{"id":14760,"date":"2025-02-11T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T07:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/img-partnership-innovation-challenges-and-the-future-the-best-is-yet-to-come\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T17:46:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T17:46:34","slug":"img-partnership-innovation-challenges-and-the-future-the-best-is-yet-to-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/img-partnership-innovation-challenges-and-the-future-the-best-is-yet-to-come\/","title":{"rendered":"IMG Partnership: Innovation, challenges and the future. The best is yet to come."},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"14760\" class=\"elementor elementor-14760 elementor-14483\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3a875029 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default qodef-elementor-content-no\" data-id=\"3a875029\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-22ee66ef\" data-id=\"22ee66ef\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cba7d75 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cba7d75\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><main class=\"body-content js-body-content\"><\/main><\/p>\n<section class=\"page-section g\">\n<div class=\"page-section__generator page-section__generator--top g12-xs g11-md g10-lg g8-xl\">\n<div class=\"page-generator__text page-generator__text--top js-generator-text\">\n<div id=\"output\" class=\"page-generator__output js-generator-output\">\n<p>(English Below) \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf9<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div id=\"waldo-sticky-footer-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"waldo-sticky-footer-inner\">\n<p><strong>Entrevista com Andrea Merlini, Chefe de Vendas para Exporta\u00e7\u00e3o e Marketing da IMG S. r. l<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong> Sobre sua trajet\u00f3ria profissional<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Pode contar-nos um pouco sobre sua trajet\u00f3ria profissional? O que motivou a escolher este setor e carreira?<br \/><\/strong>Tenho uma forma\u00e7\u00e3o acad\u00e9mica um tanto incomum para trabalhar no setor de m\u00e1quinas para borracha e, ainda mais, em vendas. Sou licenciado em Letras e tenho um mestrado em Arqueologia Cl\u00e1ssica. Tamb\u00e9m fiz um interc\u00e2mbio Erasmus de seis meses no Reino Unido para aprimorar meu o ingl\u00eas e, atualmente, tenho n\u00edvel C1, al\u00e9m de falar franc\u00eas.<\/p>\n<p>Sempre fui uma pessoa ativa e gosto muito do processo de vendas, de explicar \u00e0s pessoas as caracter\u00edsticas e vantagens de um produto ou m\u00e1quina espec\u00edfica.<\/p>\n<p>Em determinado momento, percebi que seguir uma carreira acad\u00e9mica seria muito sedent\u00e1rio para mim, ent\u00e3o encontrei o meu lugar no setor de vendas e em todas as suas nuances. Al\u00e9m disso, eu realmente n\u00e3o queria perder meu n\u00edvel de ingl\u00eas, por isso escolhi uma carreira voltada para exporta\u00e7\u00e3o.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quais foram os maiores desafios que enfrentou no in\u00edcio do seu percurso?<br \/><\/strong>Acho que o maior desafio para qualquer profissional de vendas \u00e9 adquirir um conhecimento profundo sobre o produto ou servi\u00e7o que precisa vender.<\/p>\n<p>\u00c9 essencial entender e conhecer todos os seus aspetos para poder explic\u00e1-los aos clientes de diferentes n\u00edveis e tamb\u00e9m transmitir a respetiva confian\u00e7a.<\/p>\n<p>Uma m\u00e1quina de inje\u00e7\u00e3o de borracha \u00e9 um produto muito complexo e altamente personaliz\u00e1vel. No in\u00edcio, passei muito tempo na \u00e1rea de produ\u00e7\u00e3o da IMG, fazendo perguntas aos meus colegas e anotando tudo. Ainda fa\u00e7o isso, mesmo depois de tr\u00eas anos, pois neste setor nunca se para de aprender.<\/p>\n<p>Al\u00e9m disso, no come\u00e7o, tamb\u00e9m foi um desafio lidar com reuni\u00f5es presenciais com clientes em ingl\u00eas.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Existe algum momento ou conquista que considera um marco na sua carreira?<br \/><\/strong>Sempre que consigo vender um produto pela primeira vez, considero uma grande conquista. No passado, sempre que mudei de empresa ou de fun\u00e7\u00e3o, tive que come\u00e7ar do zero e fazer a minha primeira venda naquele setor espec\u00edfico novamente.<\/p>\n<p>Vender uma m\u00e1quina de borracha exige meses ou at\u00e9 anos de trabalho e contato constante com o cliente. \u00c9 um processo muito longo.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong> Equilibrando aspectos t\u00e9cnicos e humanos<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Quais s\u00e3o os maiores desafios ao gerenciar pessoas em ambientes t\u00e9cnicos?