I n g e n i oNº 37 | JULY 2018

Inauguration of the nylon plant

Interview with Isidoro Carrillo

Page 12 Page 8

Agua de Quitobegins production

Page 14

Ayesa is steaming ahead in Panamanian waters The company has been awarded the project management contract for the expansion of the hydraulic ring and the supervision of three water-treatment plants. That confirms its role as the leading engineering company in this Central American country. The works form part of the Government’s plan to guarantee drinking water and improve sanitation.

Contents and design:Corporate CommunicationsDepartment.General Corporate Managing

Contact: comunicacioncorporativa@ayesa.com

Head office:Edificio Ayesa, Marie Curie, 2Parque Científico Tecnológico Cartuja41092 Seville, Spain

All material is subject to copyright. It isstrictly prohibited to distribute all or anypart of this magazine without the expresspermission of the author.

Ayesa is steaming ahead in Panama

Mexico’s second desalination plant

Businesswoman 2018 award

Interview with Isidoro Carrillo

Antidotes for electronic fraud

Major road contract in Mexico

Spanish engineering for Japanese nylon

Cybersecurity Consultancy

SAP ISU starts up in Agua de Quito

Panama’s Management System

Nursery management at a click

People: Chile

I n g e n i oNº 37

04

06

07

08

10

11

12

13

14

16

17

18

Summary

3PRESIDENT’S OFFICE

We are living in the most unique period in the history of humanity. It’s a period in which each day is different from the one before, and each day we see disruptive changes that make what was once commonplace obsolete. We soon forget what we believed to be indispensable and happily adapt to new developments that, in no time at all, themselves become archaic. The digital life, the cloud and the web have swept away so many cutting-edge things that it’s hard not to think of them as relics now. Video tapes, video recorders, cameras, CDs, fax and even the iPod, which seemed like miracles just a few years ago, are now frankly prehistoric. But we are not only seeing a frenzy of different objects. Every day technology is providing us with new abilities that are radically changing our existence. Work, studies, information, trade, leisure and interpersonal relationships are so different today that it’s scary to try to imagine what they will be like tomorrow. Because we have never been able to guess the future. Scientific predictions have never been able to predict the changes and progress has massively surpassed experts’ visions. Only a few novelists have dreamed up some of the surprises this whirlwind has

in store for us. And they have all left more questions than certainties. Will robots spell the end of manual labour? Will artificial intelligence do away with the desire to study? Will there be a global revolution against technology capable of rendering human beings useless? Are we building a world that is so fragile, so obsessively dependent on a network that could be destroyed fairly easily, that we risk being sent back to the 19th century with just a few hours of terrorist activity? We at Ayesa have our personal, modest challenge ahead of us. Selling knowledge is our business. We make a living out of helping others to adapt to each technological change. We make easy what would be impossible without us. And to do this we have to be aware that we can’t live in the past. If we ever even for one second stop being at the forefront, we will be obsolete, and others will immediately come to take our place. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow either. But we have to know exactly what the world of today has to offer and also attempt to write some of the pages of what the future may require of us. It’s not an easy task, but it is certainly exciting. At the end of the day, we have chosen to participate in making History.

A different world

José Luis Manzanares JapónPresident of Ayesa

Panama, one of Latin America’s most thriving economies, has become one of Ayesa’s dri-ving forces for growth. In 2010, the contract to supervise line 1 of the Panama Metro sys-tem jump-started the company’s operations in the canal country, being followed subse-quently by other large infrastructure projects. In the last eight years, Ayesa has generated prestige as an engineering company, espe-cially in transport and unique projects (such as the Children’s Hospital and the Amador Convention Centre). Also as an IT consul-tancy with the implementation of the Istmo platform in the Government.

But it will be in 2018 that it goes a step further and confirms itself in the water and environment sector, so connected to Ayesa’s

origins and its very name (Agua y Estructuras S.A). The fact is that in 2017, the company was the successful bidder for the project manage-ment (project supervision, construction and commissioning) of the expansion of the hydraulic ring in the east area and extension of Panama’s north aqueduct for 9.5 million dollars (around 7.6 million euros). The offer submitted by Ayesa obtained a high technical score (68 out of 70).

Mega infrastructure These works, tendered by Conades -a go-vernment-dependent organism- will benefit 770,000 of the province’s residents. This mega infrastructure is like a great artery, a giant pipe one metre in diameter and 80 kilometres long which will improve the capital’s water supply network as the system currently has certain deficiencies. It forms part of a five-year plan by the Gover-nment to guarantee drinking water 24 hours a day and improve sanitation, amongst other things. Ayesa will supervise the works of two diffe-

rent contractors that will build de hydraulic ring. On the one hand, there’s Power China together with Consultores Profesionales de Ingeniería, which has been awarded the expansion of the hydraulic ring towards the

east; and on the other, the Spanish company Ortiz with its water subsidiary Asteisa, which will carry out the expansion and restoration of the north aqueduct. This contract signals the company’s con-solidation in the water sector after having completed similar works in the west area last January, also belonging to this great supply ring serving Panama City. José María González de Castro, the project’s senior director, explained that, despite the

The works form part of the government’s five-year plan to guarantee drinking water and improve sanitation

4 WATER AND ENVIRONMENT

Ayesa is steaming ahead in Panamanian waters>> The company has been awarded the project management of the expansion of the Panama hydraulic ring. It’s one of the canal country’s star projects and one that will require investment of 237 million dollars. Additionally, it will supervise the works for three water-treatment plants.

