A spirit of collaboration and solidarity towards recovery

AutoRevista has contacted companies in the Valencian Community affected directly or indirectly by the DANA to find out how they have collaborated to overcome the situation and have been returning to the best possible levels of activity. Article published in AutoRevista 2,399. Lea este artículo en castellano.

After the terrible impact of the DANA of 29 October 2024, Alicia Company, manager of Estampaciones Valma, a company located in the town of Albal, highlights the work of ‘volunteers who have helped us all, people who came to the industrial estate and offered to help, everything. In our case, we have two lines of activity, tooling and cold metal stamping, so we work with very heavy materials such as 1,800 kg coils or 500 kg containers of parts. We had materials weighing between 1,000 and 3,000 kilos floating or overturned. The dies had to be moved to remove the water and mud and to fix them. We couldn't salvage any of our three Fenwick forklifts. A neighbouring company lent us a Fenwick for 15 days. The first day they let us in, another neighbour left me a hydraulic unit, two pumps to pump out water and a unit to generate electricity. I had to transfer die-making jobs in three different companies, paying, logically, die-makers' salaries and forced outsourcing for a month and a half, as well as spare parts and die repairs. In our stamping activity, we supply components that are incorporated into larger components such as hinges. Automotive is one of our sectors, but we are a multi-sector company also dedicated to construction, food, toys, railway and white goods. On the other hand, we have carried out stamping operations for another company in Paiporta, which was more affected than us, and we have been able to help them to avoid losing their client’”.

Company points out that ‘since 24 December we have been fully operational in the stamping activity, and since the beginning of February, in the die-stamping activity. I would like to say that being able to operate at 100% has not been thanks to aid from the State, insurance companies or town councils, but thanks to family money and our own resources. The aid from the State and the Generalitat was enough to pay the first month's wages, bearing in mind that we were practically unable to work for two and a half months’.

Wenceslao Blay, Director of Business Development and Industry 4.0 at Tetra Proyectos, explains that ‘I know Alicia, from Estampaciones Valma, through the AVIA cluster, and in these cases the personal relationship is very important. Valma got their machines off the ground and I helped them to get electricians through a couple of our suppliers, who we asked to treat them as if they were us. They had never worked with Valma before and solved the problem as quickly as possible. In our case, we have not had to ask for help from other companies, but quite a few of our suppliers have given us a five-point increase in the discount for replacement of damaged material or have assumed part of the costs or breakdowns within the warranty period. We were three weeks without being able to carry out normal day-to-day business until we had the facilities operational, although they are still not 100%. Wenceslao Blay, Director of Business Development and Industry 4.0 at Tetra Proyectos, explains that ‘I know Alicia, from Estampaciones Valma, through the AVIA cluster, and in these cases the personal relationship is very important. Valma got their machines off the ground and I helped them to get electricians through a couple of our suppliers, who we asked to treat them as if they were us. They had never worked with Valma before and solved the problem as quickly as possible. In our case, we have not had to ask for help from other companies, but quite a few of our suppliers have given us a five-point increase in the discount for replacement of damaged material or have assumed part of the costs or breakdowns within the warranty period. We were three weeks without being able to carry out normal day-to-day business until we had the facilities operational, although they are still not 100%”.

José Manuel Orta Cid, general manager of Mettecno 2000, explains that ‘we have not been directly impacted in the area where we have the manufacturing plant as we are in the municipality of Silla where the DANA did not reach, but indirectly, as 1.5 m of water entered one of the warehouses where we have some of the raw materials stored, as well as losing two cars that belonged to our company. We have quantified the cost of the damage and it amounts to €96,170’.

However, Mettecno 2000 did not stop the activity and, according to Orta Cid, they are currently negotiating ‘for the insurance to take charge of the amount of raw material that cannot be used and has to go to scrap’. Another of their lines of action in this sense is to collaborate with the Department of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism of the Generalitat Valenciana ‘to study, together with different associations and clusters of the Valencian Community, the needs of the companies affected by the DANA, both in terms of infrastructure and economically’. 

In this sense, he concludes: ‘I think that even with the effort that is being made by all parties, both at private and institutional level, we will go to the end of this year 2025 to see all the affected areas recovered, although not in their entirety as before’.

Julián Valera, general manager of Eimeva, speaks of support ‘because of the impact on some of our clients and some who were not clients, but now are. We have helped three companies, in an exceptional way, with labour at cost price and material at cost price. We have not processed delivery notes for work done. As we are a small company, we have focused on our regular customers who had gone through a dramatic situation, who were unable to work because everything was destroyed. In these three cases, they are now back to work, two of them practically back to normal and a third one is getting back to normal. We have provided support with what we know how to do. We are dedicated to automation, but also to maintenance and repair. We have been able to help Moldnpack, which is dedicated to the paper industry and is located in Beniparrell, La Lantana Textil, specialised in upholstering sofas, which is in Picanya, and Aleaciones Estampadas SA AESA, a supplier to the automotive sector, in Catarroja. We have offered them all flexible payment terms so that they can pay when they recover production’.

AVIA's actions for a full and sustainable recovery

Faced with the brutal impact of the DANA, AVIA, as a strategic cluster in the region, activated a series of initiatives to assess, mitigate and coordinate the necessary actions to recover economic activity and support associated companies, which we summarise in this overview. In collaboration with the Generalitat Valenciana (GVA), a form was designed to collect information on the typology and magnitude of the damage suffered by the associated companies. The data was sent to the Directorate General for Industry to speed up the assessment and possible aid.

Communication channels were reinforced through a new WhatsApp channel and the use of the existing Telegram channel. These media have been used to speed up the distribution of urgent information, provide timely and agile information on announcements from the different administrations, decisions of the board of directors and requests from associates.

In addition to several legal advice sessions with Broseta Abogados, offers of support were collected from companies and entities, both associated and external, willing to collaborate and contribute to mitigate, as far as possible, the effects of the situation caused by the DANA. The main purpose was to transmit this information to all associates, facilitating access to the specific services and assistance needed at this critical time. Additionally, and in coordination with IBIAE, the Business Association of the Foia de Castalla, productive capacities were identified, as well as resources for cleaning and repairing tools, ensuring a more efficient response to the needs of the sector.

Valencia Innovation Capital provided 25 workspaces equipped with furniture and WIFI for use by employees of affected companies, located in the La Harinera building in Valencia. Transport routes were made available for workers and through the cluster's communication channels, updated information was provided on the status and repair of affected infrastructures, as well as telephone assistance.

The cluster has prepared reports on preliminary damages, necessary aid and offers of assistance to affected companies. On the other hand, AVIA has acted as an interlocutor with the regional and central administrations, with Ford Spain, ANFAC, SERNAUTO and with the other automotive and mobility clusters in Spain.

Today, AVIA continues to work intensively on a number of initiatives in order to the needs of its associates and to guarantee the recovery of the sector after the impacts of the DANA. The cluster stresses that public-private collaboration has been fundamental in coordinating efforts, and the actions undertaken so far have allowed progress to be made in mitigating the damage suffered.

However, they point out that there is still a long way to go. Several lines of work remain open, 

including the coordination of aid, the strengthening of infrastructures and the implementation of 

measures to strengthen the resilience of the sector in the face of future climatic events. AVIA's commitment to its partners remains firm, and ongoing actions will be adjusted to emerging needs to ensure a full and sustainable recovery.