Engineering in Brazil: “Highly Competitive” says Niplan Engeneering – Brazil

Interview with Paulo Nishimura, President of Niplan Engenharia

At the engineering level, there is a lot of interest in Brazil. Many companies are coming into Brazil; there is a boom in construction but this also involves a growth in competition. Which are the opportunities and challenges in the industrial engineering sector in Brazil at the moment?

Politics and economy are holding hands. We are experiencing a lot of changes, there is a new government, and all those factors influence the economy. There are positive developments in the oil and gas, mining and infrastructures sectors. Nowadays, the construction and industry sector is highly competitive. We, the national players, are going through an alert period in terms of competitiveness. However, the future growth scenery is very optimistic.

What is you strategy for the moment?

Our growth strategy is based on two factors: diversification of activities and markets diversification. Regarding the first factor, we are improving our projects to strengthen our position as an EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) company. Regarding markets diversification, Niplan has been in the market for over 22 years. We grew in the private sector of the major multinational companies, in the chemistry, petro chemistry, mining, pharmaceutical, and many other sectors, and it has been 12 years since we’ve entered the oil and gas sector. We’re very well-known in Brazil as great performers.

Are you thinking about diversifying your activities and markets or is it already done?

It’s already done. We are an extremely diversified company in activities and market segments.

What’s your competitive advantage over other industry players: the large companies and the small ones that are squeezing the margins of the big ones?

Our market positioning in terms of price competition is very vertical: we have our own labour (more than 5000 workers) and we have a compromise philosophy with people and processes. We are constantly searching for systems that will bring us more competitiveness in terms of price, costs and performance. People ask what my company does and I answer in a few words: “We are a company equipped with process and technology that manages people.”

What you are saying is that your strength is people: the people that work for you?

Yes, exactly.

Is Niplan a family business?

This company is not a family business: we are 3 business partners. Niplan is genuinely Brazilian. Our vision is to expand and to get foreign partners to have a more global growth; a growth that goes beyond borders. Our company philosophy is based on professionalism. We are no family succession business. Successions in our company are dictated by professionalism.

What type of foreign partners are you looking for?

We are actually talking to some companies that can bring synergy and growth into our projects. Those are companies with similar financial structure, technology, etc. that can increase the diversification of our activities. We have several activities within our business plan: construction, industrial assembly, maintenance, and modules construction. Our goal is to create other segments like, for example, engineering, technology, energy, environmental control, and manufacturing segments.

Could you talk a little bit about your platform modules constructing business?

That project is based in Bahia with the specific goal to manufacture maritime platform modules type SPSO. In the next 15 years, Brazil – thanks to the discovery of oil and natural gas deposits on the Brazilian coast – is going to see a lot of investment. With that in mind, we are also investing to accompany the offshore growth.

We produce platform modules which are small industrial plants placed on top of the platforms. In the Espírito Santo State we have 3 big developments in the mining and steel sectors. We are developing, in the Vale Group company in Vitória a work called “Oitava Pelotização”. It’s a huge construction that involves approximately 2000 people.

We are also renovating the main furnace of the company ArcelorMittal. It’s a heavy and important work which involves 1500 people.

Most recently we have won another contract in the state of Espírito Santo – at Samarco – which belongs to the Vale Group together with the Australian Billington.

Are you interested in projects outside Brazil?

We have a company called Niplan Internacional in Uruguay. We have already worked in Uruguay but our plan is to get more work in other countries, mainly Hispanic countries. We have already been in contact with some European companies to obtain a partnership to make our growth project viable.

What is your vision for your company in 5 years’ time?

As a Brazilian entrepreneur, I think that Brazil is going to be among the top 5 world economies in 5 to 10 years’ time. Great opportunities will appear as an outcome from this growth and Niplan is not going to let these opportunities escape. Our goal is to grow; we need to grow, so that there is an incentive to all our internal workers. For us to grow we need to organize ourselves; to organize in terms of technology, finance, and people by having more training sessions and more prepared people.

In the next 5 years I believe we are going to grow at a good rhythm and that’s why we are looking for foreign partners and new markets besides the Brazilian one although the Brazilian market is going to be highly important for our growth. Our growth in the last few years is very objective – at a rate of 10 to 20% each year – but always within our performance ability.

There are companies which are more aggressive in their attempt to grow rapidly. In the case of Niplan, it is highly important for us to grow. Yet, that growth must be made gradually and in a solid way.