View of Panama Bay.

The company completed a sister project in the west of the country’s capital during the previous financial year

country’s small size, Panama continues to focus heavily on investment. “The oil crisis has affected many Latin American countries in recent years but Panama’s economy is not dependent on crude oil and is more linked to the Canal and other sectors”. The complexity of the works arises, on the one hand, from their eminently urban nature, with the repercussions for citizens and their daily lives, transport, etc. At the same time, the co-existence of two contractors simultaneously requires the organisation of communication and coordi-nation tasks in a specific way.

Drinking water This infrastructure will reinforce and increase the general drinking water supply capacity to the whole of the east and north area of Panama City. Almost simultaneously, in January 2018, Ayesa was awarded another large water con-tract to supervise the construction of three water-treatment plants. It was the expansion of Chilibre, the new plant of Gamboa and Sabinitas 2.

The first two will contribute to guaranteeing the supply of quality water to the citizens of Panama whilst the third will serve the city of Colon in the Caribbean. All this forms part of the large-scale investment programme the Panamanian Government is carrying out to improve the population’s sanitation conditions and comfort and the quality of the water of the Bay.

This contract was awarded by the IDAAN (National Aqueducts and Sewers Institute) for a total of 6.8 million dollars. The period for the work is 43 months as it not only includes the provision of the services during the works period but also covers the operation and maintenance phase.

For González de Castro “it’s a great satis-faction to collaborate with the Panamanian institutions in improving the sustainability of resources and citizens’ quality of life”.

Scarcity The country has extraordinary hydrological assets sustained by precipitation, with more than 500 rivers and 29,000 cubic metres of fresh water available per capita. Water additionally represents a strategic element, due to the economic importance of the Canal. However, according to the Government, population growth, fast economic develop-ment, urbanisation and the effects of climate change are putting increased pressure on resources. In such a way that “conditions of apparent scarcity are already being recorded”.

The state needs to expand its supply network and improve the quality of the Bay’s water

5WATER AND ENVIRONMENT

View of Panama Bay.

Senior project manager

Jose Mª González de Castro

6 WATER AND ENVIRONMENT

>> Developed by Suez, it is key for the bay’s sanitation plan. Ayesa is carrying out the detailed engineering for all its structures.

Expansion of the Juan Diaz water-treatment plant

Suez, the largest water-treatment company in the world, has entrusted the detailed engineering for the expansion of the Juan Díaz waste water treatment plant (WWTP) in Panama to Ayesa. This project forms part of an ambitious sanitation programme for the capital and the Panamanian Bay, affected by the dumping of waste and which serves a population that is growing at an annual rate of 2%. The first phase of the Juan Díaz WWTP began in 2009 and once the expansion is complete, the plant’s capacity will have doubled to reach 475,000 cubic metres a day. The cu-rrent investment stands at nearly 200 million euros. When the work is finished, the plant will serve two million inhabitants. It is equipped with the latest treatment technology so that the purified water can be discharged into Panama Bay, complying with the national quality standard. Additionally, it is energetically self-sufficient, as it incorporates a biogas production sys-tem which uses mud and renewable energy. Ayesa will carry out the detailed engineering for Suez for all the structures (pre-treatment; biological treatment of mud and odours; the handling of biogas; and electric control rooms) and the Interactive Centre and Envi-ronmental Education building. Julio Pedernal, project manager, explains

that the work is being developed by an international team, made up of professio-nals from Spain and Mexico and specialising in structures, architecture, hydraulics and installations.

Experience“Worth noting are the considerable effort being made to optimise the structure, in the face of the bad geotechnical conditions of the subsoil requiring costly foundations. Also the careful work in the architectonic design and environmental integration into the Inte-ractive Centre building”, he added. The Panama and San Miguelito districts form part of the capital’s metropolitan area, which has a population of 1.5 million inhabitants. In this area, 96% have access to drinking water and 81% to the sewage system. However, raw waste water, the approximate volume of which is 280,000 cubic meters a day, is discharged into ravines, rivers and/or directly into the bay. The Panama City and Panama Bay Sanitation Project started in 2001 and is suppor-ted financially by multinational organisms.

Mexico’s second desalination plantThe City of Ensenada, in the Mexican state of Baja California, is already receiving its water supply from the desalination plant of the same name. The country’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, attended the official inauguration on the 21st of June. Developed by the Spanish firm GS Inima Environment group (OHL Medio Ambiente), Ayesa was responsible for the project’s works management. The complex, which has received investment of 39 million dollars, comprises a desali-nation plant that takes water directly from the sea, an area for pre-treatment and the discharging of brine into the ocean, a storage tank, a pumping plant and lines to connect to Ensenada’s water distribution system. The purpose of this action is to satisfy the current water shortage in Baja California and meet the expected demand, which considers an annual increase of 2.5%. It will also contribute to reducing the drop in the pumping levels of the groundwater used to supply the area, intended for agricultural irrigation and which currently provide all the drinking water that comes to the city.