<br \/><\/strong>Cada pessoa tem seu pr\u00f3prio hist\u00f3rico e personalidade, isso acontece em todos os setores, e os profissionais de ambientes t\u00e9cnicos n\u00e3o s\u00e3o exce\u00e7\u00e3o. Sempre procuro entender a maneira de pensar dos meus colegas, destacar os seus pontos fortes e oferecer apoio quando necess\u00e1rio. Acredito que isso \u00e9 o que um gestor deve fazer.<\/p>\n<p>Tamb\u00e9m acho que, em ambientes t\u00e9cnicos, um certo n\u00edvel de conhecimento b\u00e1sico deve ser compartilhado entre todos os funcion\u00e1rios, independentemente do cargo. No in\u00edcio, esforcei-me para aprender bastante, para poder responder \u00e0s perguntas dos meus colegas e auxili\u00e1-los tamb\u00e9m em tarefas t\u00e9cnicas.<\/p>\n<p>Hoje, sou respons\u00e1vel por nove agentes internacionais da IMG e por duas pessoas no back-office da empresa. Sempre tento ensinar algumas habilidades t\u00e9cnicas, pois s\u00e3o fundamentais para o crescimento profissional.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quais habilidades voc\u00ea considera essenciais para liderar equipas em cen\u00e1rios complexos?<\/strong><br \/>O mundo do trabalho mudou muito nos \u00faltimos anos. Hoje, \u00e9 fundamental ter empatia e ouvir as necessidades das pessoas, especialmente das novas gera\u00e7\u00f5es.<\/p>\n<p>Atualmente, uma empresa precisa ser atraente para os profissionais e oferecer um equil\u00edbrio saud\u00e1vel entre o trabalho e a vida pessoal.<\/p>\n<p>Nos \u00faltimos anos, tornou-se muito dif\u00edcil fazer planos de longo prazo. Por isso, \u00e9 essencial ser resiliente e ter uma vis\u00e3o estrat\u00e9gica clara, considerando todos os aspectos relacionados ao trabalho e ao setor de neg\u00f3cios.<\/p>\n<p>Ningu\u00e9m tem uma bola de cristal, mas um l\u00edder precisa tomar decis\u00f5es s\u00e1bias todos os dias.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong> Resili\u00eancia, adaptabilidade e efici\u00eancia<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Que conselhos pr\u00e1ticos daria \u00e0s empresas que procuram melhorar a efici\u00eancia, reduzir custos ou aumentar o retorno sobre o investimento?<br \/><\/strong>O primeiro passo \u00e9 conhecer muito bem o setor e o produto ou servi\u00e7o que estamos a produzir e a vender. Ter um conhecimento s\u00f3lido \u00e9 essencial para qualquer empres\u00e1rio.<\/p>\n<p>Depois, \u00e9 importante conhecer a fundo a pr\u00f3pria empresa e realizar uma avalia\u00e7\u00e3o completa. Recomendo fazer uma an\u00e1lise SWOT da empresa e dos concorrentes para identificar oportunidades de melhoria e \u00e1reas ainda n\u00e3o exploradas pela concorr\u00eancia.<\/p>\n<p>Hoje em dia, os servi\u00e7os est\u00e3o a tornar-se mais importantes do que os pr\u00f3prios produtos. Uma empresa n\u00e3o deve apenas fornecer um produto, mas tamb\u00e9m oferecer suporte t\u00e9cnico, assist\u00eancia remota, pe\u00e7as de reposi\u00e7\u00e3o e acompanhar o cliente desde o in\u00edcio at\u00e9 ao p\u00f3s-venda. O suporte p\u00f3s-venda \u00e9 fundamental.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pode partilhar um exemplo de como esses princ\u00edpios foram aplicados com sucesso?<\/strong><br \/>Um cliente da IMG valorizou tanto o nosso servi\u00e7o p\u00f3s-venda que acabou por comprar outra m\u00e1quina. Esse \u00e9 o resultado perfeito da colabora\u00e7\u00e3o entre o departamento de vendas e o de p\u00f3s-venda.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Como as empresas podem integrar esses elementos na sua estrat\u00e9gia de forma consistente?<\/strong><br \/>Fortalecendo a colabora\u00e7\u00e3o entre os diferentes departamentos. Para alcan\u00e7ar grandes resultados, \u00e9 preciso que os colaboradores trabalhem juntos em prol de um objetivo comum.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><strong> Presen\u00e7a global da IMG e o mercado portugu\u00eas<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Qual a import\u00e2ncia de Portugal na estrat\u00e9gia atual da IMG?<br \/><\/strong>A IMG est\u00e1 presente em Portugal h\u00e1 muitos anos gra\u00e7as \u00e0 parceria com a Ruy de Lacerda, e estamos satisfeitos com essa colabora\u00e7\u00e3o. O mercado de borracha em Portugal n\u00e3o \u00e9 muito grande, mas estamos determinados a entrar e come\u00e7ar a vender m\u00e1quinas da IMG no pa\u00eds.<\/p>\n<p>Sabemos que os n\u00fameros n\u00e3o ser\u00e3o t\u00e3o expressivos quanto em outros pa\u00edses, mas queremo-nos estabelecer tamb\u00e9m em Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>Al\u00e9m disso, apreciamos muito os relat\u00f3rios peri\u00f3dicos que a Ruy de Lacerda nos envia para atualizar a IMG sobre o mercado portugu\u00eas da borracha.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Que oportunidades v\u00ea no mercado portugu\u00eas?