Last September 22, it took place in the City of La Plata, the 8th Congress of the Federation of Associations and Elevator Chambers of the Argentine Republic organized in close collaboration with the La Plata’s Elevator Chamber. The Federation, which has already turned 21 years old, has held this Congress since 2009.
In 2023, and after the pause imposed by the pandemic and its aftermath, the representatives of the Elevator Chambers of Córdoba, Rosario, Litoral, Mar del Plata, Mendoza, La Plata and the two Buenos Aires chambers, CECAF and CAA, met again, in an atmosphere of great fraternity and joy.
A large number of maintainers, manufacturers, and building managers also attended the event to discuss the most current issues: “The economy in times of elections”; “Costs and Definition Prices” and insurance and strategies for successful company management. All the presentations were listened to with great interest and the audience’s participation was very active.
This National Vertical Transportation Congress was declared “Event of Tourist Interest” and took place at the Hotel Howard Johnson Plaza Convention Center & City Spa headquarters from La Plata.
Fernando Marull: how do we get to the October elections?
The first speaker of the day was Fernando Marull, economist, head of the consulting firm FMyA, former official of the Ministry of Finance of the Argentine Republic, former university professor, and current economic columnist in recognized national and international media.
He anticipated that six difficult months were coming, more difficult than what we have seen so far.
But the idea is to be optimistic, and for this, you have to do things well, he emphasized this on several occasions during his presentation.
By projecting graphics he was showing the decrease in our GDP per capita. Since 2010 Argentina has been in clear decline compared to Chile, he explained.
Before it was not so noticeable because there was no inflation. It went over 5% twenty years ago, and up to 120% will reach 200% accumulated to the end of 2023. The reason is always repeated: The fiscal deficit, the little machine as they popularly say. In 50 years Argentina never saved.
Lowering it would be part of the solution and it is supposed to be contemplated in the stabilization plan of the three candidates. At this moment Argentina is not destroying jobs but it is stagnant; the problem is that the income is not enough due to inflation. There is a sector that has been more or less matching inflation, while 30% of workers who are in the informal sector are very far from achieving it. Today the salary in dollars in Argentina ranges from around 400 dollars; in 2017 it was 1800. Always optimistic, Marull insisted that, despite this crisis of the last five years, if things are right, such as fixing fiscal issues, removing the stock exchange rate, and eliminating the dollar gap, among other items, you can improve from the second half of 2024.
Ariel Crespo: Why is it so difficult for us to give value to what we make and sell?
Ariel Crespo, international consultant, and facilitator, owner of the consulting firm Trial and Error, with clients in more than six countries in Latin America, carried out a presentation with an interesting and sustained rhythm, leaving in the auditorium a series of very positive ideas to improve the management and results of their companies.
The talk was oriented towards the question “How do I value myself”, related to the way in which we value the things we make and sell, whether products or services. In addition, with this, he referred to what we are selling, how we are selling it, and mainly to whom we are selling it.
The main idea he exposed: My job is my justification. A good service has a price that has to be paid. The competition should not be established on the price but on the provided service.
Juan Martín Luciani: Why should the maintenance company get good professional liability insurance?
Dr. Luciani is a lawyer specializing in issues of consortia and insurance and a professor of the subject in private institutions. He is an insurance broker, host of the radio program “Consortium Professionals” and a building manager.
To explain the reason for insurance, which is mandatory by law and the dynamics of responsibilities when an accident occurs, Luciani took as a witness case the death of a baby girl in an elevator in a building in the San Francisco neighborhood. Telmo. In that accident, the girl lost her life when the elevator worked with the door open. Dr. Luciani referred to the responsibilities of each actor related to the elevator and what is covered by insurance and what that does not cover:
- Responsibility of the consortium (housing, shopping, office that is the owner of the thing, the main responsible).
- Responsibility of the legal representative of the consortium who is the building manager.
- Responsibility of the maintenance company and the technical representative.
- Incidence of the Council of Co-owners.
A problem that for now has no solution by now
The rest of the day was coordinated by a panel of businesspersons, members and former presidents of the different elevator chambers in the country. The topics ranged from costs and how to calculate them appropriately to commercial loyalty and good practices and the way to achieve them.
The panel and the audience, which had a great participation, concluded that there are many variables to be considered at the time to understand why maintenance entrepreneurs fail to maintain the financial balance of their companies.
There are those who demand a greater presence of the State to put pressure on companies that charge low prices but do not comply with their obligations and make it hard for good companies that attempt always to comply with the standards delivering an optimal maintenance, but are not able to charge what corresponds due to that bad competition.
There are those who, on the contrary, maintain that the success or failure of the company has a lot to do with the approach given to the business, with the way of estimating one’s own work and its true value.
“Safety is priceless… until you send them the budget” says Professor Eduardo Padulo. He has inspected elevators in so many accidents, he knows very well the dangers that poorly done maintenance represents. “Let’s find a way for the one who charges cheap to leave the union or do a cost study and charge what it has to be charged”, he concluded.
The Congress ended in the evening with a friendly dinner of camaraderie and a long-awaited reunion among friends.
We hope this event will repeat next year.