The largest in Latin America Zenón Martínez, project manager in the company, highlighted that the desalination plant is very important for the financial future and well-being of the area, not only due to the population increase in Ensenada but also due to the winemaking activity of the Valley of Guadalupe and the important rise in tourism. He added that this has been a great challenge for Ayesa in Mexico, as “this is the second plant of this type built in the country and that of greatest capacity in Latin Ameri-ca, processing 250 litres per second (l/s)”. Additionally, the installations have been prepared for future expansion, to double the plant’s potential to 500 l/s. Ayesa has been permanently present in Mexico since 2003, working in several activi-ties and relevant projects. In the water department, the multinational company has participated in large-scale works in the country like the Querétaro aqueduct (110 kilometres long) to supply water to the metropolitan area of this city and the Rio Verde projects to supply water to Guadalajara. Project manager

Julio Pedernal

Juan Díaz WWTP in Panama.

7AYESA

Ayesa has moved up the ranking of global engineering companies for the second year running. The Spanish company has impro-ved its position in the Top 225 International Design Firms 2018, put together by the Ame-rican magazine Engineering News-Record (ENR), from the position of 78, which it held last year, to 69 this year.Ayesa has been on the TOP 100 ranking of global engineering companies for five years now, but this is the best position it has achie-ved so far. In fact, only five Spanish compa-nies are on this list.The company is now present in various sectors, namely infrastructure, water, the environment, industry and aeronautics, but this ranking only took into account its civil engineering design projects. Amongst such projects, the hydraulic ring and the Instituto Técnico Superior del Este in Panama both stand out.The report by ENR describes how the sector

has gone through a difficult period over recent years, this having been caused by the collapse in oil prices at the end of 2014. ‘The market is currently in a new phase of uncertainty due to popular nationalist move-ments.’

The international turnover of the 225 compa-nies on the list was more than 64,590 million dollars, this representing a 0.7% increase in terms of the previous year and the first sign of growth in five years. In terms of their do-mestic turnover, this reached 79,470 million

dollars, a 0.2% increase on the previous year.In the case of Ayesa, the companies which make up the group ended 2017 with a turno-ver of 270 million euros, this representing a 13% increase on the previous year.

Developing countriesJosé Luis Manzanares Abásolo, CEO of Engineering and Territory, points out that ‘developing countries require new infras-tructure in order to improve the quality of life of their people. New emerging countries in South-East Asia, India and the Middle East represent great opportunities for design engineering.’He also adds that ‘the development of urban environments requires sustainable transport and increased technology. Ayesa seamlessly combines engineering with IT, meaning we are able to take on integral projects which use cutting-edge technology right from the design phase.’

Ayesa up for the second year running in the ranking of global engineering companies

>> After being chosen in the regional category, Ayesa’s CEO for Technology and Consultan-cy will now compete to repre-sent Spain in the IWEC Awards 2018.

Arancha Manzanares, Ayesa’s CEO for Technology and Consultancy, has been named Businesswoman of the year 2018 for her professional and corporate career. Promoted by Caixabank, the purpose of the award is to contribute to giving visibility to the female leaders of corporate banking. A jury made up of regional Caixabank direc-tors in Western Andalusia has chosen the candidature of the winner in the regional phase of this award after having identified and evaluated various proposals.

Next phaseFollowing the regional phase, members of the diversity committee of the financial entity will choose the Spanish representative for the 2018 IWEC Awards from amongst the 14 regional winners.

The event will be held in Shanghai on 9th September, together with another 219 busi-ness women from 39 countries. The mission of this non-profit organisation with its head office in New York is to promote a network of business women throughout the world. Arancha Manzanares joined Ayesa in 1996,

occupying various positions of responsibi-lity until she took over the technology and consultancy branch, of which she is CEO, in 2011. Amongst her achievements are the interna-tionalisation of this line of business and the family group’s commitment to the merger of ICT with the engineering sector.

Arancha Manzanares, winner of the Western Andalusia Businesswoman of the year 2018 award

Arancha Manzanares, CEO of Technology and Consulting in Ayesa.

“We are able to take on integral projects which use cutting-edge technology right from the design phase”

8 INTERVIEW

9INTERVIEW

Ayesa’s international activity started in Latin America in 2003 with the opening of its Mexico office. Fifteen years later, it continues to be fertile land, both for infrastructure projects and for large IT projects for govern-ments and utilities. The company has offices in seven countries, from which it has managed to become a firm of reference in transport engineering and economic and financial systems based on SAP technology. It’s no wonder Latin America represents a third of its business. For Isidoro Carrillo, director for the Americas, it’s just another region of Spain. “For us it’s almost a local market and that’s why Ayesa mustn’t be content with having the option of working solidly in countries that only represent 30% of the wealth of Latin America or 7% of the whole of the Americas (including the USA). We desperately need a second wave of effort”. In the first wave, between 2005 and 2010, Ayesa opened permanent offices in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and Chile. The latter was the last, through the Technolo-gy and Consultancy business. Between 2011 and 2017, efforts focussed on maximising

this investment, at the same time as tackling projects in many other countries. “Once es-tablished in these locations, with more than one hundred people in most of the offices, it’s logical to think about expanding into neighbour states”, Carrillo stressed. According to the countries’ expectations for growth, and due to the political situation, over the next three year period “we can only aspire to maintain the average activity of the

last few years. Any desire to grow necessarily requires a commitment to continue diversi-fying the markets”. For the director, there is no reason the socio-economic context currently existing in some countries which have seen decreased growth and are holding elections should hold the company back. “When we set up our office there it wasn’t the best of times but we were still suc-

cessful. It may still not be the best time but that alone is not a reason to abandon our investment” In this respect, he added that “even though we have to accept certain risks, which are in fact inherent in starting out in any new cou-ntry, we have to look for opportunities in the other 70% of the Latin American economy in which we are not currently present”.