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>O mercado portugu\u00eas exige, principalmente, m\u00e1quinas verticais. Encontrei poucos exemplos de m\u00e1quinas horizontais, que s\u00e3o o principal neg\u00f3cio da IMG.<\/p>\n<p>Estou a trabalhar bastante com os meus colegas para melhorar os nossos modelos verticais e atender melhor o mercado portugu\u00eas.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li><strong> Parceria com a Ruy de Lacerda<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Como avalia a parceria com a Ruy de Lacerda<\/strong>?<br \/>Temos uma colabora\u00e7\u00e3o forte e positiva. Como mencionei antes, valorizamos muito os relat\u00f3rios que nos mant\u00eam informados sobre o mercado portugu\u00eas de borracha.<\/p>\n<p>Mesmo sendo um mercado pequeno, queremos estar bem informados sobre ele.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>O que voc\u00ea mais valoriza nessa colabora\u00e7\u00e3o?<br \/><\/strong>Destaco o profundo conhecimento de mercado dos agentes da Ruy de Lacerda. Trabalho principalmente com <strong>Jos\u00e9 Quintino <\/strong>e <strong>Andrea Neves<\/strong>, e aprecio muito a grande experi\u00eancia de Jos\u00e9 e os esfor\u00e7os de Andrea para crescer como t\u00e9cnica-comercial.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Existem iniciativas conjuntas ou projetos futuros que gostaria de destacar?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Queremos aumentar nossa presen\u00e7a internacional ano ap\u00f3s ano. Em 2025, estaremos presentes em duas feiras : <strong>PLASTPOL<\/strong>, em maio, na Pol\u00f3nia e <strong>K Fair<\/strong>, em outubro, na Alemanha.<\/p>\n<p>Todos s\u00e3o bem-vindos para visitar o nosso stand.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li><strong> Inova\u00e7\u00e3o e desenvolvimento<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>O que podemos esperar da IMG em termos de tecnologia, inova\u00e7\u00e3o e novos produtos?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Estamos sempre a trabalhar para desenvolver m\u00e1quinas com o menor impacto ambiental, visando a prote\u00e7\u00e3o do meio ambiente. H\u00e1 dois anos, lan\u00e7amos o nosso primeiro modelo totalmente el\u00e9trico para borracha, o REM. Os temas ESG s\u00e3o de grande import\u00e2ncia para a IMG.<\/p>\n<p>Tamb\u00e9m percebemos que, fora da It\u00e1lia, o modelo mais solicitado \u00e9 o vertical. Por isso, estamos focados em criar modelos verticais mais compactos e sempre confi\u00e1veis.<\/p>\n<p>Todos conhecem a IMG pelas nossas m\u00e1quinas horizontais, mas tamb\u00e9m produzimos diversos modelos com configura\u00e7\u00e3o vertical e m\u00e1quinas especiais.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"7\">\n<li><strong> Mensagem final<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Que mensagem gostaria de deixar para os clientes, parceiros e colaboradores que acompanham o trabalho da IMG?<\/strong><br \/>O Nosso lema: <strong>THE BEST IS YET TO GUM!<\/strong> Fiquem atentos e continuem a acompanhar-nos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0acfde5 e-flex e-con-boxed qodef-elementor-content-no e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0acfde5\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element 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63.95C30.73 63.95 31.5 64.75 31.5 65.75C31.5 66.75 30.73 67.55 29.78 67.55C28.83 67.55 28.06 66.75 28.06 65.75C28.06 64.75 28.83 63.95 29.78 63.95Z\" fill=\"#D39620\"><\/path><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M29.78 0C30.73 0 31.5 0.8 31.5 1.8C31.5 2.8 30.73 3.6 29.78 3.6C28.83 3.6 28.06 2.8 28.06 1.8C28.06 0.8 28.83 0 29.78 0Z\" fill=\"#D39620\"><\/path><\/g><defs><clipPath id=\"clip0_16_2821\"><rect width=\"59.63\" height=\"67.54\" fill=\"white\"><\/rect><\/clipPath><\/defs><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-662db0b elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default qodef-elementor-content-no\" data-id=\"662db0b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7f4dd06\" data-id=\"7f4dd06\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a845236 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a845236\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7<\/p>\n<p><strong>Interview with Andrea Merlini, Head of <\/strong><strong>Export Sales and Marketing <\/strong><strong>at IMG S. r. l<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>About your professional background<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Can you tell us a bit about your professional background? What motivated you to choose this sector and career?<br \/><\/strong>I have a very strange school background to work in the Rubber machines sector and even more in Sales probably.\u00a0 I have a BA in Letters and a Master in Classical Archaeology, I also did a 6 months Erasmus period in UK to improve my English level and now I have a C1 and I also speak French.