On the sofa with… Nuria Cristóbal, Nissan Ávila plant manager

Advanced Manufacturing – What is the strategy in new technologies and innovation that you are committed to at the Nissan Ávila plant?

Nuria Cristóbal – Innovation has been a key element in our development. Our transformation that we have undergone as a business model. We came from being a manufacturing plant for industrial vehicles and we have become a production centre, both for spare parts and for the manufacture of components for life vehicles. This is a total transformation.

As a business model, the new activity has also required new technology and a high level of investment to provide us with all the technological capabilities necessary for the new industrial activities, including high investment, a focus on digitalisation, innovation and technological development to provide us with all the capabilities to offer the market what it is demanding in terms of agility, flexibility and service.

AMM – What role does human talent play in the innovation and evolution of your plant?

N. Cristóbal – At Nissan, we are clearly committed to talent. As part of our transformation process, we have had to readapt our workforce and our staff to new technologies. These new types of technology, the maintenance of new materials in stamping, plastic injection, welding of components not only in steel, but also new aluminium components, forensic box processes, etc….

All these new technologies have been key to work and focus the profiles of the workforce towards new capabilities. Nissan is also committed to a model that we call graduate, which is to attract young and technological talent. We work from the focus, from the universities, throughout the region. We have agreements with universities to generate development programmes.

Graduate is a programme that was launched 13 years ago and every year we take on new staff, new technological profiles to provide us with all this innovation, all this talent, the know-how that comes from the university and not just the university. We are committed to professional development and vocational training. We have dual vocational training programmes that we have also been applying this model for several years and with the success that the majority of the people we recruit later have continuity within our company.