Large-scale references To its advantage, the projects that have catapulted Ayesa to global level lie in Latin America. “We have won contracts ten times larger than any projects we had been awarded before, exceeding 40 and 50 million dollars”. But Carrillo warns that “a company cannot survive on memories alone. That’s no use to us. In the first wave we laid the foundations. We learnt a lot and gained references that qualify us for any international tender. But we have to keep moving forward”. In this respect, he pointed out that two projects had marked the turning point for Ayesa to become a top-level player. On the one hand, the contracting of the supervision

of the Atotonilco (Mexico) water treatment plant in 2010 -at the same time as the Pa-nama Metro System-, which had meant the firm’s introduction on the global enginee-ring and architecture market. And on the other, the economic-financial system of the Government of Panama in 2013, as it was the first time a state had organised itself around software installed by Ayesa.

VectorsIn terms of growth vectors, Carrillo believes there are three areas in which there may be opportunities. The first is the Southern Cone (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay), where Ayesa is already submitting offers for large transport infrastructure pro-jects. “The scope of the projects will define our expansion into these countries in recent years”.

The second is Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica), although he indicated that there was “a per-ception of higher risk and that therefore, the possibility of developing in these countries is limited to the achieving of specific projects. Nonetheless, “we are keeping a close eye on these opportunities. In 2017, we had already made our first offer for the supervision of a very large motorway project”. The third is Puerto Rico, where “we have high expectations”. As a result of hurricane Mary, the island is in great need of the renovation of its infrastructures, for which the American government will contribute 70,000 million dollars. And it is a real gateway to enter the USA market.

“We need a second wave of effort to expand in Latin America”

Isidoro CarrilloInternational Director for the Americas

“Ayesa must not content itself with working in countries that represent only 30% of the wealth”

“In Puerto Rico, expectations to win infrastructure contracts are really high”

“South America has given us the greatest references, which have put us in the global market”

>> The director says that many opportunities are being studied in the continent which, should they come to fruition, would imply expansion into new countries.

10 SMART LIFE

Utilities are incorporating technology at great speed and expanding it into areas where it was little feasible until now like medium and low voltage networks. However, with the mass emergence of IoT and big data, the capillarity of the power distribution lines is no longer an obstacle. In this context, Ayesa has created a single platform in the market which allows the advanced monitoring and control of the lines. This system has been developed as part of the Mónica project (co-financed by the CDTI with Feder funds and led by Endesa) and tested in a real environment, as part of the Living Lab Smart City Malaga. In this area there are 17,000 Endesa Distribu-ción clients, 40 kilometres of medium voltage lines and 56 urban transformation centres. To collect the data, more than 40 facilities of this type have had sensors installed. The information generated by the equip-ment, together with that generated by other Endesa systems, is processed using big data techniques, allowing a complete view of the network and its status to be obtained in real time. Manuel Fernández Dana, project head for Ayesa, explained that “the system is a pio-neer as it sheds light on the medium and low voltage network. We can control subvoltages and overloading and locate and calculate losses (technical or due to fraud)”.

AdvantagesThe benefits are huge, as at the same time as providing greater guarantees and supply quality, “the networks can be sized accor-ding to the demand, operated at optimum levels avoiding faults and claims and thus extending the useful life of the equipment”, he added. One of the problems experienced by electric companies is power losses, either technical or due to fraud, which may exceed 10% of the power supplied and millions of euros.The IT platform developed by Ayesa constitu-tes a great step forward in this sense as for the first time, the heart of the problem can be located almost in real time. To do this, the inventory of the topology of the network has been improved and all of Endesa’s systems and those of the rest of the consortium’s members have been inte-grated. Next, the system processes the data using big data techniques, also incorporating specific smart management measurement algorithms.

Within the platform, Ayesa has developed a suite of tools that allow the displaying of measurements in any branch or node of the network; heat maps and indicators of imba-lance between phases and the performing of power balancing to characterise and locate losses. In total, it offers up to 70 indicators allowing the operation and maintenance of the network to be improved.

ConsortiumThe Monica project consortium is led by Endesa and made up of Ayesa and the com-panies Ingelectus Innovative Electrical Solu-tions and Ormazábal Media Tensión, as well

as the Electrical Engineering Department of the ETSII of the University of Seville through the Aicia foundation. The budget for this innovative initiative exceeds three million euros, of which around 1.3 million have been pro-vided by the CDTI, sup-ported by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness as part of the Innterconec-ta programme, and co-financed with Feder European funds.

