Engineering outsourcing in the automotive industry

Automotive
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During the 90’s, the Portuguese economy experienced a huge boost related with Telco Providers and Financial institutions. This reality acted as enabler for the growth of outsourcing activities related with Telecommunication Engineering and IT Engineering disciplines (Software Development, Business Intelligence, etc.). The crisis of 2011 brought a new sense of the importance of industrial activity oriented to the production of goods and services for export, therefore over the last years we’ve watched an important hype of economic activity related with manufacturing sectors such Automotive, Aeronautic, Pharmaceutical, Metalworking, etc.

The Portuguese Automotive sector includes OEMs assembling vehicles in Portugal, along with dozens of Tier-1 and Tier-2 companies acting in R&D and components manufacturing, mainly destined to export. All these players are expanding their activity year after year, thus putting additional pressure in existing facilities, equipment, processes and human capital.

Where once was possible to build know-how with internal recruitment processes followed by 6 to 12 months of intensive training, now it is mandatory to fill the open vacancies with matured know-how ready to perform and deliver… We can see this situation in R&D profiles such as Embedded Systems Engineers, V&V Engineers, requirements Engineers, Design Engineers and Stress Engineers, along with shop floor engineering activities such as Project/Launch Managers, Quality Engineers, Process Engineers and Maintenance Engineers. The demand is high, the time-to-market is shrinking and products must be designed and manufactured in a blink of an eye, to make sure the Portuguese R&D centers and manufacturing sites are able to absorb the new projects coming worldwide. Being able to scale in a short time is the key, more than ever.

These Automotive OEM, Tier-1 and Tier-2 actors perceive the benefits of time-to-market and flexibility than only outsourcing may provide, and are therefore receptive to build new partnerships with companies that may support them with highly skilled and motivated Engineering teams, with proven know-how in the sector.

The economy always drives business opportunities. This new industrial wave for sure is bringing new opportunities for Engineers pursuing a career in the Automotive sector. It was about time…