies in several technolo-gic levels. It is possible to say that the technology of most developed countries is also present in Brazil, since the market is now globalized, the plants are standardized and the products are offered in a very simi-lar way in all countries. We found in Brazil products of the last gene-ration together with simpler and cheaper equipment; the consumer chooses what to buy. Therefore, the points that have to be better equa-ted when importing machines and equipment are the laws for environ-mental protection and the operatio-nal safety.

M&T – Currently, M&T Expo is the main meeting point of the industry. Is there something that may impro-ve this event?

Afonso Mamede – M&T Expo is an event of technology and equi-pment sales, a reference for Latin America in this area. At each new edition, it adds value to the market bringing innovations, opportunities and new players. The exhibition is

also important for company upda-ting, gathering manufacturers, sup-pliers, parts and service areas and equipment location companies. An eventual improvement of M&T Expo is directly linked to what it may give to the industry as a whole, as a me-eting point for business, technology, knowledge and networking. After all, it is the place where professio-nals and companies of construction and mining come to get solutions for their current and future necessities.

M&T – What is the focus of the Association for the next years?

Afonso Mamede – Our focus con-tinues to be on technology, infor-mation, knowledge and training of professionals and companies in the areas of construction, mining and agriculture. In the current scenario we know that Brazilian development passes through these vectors and, in this context, the perspectives are quite positive, since this is the fuel that companies and professionals will need to ensure the engineering evolution in our country.

The main points that need to be better addressed in the import of machinery are environmental legislation and operational safety

Source:Sobratema: www.sobratema.org.br

45

Brazilian Association of Technology for Construction and Mining

Administrative BoardPresident: Afonso Mamede (Odebrecht)

Vice-Presidents: Carlos Fugazzola Pimenta (Intech)Eurimilson João Daniel (Escad)

Jader Fraga dos Santos (Ytaquiti)Juan Manuel Altstadt (Herrenknecht)

Mário Humberto Marques (Alusa)Mário Sussumu Hamaoka (Rolink)

Múcio Aurélio Pereira de Mattos (Entersa)Octávio Carvalho Lacombe (Lequip)Paulo Oscar Auler Neto (Odebrecht)

Silvimar Fernandes Reis (Galvão Engenharia)

Supervisory BoardÁlvaro Marques Jr. (Atlas Copco) – Carlos Arasanz Loeches (Loeches) – Dionísio Covolo

Jr. (Metso) – Marcos Bardella (Brasif) – Permínio Alves Maia de Amorim Neto (Getefer) –

Rissaldo Laurenti Jr. (SW)

Regional DirectorsAmeríco Renê Giannetti Neto (MG) (Barbosa Mello) – Gervásio Edson Magno (RJ / ES)

(Queiróz Galvão) – José Demes Diógenes (CE / PI / RN) (EIT) – José Érico Eloi Dantas (PE / PB) (Odebrecht) – José Luiz P. Vicentini (BA / SE) (Terrabrás) – Luiz Carlos de Andrade

Furtado (PR) (Consultor) – Rui Toniolo (RS / SC) (Toniolo, Busnello)

Technical Board Aércio Colombo (Auxter) – Afrânio Chueire (Volvo) – Agnaldo Lopes (Komatsu) – Ângelo Cerutti Navarro (U&M) – Benito Francisco Bottino (Odebrecht) – Blás Bermudez Cabrera (Serveng Civilsan) – Cláudio Afonso Schmidt (Odebrecht) – Davi Morais (Sotreq) – Edson Reis Del Moro (Yamana) – Eduardo Martins de Oliveira (Santiago & Cintra) – Fernando

Rodrigues dos Santos (Ulma) – Giancarlo Rigon (BSM) – Gino Raniero Cucchiari (CNH) – Guilherme R. de Oliveira Guimarães (Andrade Gutierrez) – Ivan Montenegro de Menezes (Vale) – Jorge Glória (Comingersoll) – Laércio de Figueiredo Aguiar (Queiroz Galvão) – Luis Afonso D. Pasquotto (Cummins) – Luiz A. Luvisário (Terex) – Luiz Gustavo R. de Magalhães

Pereira (Tracbel) – Marluz Renato Cariani (Iveco) – Maurício Briard (Loctrator) – Paulo Carvalho (Locabens) – Paulo Esteves (Solaris) – Paulo Lancerotti (BMC Hyundai) – Pedro Luiz Giavina Bianchi (Camargo Corrêa) – Ramon Nunes Vazquez (Mills) – Raymond Bales

(Caterpillar) – Ricardo Lessa (Stetter) – Ricardo Pagliarini Zurita (Liebherr) – Roberto Leoncini (Scania) – Rodrigo Konda (Odebrecht) – Roque Reis (CNH) – Sérgio Barrêto da Silva (Renco) – Valdemar Suguri (Komatsu) – Wilson de Andrade Meister (Ivaí) – Yoshio

Kawakami (Raiz)

Technical Board – SubstitutesAlessandro Ramos (Ulma) – Domage Ribas (CR Almeida) – Edilson Fabre (Sotreq) – Edvaldo

Santos (Atlas Copco) – Gilson Roberto Capato (Volvo) – Raphael Cardoso (Terex)

Editorial BoardAgnaldo Lopes (Komatsu) – Benito Francisco Bottino (Odebrecht) – Cesar Schmidt

(Liebherr) – Claudio Afonso Schmidt (Odebrecht) – Eduardo Martins de Oliveira Santiago & Cintra) – Gino Cucchiari (CNH) – Lédio Vidotti (GTM) – Luiz Carlos de A. Furtado (Consultor) – Mário Humberto Marques (Alusa) – Norwil Veloso Consultor) – Paulo Oscar Auler Neto

(Odebrecht) – Pedro Luiz Giavina Bianchi (Camargo Corrêa) – Permínio Alves Maia de

Amorim Neto (Getefer) – Silvimar Fernandes Reis (Galvão Engenharia)

Executive BoardSales Director: Hugo José Ribas Branco

Communication & Marketing Director: Márcia Boscarato de Freitas Legal Advice: Marcio Recco

AddressAv. Francisco Matarazzo, 404, Room 401, Água Branca, São Paulo (SP),

Brazil – CEP 05001-000

www.sobratema.org.br

EXPEDIENT

COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

EVENTS

Forums

1.226 1.522

2.520 2.842 2.862

5.089

Conferences Seminars Elacom*

*Latin-American Meeting of Construction and Mining

CongressesWorkshops

SOBRATEMA IN NUMBERS54,597 visitors at M&T Expo 2012

21,807 visitors at Construction Expo 2012

6,400 students graduated/ certified by Opus Institute

3,500 technical books sold

3,254 professionals sent in Company Missions

2,477 machines in the Sobratema Equipment Guide

1,091 associates (natural and juridical persons)

174 issues of M&T magazine

113 models of equipment in the Hourly Cost Calculation site

55 events carried out (conferences, seminars, workshops and forums)

43 issues of Grandes Construções magazine

19 manuals of equipment standards

11 exhibitions carried out

11 hotsites

7 regional directories

8 researches on Brazilian construction market

5 researches on main infrastructure investments in Brazil

1 research on Brazilian equipment fleet in activity

1 portal in three languages (Portuguese, English and Spanish)

11,6% 36,5%

32,7%

19,2%USERS

MANUFACTURERS

DEALERS

RENTALS

46

SOBRATEMA 25 YEARS

www.sobratema.org.br

Nov

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