>> Ayesa has built an IT platform as part of pilot project Mónica. Thanks to these new technologies, the medium and low voltage network is being now monitored for the first time.

IoT and big data, antidotes for electronic fraud

The technology of the Mónica project is being tested in Malaga, in an area where the company has 17,000 customers.

Project manager

Manuel Fdez. Dana

11TRANSPORT

Banobras, Mexico’s national bank for public works and services, has awarded Ayesa the largest contract tendered to date for the su-pervision of the operation and maintenance of toll motorways under the AAS (supervising management agent) mode. The contract for the South-East Package covers 523 kilometres of toll motorways in the country, which are divided into six sections in the States of Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche and Chiapas. The contract is due to run until 2025, i.e., it will have a duration of seven years.In the bidding, Ayesa -leader of the winning consortium- prevailed over other Spanish en-gineering firms and large Mexican firms. The total comes to 344 million Mexican pesos, which equates to around 15 million euros according to the current exchange rate.

Integral serviceJosé María Rivera, Ayesa’s engineering mana-ger for Mexico, indicated that the company’s proven experience in other similar contracts, albeit much smaller ones, was one of its winning factors. As supervising management agent (AAS), Ayesa will perform the comprehensive con-sultancy, management, monitoring, super-vision and administration of the operation, maintenance and restoration of the mo-

torways. Its first task is therefore to study the supply and demand of the motorways, the inventory of all the elements within the ease-ment and the information profile of the asset in order to continue to draft the proposal for improvements and establish the performan-ce standards (for example, response times in the event of an accident or the maximum waiting times at toll gates) that will govern the contract with the motorway operation company.

It’s a complex project because it not only covers technical matters but also legal and financial ones when it comes to supporting Banobras in the tender process for the MRO (Maintenance, Restoration and Operation Company). “All this will require a minimum of 32 profes-sionals from the consortium once the MRO supervision phase begins at the end of this year or beginning of 2019”, Rivera pointed

out. Ayesa has recently gained experience of an AAS contract, Atlacomulco-Maravatio, which will end during the current financial year.

ImprovementsRivera highlighted that, thanks to this novel model in Mexico, this motorway is now equipped with the newest smart transport systems, such as surveillance right along the motorway section, free roadside assistance, weather stations connected to electronic message panels, dynamic automatic payment lanes and a whole range of improvements.Precisely the purpose of this new AAS model is to improve the toll motorways in order to attract more traffic from the free motorways.

The supervision of 523 kilometres of toll motorway in Mexico constitutes a roadway milestone>> Banobras awarded Ayesa its largest AAS (supervising manage-ment agent) contract for roadways due to run until 2025. Its total comes to 15 million euros.

Head of Engineering for Mexico

José Mª Rivera

Atlacomulco-Maravatío toll motorway.

523 km of toll motorway

8 toll booths the awarded sections have 8 toll booths

7 yearsduration of the contract

11,000 kmlength of toll motorway in Mexico

Big numbers

Ayesa has carried out other similar, albeit smaller, contracts like that of Atlacomulco Maravatio road

12 INDUSTRY

Spanish engineering for Japanese nylon

Last June, the Japanese group UBE, one of the world’s largest nylon manufacturers, inaugurated the expansion project for its Castellón plant, thus increasing its produc-tion from 30,000 to 70,000 tonnes a year. Following various expansions and techno-logical innovations, this centre has become its largest in Europe and will cater for new markets such as the United States. At the same time, it will also boost Valencian indus-try, especially in terms of exportation and the creation of employment with 50 new jobs. The Japanese group came to the El Serrallo

chemical complex in Castellón more than two decades ago, when it acquired the firm Proquimed. In 2013, UBE carried out an initial expansion, the project for which was also awarded to Ayesa, in “open book” mode. As a result of the successful collaboration between the two companies, UBE once again

trusted in Ayesa to carry out this large-scale expansion, awarding it the entire contract, in “open book” mode once again. This inclu-des the reviewing of the basic engineering carried out by UBE, the detailed engineering, purchases management and the construction of the new manufacturing line. It’s the largest industrial project carried out by Ayesa to date, especially in the field of chemicals. And not just due to the size of the contract, but also due to the technical complexity, cost and demanding execution deadlines. Josep Sabaté, project manager, pointed out that “the success of the project relies on no less than perfect integration and cooperation between UBE and Ayesa in the achieving of a common goal, through a contract that requi-res absolute trust between the parties”. According to market studies by UBE, polya-mide or nylon is a growing market as the

most technologically advanced firms are increasing their demand to replace the use of polyvinylidene chloride film (PVDC), used for food and hygiene product packaging and detergents. The new plant can produce various types of medium and high viscosity nylon and co-polymers, with technical applications in the

automobile and food protection industries and the industrial manufacturing of monofi-laments, fishing nets and other engineering components. UBE produces nylon resin in three plants spread throughout the world, with a com-bined annual capacity of 198,000 tonnes of product, of which 70,000 correspond to Spain Its product is particularly recognised for its quality and great processing capacity in extrusion applications, such as film for the packaging of food products.