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always been an active person and I really like the Sales process and explaining to people the features and advantages of a specific product or machine.<\/p>\n<p>At some point I realized that an academic career would have been too sedentary for me, so I found my place in the Sales sector and in all its nuances.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I really do not want to lose my English level so I choose a career in Export.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>What were the biggest challenges you faced at the beginning of your journey?<\/strong><br \/>I think the biggest challenge for every Sales person is to reach a very deep knowledge of the product, or service he or she has to sell.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to understand and know every aspect of it to be able to explain it to every customer level and also transmit a certain level of confidence.<\/p>\n<p>A rubber injection machine is a very complicated and highly customizable product, so at the beginning I spent a lot of time in IMG production area asking questions to my colleagues and taking notes.\u00a0 I still do this after 3 years.\u00a0 In this sector you never stop learning.<\/p>\n<p>Handling English face to face meeting with clients has also been quite difficult at the beginning too.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is there any moment or achievement you consider a milestone in your career?<\/strong><br \/>Everytime I managed to sell a product for the first time has been a big achievement for me.\u00a0 When in the past I changed company or job, I always had to restart from zero and make my first sale in that specific sector again.<\/p>\n<p>Selling a rubber machine requires months or years of work and constant contact with the customer, it\u2019s a very long process.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong>Balancing technical and human aspects<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>What are the biggest challenges you encounter when managing people in technical environments?<\/strong><br \/>Each person has its specific background and character, this in all sectors and people in technical environments are no exception.\u00a0 I always like to understand the way of thinking of a colleague and try to emphasize his positive aspects and offer my support when in need, I think this is what a manager should do.<\/p>\n<p>I also think that in technical places a certain base of knowledge should be held by all the employees of every level.\u00a0\u00a0 At the beginning I pushed myself to learn a lot in order to be able to reply to my colleague questions and help them also with technical tasks.\u00a0 I\u2019m now responsible for the 9 IMG international agents and of two back-office persons in the Company and I always try to teach them some technical skills as they are fundamental to grow.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>What skills do you consider essential to lead teams in complex settings?<\/strong><br \/>The world of work changed a lot in recent years, nowadays it\u2019s very important to be emphatic and to listen to people necessities, all this especially with younger generations.<\/p>\n<p>Nowadays a company has to be attractive to people and offer a stable work-life balance.<\/p>\n<p>Especially in the last year making long term plans has become very difficult and so it\u2019s important to be resilient and have a very clear strategic vision that takes care of every aspect related to the job and to the business sector.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody has a crystall ball, but a leader has to take wise decisions every day.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><strong>Resilience, adaptability and efficiency<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>What practical advice would you give to companies seeking to improve efficiency, reduce costs, or increase return on investment?<\/strong><br \/>As a start it\u2019s necessary to know very well the sector and the product or service you are making and selling to customers.\u00a0 A strong background it\u2019s a MUST for every entrepreneur.<\/p>\n<p>Then a complete knowledge of its proper company, also a company evaluation is suggested.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to do a SWOT analysis of the company itself and of the competitors to understand where it\u2019s possible to improve and which are the sector or the services not covered by the competitors.<\/p>\n<p>Nowadays services are becoming more important than the actual products.\u00a0 A company has not to provide only the product, but also a technical assistance, a remote assistance, spare parts and be able to follow the customer from the beginning till the sale and even after.\u00a0 After sales is very important.