So that the Stara factories work efficiently, they are organized through plenty of departments, each one with activities and responsibilities. The last article of the series “Getting to know the Stara factory” talked about the Human Resources Department, Engineering Department, and Supplying Department.
This article will tell you about the Manufacturing Engineering Department, Information Technology Department, and Manufacturing System Department.
Manufacturing Engineering Department
The Stara product manufacturing process is determined by Manufacturing Engineering, where 170 employees work. The department is divided into: Methods and Processes, Projects, Tooling, and Manufacturing Support.
The Project area involves the development of everything that concerns a new product, from the manufacturing processes, work instruction, time and layout studies, premise definition, restrictions, risks, new manufacturing line implementation, factory investments, to the product exhibit batch.
The Methods and Processes involve the maintenance and daily process improvements to increase productivity, meet the manufacturing capacity, and search for new technologies.
The department also seeks team development aligned to the company’s needs. The strength is to enable people to lead the project through courses and training, either in the department or in other departments.
The Manufacturing Engineer manager, Atilano Roberto Baú, highlights the department importance: “We provide competitiveness to our products. The Manufacturing Engineering decisions about how we are will manufacture a part or product will influence its final price.”
Additionally, Atilano points out that the search for improvements keeps the factory updated, and it directly influences its evolution. “As our products and team evolve, the factory is improved.”
Information Technology Department (IT)
Technology is an important pillar for Stara. It is constantly developing and searching for innovations to help the factory every day. The Information Technology Department (IT) has a decisive role in this process. It is divided into IT Systems, Infrastructure and Registration Department. 44 employees work there.
The IT Systems provide support to the software, maintenance and development of new solutions for process automation and integration between some areas. The software, for example, assists the management of several departments, such as Human Resources, in the production and finance areas.
The Infrastructure, on the other hand, involves the installation and maintenance of servers, computers, cell phones, telephones, and Wi-Fi networks. The Registration Department standardizes the master data register processes, materials, and technical lists.
According to the IT and DPO (Data Protection Officer), Mariano Lopes Machado, the department integrates and automates processes between areas and provides innovations for the company. “We seek smart solutions for cost reduction and higher efficiency through processes automation”, he explains.
In addition, he says that the department, from the solutions, implemented and data collecting, more information is created for assertive decision making.
Manufacturing System Department
Stara has been following Industry 4.0. Therefore, it is investing in state-of-the-art technology equipment and systems for the factory to boost the processes and get better results. To manage these changes, the Manufacturing System Department was created.
The manufacturing manager, Fábio Vargas, explains that the department has a relevant role to provide technology and in the digital transformation of the factory: “It is an area that delivers development, integration and software support for the factory. In addition, we are aligned with the market trends to provide state-of-the-art technology for the factory to optimize the manufacturing processes.
The department is divided into Support, Software Development, and Stara Labs. The Support area helps the factory with the corrective, adaptive and evolved way of the systems that are used every day.
The Software Development Department, on the other hand, works to find solutions for the factory to boost the processes together with the engineering departments and optimize all steps of the process and reduce errors and failures. Stara Labs is a technology center at UPF (University of Passo Fundo). It finds new talents for the company and tests concepts in a controlled environment.