>> Ayesa is completing its largest chemical industrial project, with the expansion of the UBE nylon plant in Castellón. The scope of the contract goes from the detailed engineering to the construction of the new line.

Ayesa was contracted for the two expansions carried out in the Japanese group’s Castellón factory

Nylon is a plastic substitute in the manufacturing of food packaging and detergent

UBE factory in Castellón (Valencian Community), which produces nylon for use in other industries.

The project was a challenge due to the technical complexity, cost and demanding execution deadlines

13DIGITAL MANAGEMENT

Cybersecurity has become just another ne-cessity for companies. And the fact is that, over the last two years, 81% of companies have been compromised by some kind of attack, internal or external. Attackers cause incidents that jeopardise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information, corporations’ most valuable asset. To protect clients from “hackers”, Ayesa has developed a series of consultan-cy services. Specifically, the firm has established six pi-llars of action: application, information and infrastructure security; incident prevention; digital surveillance; and training (Cyberaca-demy). Juan Carlos Castro highlighted that this matter is of maximum priority and must be addressed from various angles. On the one hand; from the management angle, in order to help the company stay in line with good security practices, based on standards like ISO 27.000, the national security plan or the new RGPD.

VulnerabilitiesAnd on the other; from the technical angle, to secure applications (web, mobile and desktop) that currently conceal many vulnerabilities. “We perform static, dynamic and cryptographic analyses designed to safeguard information”. Ayesa applies various methods and techni-ques that range from the reviewing of the

source code of applications to business logic functional tests. As regards infrastruc-tures, Castro explained that Ayesa has a new service to analyse the whole spectrum of devices (local or in the cloud), with three scanning modes. “We predict and inform of threats the impact of which could cause a security incident in real time, alerting regarding malware, ransomware and other serious vulnerabilities, but we also have prevention and hardening guides”.

For Castro, cybersecurity “is not a fashion but a necessity”. In this respect, he added that Ayesa’s advan-tage is that “we have the knowledge of the large consultancy firms but with a more competiti-ve offer”.

New range of cybersecurity services

Cibersecurity

Juan Carlos Castro

14 UTILITIES

Ayesa is growing in the international utilities sector. The company has launched its third external SAP ISU installation, the specific solution from the global leader for business management software. The Seville-based company has installed this platform in Epmaps, Quito’s municipal drin-king water supply company and which serves a population of two million inhabitants and handles 600,000 contracts. In this way the public company has improved its commercial management through more accurate, up-to-date, complete information on invoicing, payments, domestic connec-tions and equipment.

“Going live”The “going live” of this solution in Agua de Quito has led to the confirmation of Ayesa as a specialised technological consultant on commercial utility systems. Thus, this relevant project in Ecuador joins those of Delsur, El Salvador’s electricity distri-bution company, and Gas Francia. Rafael Jiménez, project head, indicates that “the advantages of SAP ISU as a solution are huge. Given the complex invoicing utility companies have to carry out -they apply all

types of formula, discount, etc.-, having a standard solution is strategic.” In this respect, he added that “before, tailo-red solutions were used which were costly and complex to maintain. That’s why all the large groups are migrating towards this leading technology”. Our specialisation in other complementary technologies like geographical information systems (GIS), customer management soft-

ware (CRM) and mobility is also noteworthy. Specifically, in Agua de Quito, Ayesa connec-ted these platforms, which facilitates the work in the field as all incidents and the way to resolve them and multiply the commercial possibilities can be seen on a plan. In total, the solutions implemented were: SAP ISU, CAP CRM, WM technology and Business Intelligence (SAP BI).

Standards The installation of SAP ISU is the second large project the firm has carried out in Agua de Quito, which is amongst Ecuador’s one hundred largest companies. It previously also commissioned its ERP, modernising its management in terms of efficiency, sustaina-bility and quality. With this system, based also on SAP technology, it was able to make better use of the resources and prioritise its investments. The IT systems were unified and processes clarified.

Ayesa close to completing the third SAP ISU installation in Agua de Quito

Technology connects this utility platform to the GIS system and its customer management software

VAR de SAP en Colombia y EcuadorAyesa is now certified as a SAP Partner Center of Expertise (PCoE) allowing it to position itself as one of the technology giant’s key Services and VAR (Value-Added Reseller) companies in Colombia and Ecuador. To reach this standard, Ayesa has passed a rigorous audit in which it complied with the requirements setout by the producer for three key variables: a high-value technical team, support platforms, and processes.

All the large international electric companies and other utility companies are migrating to standard solutions

>> Quito’s local drinking water company caters for a population of two million inhabitants. With the SAP solution for utilities, its commercial management possibilities have been multiplied.

Project manager

Rafael Jiménez

15INDUSTRY

2017 was a crucial year for the Spanish chlorine industry, with the coming into force of the European regulations prohibiting the use of mercury in the anti-mercury chloralka-li sector. In this context, the company EQO (Electroquímica Onubense) is committed to promoting its activity, and consequently employment, in the Chemical hotspot that is Huelva, transforming its centre to adapt this to new production technology. To do this, it entrusted Ayesa with the detailed engineering of the new membrane plant, which has replaced the old mercury system. Amongst other elements, the factory has in-corporated two electrolysers and has recently passed the maximum capacity tests. Its maxi-mum capacity is now 43,000 tonnes a year. Ángel Serena, the project manager, pointed out that the work has been done in record time, as it was completed in less than a year

and a half, compared to the normal length of over two years. It’s the first time Ayesa has designed a

plant’s installations for the production of chlorine. Although the company has carried out this type of project for a multitude of sectors, from food and agriculture to biote-chnology, chemicals and pharmacy. Additio-nally, it has extensive experience in the Oil & Gas sector, principally in the refinement, processing and storage of LNG.

