Construction in Brazil: Projects, Consulting and Construction Execution

Interview with Ivan de Oliveira Joppert Júnior, Director-Partner at Infraestrutura Engenharia

How would you evaluate the sector of project, consulting and construction execution today in Brazil?

The projects sector in Brazil went through a big crisis because of the lack of qualified engineers. Twenty years ago, engineering courses were much longer and today there is a lack in their training. The market needs engineers and we can see that there is a huge demand for capable professionals, however there are only few of them and thus the service supplied can end up being performed in a less convenient way.

Could you tell us a little bit about the history of Infraestrutura?

Infraestrutura was founded by former professors from Mackenzie University. I had been teaching Soil and Foundations Mechanics at Mackenzie University for 30 years. My partner had also taught Architecture at the very same university. Today our aim is to use our expertise to better serve our clients and their needs, and to avoid the unexpected during the execution of construction works. We are active in the infrastructure area, i.e. roads, dams, earth moving, drainage and pavement works, artwork foundations, building foundations and slopes stabilization.

As years went by we also developed a programming department within the company. Our objective has been to standardize the calculation formulas to attend to our clients in a faster and more efficient way without generating errors in their projects. The major competitive advantage of Infraestrutura is our speed and our assurance of giving our clients error-free projects.

What would be the other competitive advantages of Infraestrutura in comparison to your competitors within the market?

As I said, the key advantage is our speed and delivery of error-free projects. However, our competitors are similarly good. Since they managed to survive until today, they have to be very good because we went through many crises. The companies that remain in the market are those that were established by people who really love and enjoy working in this particular sector and who really like being engineers.

Due to the lack of specialized labor and training, we decided to invest a lot in technology to develop projects in an automatic way (Lisp language, AutoCad).

How would you define the company’s philosophy?

Our philosophy is a little bit romantic because we are very passionate and we dedicate almost all our time to the company. We can say we are almost addicted to our jobs. Our philosophy is our love for our work.

Who are your major clients?

Our major clients have been our partners for a long time. They are construction companies that have huge construction works such as Olympic stadiums, museums, huge industrial constructions and so on. All our clients know well that we are able to overcome the challenges.

Can you mention some of the projects you are currently working on?

Our clients ask for discretion about the projects. We collaborate with CPTM in railways. We are also working in an area in Rio de Janeiro, which was degraded, and the mayor wants to improve the area with fantastic buildings. Rio de Janeiro is a huge development site at the moment.

How would you define your growth strategy?

Our strategy is to train our employees and to speed up the delivery of our products through the programs I have mentioned earlier.

Is the company interested in creating some kind of partnership in terms of investment and/or technology?

We are open to any kind of partnership in terms of investment, technology or even in the provision of services with some companies that want to come into Brazil and need an open door.

Brazil has great potential in the infrastructure area. As a Brazilian, it is not nice of me to say the following but, frankly, everything is missing in Brazil, from sanitation to transportation. We are improving some of those areas because there are going to be some huge events in our country. However, the improvement should not end this year; it is much more long-term.

Which challenges does the company have to face on a day-to-day basis?

Infraestrutura’s biggest day-to-day challenge is to offer our clients everything they need in terms of schedule, quality and costs. Another big challenge is to create a suitable team to perform these tasks. Our team has to understand they do’ work just for our company. They have several bosses who are our clients. Every day we have a different boss with different needs.

What is your vision for the sector in the coming years?

Brazilians have the taste of development and improvement. No one wants to stagnate or go back.

What would you like to have accomplished in 2 or 3 years?

We want to expand our business into other areas, mainly in the technical monitoring of constructions. It is a little bit difficult due to the distance of some construction sites. What we can do is monitor the constructions remotely through the Internet or through the training of the engineer that is going to be present on the site.

What would be your message to an investor that wants to come to Brazil and invest in your sector?

An investor coming to Brazil will probably have to make a joint venture or associate with a Brazilian group. Brazil has huge investment opportunities with a lot of public and private construction to be made. Any investor has to have the courage to believe in Brazil.

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