Unit received investments of BRL 2 million is increasing professional qualifications of employees, clients and youth apprentices
Marcopolo has just inaugurated its new training center. With its spacious facilities and modern equipment, the new center's main objective is to provide ideal conditions for the professional education and qualification of company employees.
The new Marcopolo Training Center demonstrates the strong focus and importance the company has always dedicated to employee and client professionalization, as well as that of the youths in the Marcopolo Professional Education School. "Bus production uses intensive labor and requires high quality standards. As we apply more and more technology to our products and work processes alike, ongoing education and professional updates are essential towards maintaining the company's competitiveness," emphasized Osmar Piola, human resources manager at Marcopolo.
Modern, spacious facilities
The new Marcopolo Training Center received investments of approximately BRL 2 million. The 3,300 square meters of developed area has specific, independent cells for each area and/or stage of Marcopolo's production process, such as electrical, mechanical, air-conditioning, welding, machine operation, plastics and paint-jobs. Aside from the administrative department, the MTC also has eight classrooms for technical education, including foreign languages (English and Spanish) and a 200-seat auditorium.
According to Piola, one of main points to be emphasized is enlargement of installed capacity for employee training, which used to be limited by the physical space available at the previous location. "Since the new center is four times larger, we have increased the number of welding stations from eight to 40, increased the number of electronic simulation panels from 6 to 45, and doubled the number of mechanical work counters from 20 to 40. The center also features translucent tiles to make better use of natural lighting, reducing the need for artificial lighting.
According to Piola, aside from enlarging the area and adding new training equipment, the investments will make even greater quality improvements possible, since the workers will be trained in conditions very similar to the ones they will see on the Marcopolo production lines. "With the new center, the personnel being trained as welders are going to finish their training using the same gauges we use at the factory. Not only that, they will also learn to program and operate a welding robot identical to the one on the line. Before, we didn't have a robot and the welding was done on pieces of scrap metal. We will also have trainings on chassis for the main brands used by our clients in the country," explained the manager.
Photo credit: Júlio Soares