Specifically, EQO obtains chlorine gas, caustic soda and hydrogen through the electrolysis of sodium chloride, producing sodium hypochlorite and hydrochloric acid as by-products, in addition to other chlorine salts. These primary products are used in the production of EDC, PVC, water disinfectant and the pharmaceutical, textile, paper and soap industries, amongst others.

Membranes The new membrane plant needs to prepare the brine with new quality specifications and quality requirements, for which modifications are required to the water treatment and preparation section. “A project of this type requires multidisci-plinary engineers like those who work for Ayesa, with strong skills in the design of pipes, electrical engineering, me-chanics and civil works”, indicated Juan Antonio García Bermu-do, manager of Ayesa’s industrial installations division.

The factory has been adapted to a new technology in order to comply with European regulations

>> The multinational company performed all the detailed engineering for the new facility in Huelva. The project was completed in record time.

EQO contracts Ayesa to transform its chlorine plant

Project manager

Ángel Serena

16 DIGITAL MANAGEMENT

Ayesa has successfully completed another phase of the installation process of the Pa-namanian government’s economic financial system. After the platform was commissioned in 2015, providing service to the Central Government -made up of 25 institutions and ministries-, the next goal was for the rest of the 49 decentralised entities and financial intermediaries to join the system. In January 2018, a total of 19 organisms “be-gan operations”, i.e., they began to operate on the Istmo (Integration of Technological Solutions for the Operations Management Model) platform. These included universities, secretary’s offices, authorities and institutes of the Central American country. They joined the six already connected at the end of 2017 meaning that the project is currently 50% completed. The incorporation of the rest is planned by mid-2018 to January 2019.

TransparencyCésar Enrique González Bartolomei, Ayesa’s project manager, explained that “the ins-tallation has been a success, meeting the established deadlines”. He also highlighted the complexity of con-necting “numerous institutions, with their sectoral diversity, and adding these to the current operations of the Government and its ministries”. The Istmo platform already serves important entities like the National Assembly, Courts,

Electoral Tribunal and General Comptroller’s Office of the Republic, in addition to the Ministries of Economy and Finance, Health, Education, Security, Works, Social Develop-ment, Housing and Trade. “This makes Istmo a country project, with tangible benefits for its citizens, who enjoy transparent administration of public finan-ces”. This contract is one of the largest within Ayesa’s technological department as for the

first time, a government is basing its econo-mic management around a system installed by Ayesa.

Additionally, the technology used is SAP, the leading business management soft-ware, which is a big slap on the back for the company when it comes to facing new large-scale projects in the public sector, both inside and outside of Spain.

DepartmentsSpecifically, the SAP GRP solution was installed, in the line of Public Management (EA-PS), covering the economic financial, purchases and warehouse and budgetary formulation and control departments. Ayesa, in a consortium with lecisa, has com-prehensively supplied the IT technology, materials and other assets, in addition to other services for configuration and commis-sioning.

>> The company, which installed the public resource management system in the Central American nation, has reached a milestone with the connection of 19 public entities like universities and institutes to the system.

Ayesa “hooks up” 25 public entities to the Government’s new platform Istmo

Financial City of Panama in the background.

The technological firm has installed the SAP GRP solution in the line of EA-PS public management

Project manager

César E. González

In April 2017, Ayesa commissioned the so-called Electronic CV System of the SAS (An-dalusian Healthcare Service) to digitalise its recruitment processes, the most numerous in Spain within the healthcare field. Since its installation, various features have been incorporated into the system which have improved both the candidate participa-tion rates in recruitment campaigns through the Electronic Candidate Login Section and the effectiveness of said 100% electronic processes. The platform, which has developed a cen-tralised attribute repository, began with the

2013-2015 Public Employment Offer and has now consolidated itself with that correspon-ding to 2016-2017. For the latter, the SAS has opened up 3,996 department specialist positions.

E-assistanceThe presentation of participation requests and payment of exam fees must take place using the Electronic Candidate Login Section, in the “E-assistance for professionals” of the SAS website, also managed by Ayesa. A notable new feature of the Electronic CV System is its integration with Cl@ve,

the payment of fees, a complex automatic assessment system and statement manage-ment. The system has made Andalusia one of the first autonomous communities in Spain to develop a completely electronic system to manage big public staff recruitment processes. The idea is to shorten recruitment process times and completely eliminate the use of paper in said processes. At the same time as allowing candidates to perform the whole process online without having to travel anywhere.

