In Loma Alta, the new Aggregates Plant of Holcim Ecuador, women rule

Holcim Ecuador inaugurated this Friday its new Loma Alta Aggregates Plant, in the Daule canton, where 52% of its staff is female

"One day I dreamed of being part of the construction sector, many told me I couldn't because I was a woman, thank God they were wrong and today I am part of the Loma Alta team."

They were the words ofAndrea Mina, production supervisor of the new Aggregates Loma Alta plant, of Holcim Ecuador, who with his protective helmet, reflective clothing, safety boots and his intercom intervened during the inauguration of this new facility, in the Daule canton, where women literally rule.

This is because Mina is part of the52 %of the staff of that plant that is made up of women, and who carry out activities and functions that are normally carried out by men such as operating excavators, graders, trucks and other heavy machines.

“We are opening the way for other women to enter this area of ​​work,” she said.Ruth Arreaga, who works as an operator in the new plant, in which Holcim Ecuador invested$10 million,of which $1.5 million was invested in technology to control noise, dust and safety issues.

This female supremacy is not a coincidence and is classified as the achievement of an important milestone that the company sought on purpose, he assured.Dolores Prado, executive director of Holcim Ecuador,She is also the first woman to hold that position in the company's 100 years.

“It is something that we looked for and wanted to do, it had a lot of cost and also a lot of effort (…) the personnel needed are operating personnel, personnel who operate machines, bulldozers, backhoes, heavy trucks and that is not so common that we find in women,” said Prado, who pointed out that the company invested nearly $500,000 in a school to train women in this type of work, although she clarified that they looked for women who They had, as a basic requirement, licenses to operate buses or trucks.

“It wasn't about starting with someone completely from scratch because that would have been very difficult,” added Prado, who announced that the training will be sustained over time, not only for women but also for men; and also that they will seek to replicate this initiative in the company's other plants in the country, since he assured that the firm, worldwide, has proposed increasing the percentage of women to at least 30%.

Paúl Montero, general manager for Concrete and Aggregates businesses at Holcim Ecuador, recalled that the selection and training process took them around five months.

He commented that the inclusion of female personnel in the plant was presented at the beginning of the project, so that they make up at least 50% of the staff.

"It did not look easy, we did a different process, out of the ordinary, in terms of recruitment and selection, it is not easy to find loader, backhoe, dump truck, crusher operators in the Ecuadorian market, they are not common professions in the that women have great expertise,” acknowledged the manager, who assured that the challenge is to make it sustainable over time.

“It would be regrettable to start with 50% women today and in two years to find that 90% are men again,” said Montero, who regarding the new plant indicated that it guarantees the supply of construction materials, specifically stones and sand for the market in the province of Guayas.

The plant has a production capacity of one million tons per year in a normal shift, but could reach up to three million tons, depending on the increase in shifts.

Montero pointed out that the new Loma Alta plant joins the ten concrete plants, five mobile concrete plants, the main cement plant in Guayaquil, a cement grinding plant in Latacunga and the aggregates plant in Pifo, in the city of Quito.

Regarding new projects, the manager explained that the firm has made a strong investment in the transformation of the Disensa network with 600 franchises in the country and fifteen days ago they launched a Business Unit that is responsible for the waterproofing of roofs; and they have considered having a presence with aggregates plants in all the markets that have concrete plants.

“This would be a challenge of more or less growing with one plant per year in different markets in Ecuador,” said Montero, who clarified that these plans must be on par with the demand that is generated in the market.