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can you share an example of how these principles were successfully applied?<\/strong><br \/>An IMG client appreciated our after sales service so much, that he bought another machine.\u00a0 It\u2019s the perfect result of a strong collaboration between the Sales Dep and the After Sales one.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>How can companies consistently integrate these elements into their strategy?<\/strong><br \/>Make stronger collaborations between different departments. \u00a0To achieve great results you need the employees to work together to achieve a final result.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li><strong>IMG\u2019s global presence and the Portuguese market<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>What is the importance of Portugal in IMG\u2019s current strategy?<\/strong><br \/>IMG is present in Portugal thanks to Ruy de la Cerda since many years and we are satisfied by the collaboration. The rubber market is not so big in Portugal, but we are determined to enter and start selling IMG machines also there.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously we understand the numbers won\u2019t be as big as in other countries, but we want to establish ourself also in Portugal.<\/p>\n<p>We also appreciate the reports that Ruy de la Cerda periodically send to us to update IMG about the Portoguese rubber market.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What opportunities do you see in the Portuguese market?<\/strong><br \/>This specific market mostly requires Vertical machine only, I encountered very few examples of horizontal machines that are the main business of IMG.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m working a lot with my colleagues to improve our vertical models to enter in the Portuguese market.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li><strong>Partnership with Ruy de Lacerda<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>How do you evaluate your partnership with Ruy de Lacerda?<\/strong><br \/>Good and strong collaboration.\u00a0 As said we really appreciate the reports that keeps us informed about the Portuguese rubber market.<\/p>\n<p>Even if small, we want to be informed about it.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you value most in this collaboration?<\/strong><br \/>I can say that it\u2019s deep the knowledge of the market by the Ruy de la Cerda agents.\u00a0 I mostly work with Jos\u00e8 Quintino and Andrea Neves and I really appreciate Jos\u00e8 great experience and Andrea\u2019s efforts in improving as a Technical Sales agent.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Are there any joint initiatives or future projects you would like to highlight?<\/strong><br \/>As IMG we want to increase our International presence year after year.\u00a0 In 2025 we will be present at two fairs:\u00a0 PLASTPOL in May in Poland and the K fair in Germany in October.<\/p>\n<p>Everybody is welcome to visit our stands.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li><strong>Innovation and development<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>What can we expect from IMG in terms of technology, innovation and new products?<br \/><\/strong>We are always working in making less impactant machines (to protect the environment).\u00a0 Two years ago we made the very first completely full electric rubber machine, our REM model.<\/p>\n<p>ESG topics are really important for IMG.<\/p>\n<p>I also noticed that outside Italy the most requested model is the vertical one, so we are working to create more compact and always reliable Vertical IMG models.<\/p>\n<p>Everybody knows IMG because of our horizontal machines , but we also produce various models with a Vertical layout and special machines too.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ol start=\"7\">\n<li><strong>Final message<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>What message would you like to leave for the clients, partners and collaborators who follow IMG\u2019s work?<\/strong><br \/>Our motto:\u00a0 THE BEST IS YET TO GUM!\u00a0\u00a0 Stay tuned and follow us.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have a somewhat unusual academic background for working in the rubber machinery sector and even more so in sales. I hold a degree in Humanities and a Master\u2019s in Classical Archaeology. I also completed a six-month Erasmus exchange in the United Kingdom to improve my English, and I currently have a C1 level, in addition to speaking French\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plastic-and-rubber-industry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14761,"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14760\/revisions\/14761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ruydelacerda.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}