Revista Paint & Pintura - Edição 209 - page 9

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PAINT&PINTURA | Abril 2016 | 9
coatingswithdecorativepaints,spraypaintsforartandprotection, industrial
coatings and automotive coatings. Its chief product lines areMetalatex,
Novacor, KemTone, Colorgin, UltraProteção, Sumadur, Sumafloor, Polane,
and Sumacril. “The industrial coatings range from Sherwin-Williams’ P&M
(Protective&Marine)Divisionareused inpracticallyeverysegment,andour
company isgettinga superior result from thepulpandpaper and the food
andbeverage industries,”Carrillopointsout.
Inthe fullversionofour interviewwithCarrillo,available inPortugueseonly,
hegivesadetailedaccountofallofthecompany’splansforthisyear,including
growthprojections, aswell ashismainaccomplishmentsaspresident since
hisappointment inJanuary2014.
CHEMICALDISTRIBUTION - INDUSTRY INVESTS INADDEDVALUE
Serviceshavebecomeakeypartof thedistributionbusiness. Inaddition to
extensiveproductportfolios,chemicaldistributorsprovideavarietyofunique
servicestomeet industryrequirementsandsecurea loyalcustomerbase.
Thechemicaldistributionindustryhasevolvedalotoverthepastseveralyears,
especiallyasregardsprofessionalization,servicesandcustomercare.“We’ve
comea longwayon those topics. Thedynamicofaglobalizedmarket, new
technologiesandthesearchforproductsfeaturingenhancedperformanceto
improveproductivityandcompetitivenesswarnusthatwemustnotreston
our laurels,but insteadkeepupoureffortstowardsnotonlymaintaining,but
adding to theexcellenceofour services,” saysRubensMedrano, president
ofAssociquim(short inPortugueseforBrazilianAssociationofChemicaland
PetrochemicalDistributors).
Accordingtohim,duetoitsownpeculiaritiesandcharacteristics,thechemical
distribution industry demands that businesses be dynamic and capable to
adapt. “It’saprocess that requiresus toconstantlyadvance towards identi-
fyingandmeetingmarketdemandstogetherwithoursupplychainpartners.
Evolution isanongoingprocessthatkeepscallingforappropriatecorrective
actions, suchas implementingnewworkingmethods.We’veevolved from
thesimpleartofbuyingandsellingby implementingnewwaysofmarketing
andaddingvaluetoourproducts.”
CurrentDifficulties
Medranosaysthatthe industry’sreactionstotheeconomiccrisiscome inthe
mostvariedof styles, according to themanagementmodel inplaceateach
company,butalwaystowardsputtingeachcompanyonsolideconomicand
financialgroundstoovercometimesofcrisislikethis.“Themaindifficultiesare
thosewealreadyknow,as identifieda longtimeago,suchaspoor infrastruc-
ture,heavyandbureaucratictaxation,production-inhibitinginterestrates,ex-
cessiveregulationsimposedbythevariousrelevantauthoritiesandregulating
agenciesonouractivitiesonall levels(local,stateandfederal),andavolatile
foreignexchangerate.Thosedifficultiesbecomeevenhardertoovercome in
timesofacuterecessionandpoliticalcrisissuchasthis.”
Inthecrisisthecountryisfacingtoday,“wearealllosers,”Medranocomplains.
“Therearenomagictricks.Havingbeenthroughsomanyothercrises,although
maybenotquite likethecurrentone inmagnitude,
the industryhasdevelopedrathergreatly itspower
of learning how to get over them. It takes swift,
efficientmanagement decisions toprotect oursel-
vesandcopewith this turmoil. Timehas taughtus
that those companieswho knewhow to react to
adversities emerged stronger frommajor crisis to
growtheirbusinesssustainably.”
IndustryResultsandOutlook
Theyear2015beganwithadimoutlookandsome
discouragement in the business community, whi-
ch as it turned out was all justified, according to
Medrano. “We lost sales in termsofvalueduenot
only toourdwindlingbusinessactivity, but also to
plummetingprices for rawmaterials likeoil andoil
derivatives.Despiteourbestefforts, itwasa really
toughyear forchemical distributors.What’smore,
ourgrowthprospectsforthisyear,judgingfromour
performanceforthefirsttwomonthsoftheperiod,
arenonetoobright.Whilewemustnotfalteror let
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