The SAS Electronic CV now includes applications

17EDUCATION

Barcelona’s public nurseries have been pioneers over the last school year in Ca-talonia with online pre-registration. A new feature installed by Ayesa in the IT system that governs the management of the 105 centres allowed parents to request a place for their children over the internet for the first time. In fact, 45% of requests were made through this channel. The company has been in charge of the evolutionary maintenance of the 03Bres-sol platform, through which around 8,000 requests for places in Barcelona are managed each year, for five years. This means the introduction of new applica-tions each year and the commissioning of the necessary digital tools to improve the management of the centres and service to the families. Last year new features were added to allow interoperation with different orga-nisms through the Consorci Administració Oberta de Catalunya (CAOC), for the au-tomatic validation of large family, single-parent family and disabled cards and the validation of National Identity Documents and Foreigner Identification Numbers. Another of its features allows the online consulting of the lists of children who were not allocated a place in their first

choice of centre and the monitoring of their position throughout the school year. At the same time, once the Tax Agency has loaded the income tax data from the pre-vious tax year, automatic searches will be enabled to allow families who request fee subsidies to be assessed. But the scope of 03BRESSOL is much greater than this. It manages all daily operations of the municipal nurseries of the Town Council of Barcelona. The main modules are school

management; pre-registration and enrol-ment; subsidies; vacancy and finance.

PossibilitiesThus, with this platform, the management team can manage invoicing, food suppliers and subsidies, amongst other things. Martha Analia Alegre, the project’s functio-nal manager, highlighted that “when it came to implementing new features like online pre-registration there were practically no incidents in the portal”. For her part, María Naranjo, manager of Catalonia’s public-sector projects, pointed

out that this project “completes Ayesa’s experience in the education system, in co-vering the 0 to 3 segment for the first time”. Ayesa was a pioneer in Spain with the Seneca platform, develo-ped with the Andalusia Regional Government, to manage the entire Andalusian educa-tion community. It is currently the leader in IT sys-tems for public education.

Nursery management at a click

The system facilitates the management of invoicing, suppliers and subsidies

The platform has been connected to various organisms for the validation of documentation

>> This year was the first in which the parents of children from 0 to 3 years in Barcelona were able to request a place in public centres via Internet. The system allows 105 nurseries to be managed.

In 2007, Ayesa developed the Rayuela platform for the education management of non-university centres in Extremadura. It has now gone a step further with a novel mobile application that simplifies two-way communication and incorporates new features. Since the start of this school year, mothers, fathers, teachers and students have been able to download “iRayuela” in the Google and Apple “stores”.It currently allows teachers to record marks and absences using their mobiles. It also provides all users with a messaging service allowing secure communication between all members of the education community.

iRayuela connects the education sector

Project manager

Martha A. Alegre

18 FUNDACIÓN AYESA 16

PEOPLEChile, Latin America’s hub for ICTThe world’s longest country boasts one of Latin America’s most modern societies and one of the most solid economies. Ayesa came to the nation in 2012. It was its first external installation with the opening of its own office in the Technology and Consultancy line of business. Since then, the company has carried out large, innovative projects in the public sector. Today, it has diversified its clientele, which includes Enel and Arauco.

19AYESA’S PEOLPLE

The Chile office has recently celebrated its sixth anniversary. During this time, the company has consolidated this office and its position in the country as a technological consultant thanks to the execution of large projects in the public sector. But Ayesa has continued to diversify its sec-tors of activity and therefore its clients, and consequently now has large accounts like the Enel energy group and forestry company Arauco. For the former it has performed the installation of logistical and financial ERP and Business Intelligence and Analyst projects, amongst others. For the latter; a weather platform and the so-called silviculture record, an application

in charge of developing a data and appli-cation model for operations in relation to natural assets.

The team is made up of around 60 professio-nals and recently incorporated Luis Gálvez (Santiago de Chile, 1984) as its new director. With a degree in applied engineering and an international consultant, he started with

the company in April to lead a new period of growth. According to Gálvez, Chile is an attractive IT hub, “nonetheless, it’s clear that for this development to be sustainable, the digital transformation is an essential, neces-sary process”. On top of this, he indicated that the sectors with the most potential are “human resour-ces, digital state, institutions, investment in R&D&i and connectivity and infrastructure”. In this respect, César Deramond, project head, added that Chile is a country with ex-cellent technology adoption rates. “Chileans are generally fascinated by new technology, so it’s a good laboratory within Latin America”.

Ayesa’s Team in the Santiago de Chile office.

César Deramond, Lago Llanquihue in Chile’s X Region.

Antonio Cazorla at the Huilo Huilo Biological Reserve in the Los Rios region (Chile).

César Deramond, project headCésar Deramond (Santiago de Chile, 1984) is an in-dustrial civil engineer. Married with a three-year-old daughter, he took on the role of BI and BA leader for Ayesa Chile in April 2018. “Chile is a country with excellent rates of adoption of technology, making it a true laboratory within Latin America. I feel lucky to help Ayesa face its challenges in Chile”, he said.

Antonio Cazorla, expatriate Antonio Cazorla (Seville, 1995) is a graduate with

a degree in Business Administration and Manage-ment. He is currently an expat in Santiago (Chile), in

the management control department. “Sometimes you miss your people, your city and

your habits but it’s a positive experience thanks to the cultural exchange. What’s more, Chile has some

spectacular natural spots”.

The office has been operating for six years with a diverse client portfolio