More than 5.000 engineering professionals in the Basque Country will be able to access job vacancies from companies, organisations and stakeholders linked to Robotekin, thanks to the partnership agreement signed with the Official Association of Industrial Engineers of Álava.
Thanks to this agreement, partners and organisations linked to Robotekin will be able to post job vacancies for engineering roles on the COIIA’s job board. Furthermore, through the GURELAN service, these vacancies can also be extended to the Associations of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, thereby reaching a pool of over 5,000 engineers.
The director of the Basque Association of Robotics and Automation, Robotekin, Leire Balzategui, and the dean of the Official Association of Industrial Engineers of Álava (COIIA), Kristina Apiñaniz, ratified the collaboration agreement to continue generating new opportunities for members and stakeholders linked to Robotekin.
“With this agreement, Robotekin reinforces its commitment to continuing to connect its member organisations and stakeholders with specialised talent, fostering collaboration between the business, technology and industrial ecosystems,” said Leire Balzategui.
For her part, the Dean of the Official Association of Industrial Engineers of Álava placed particular emphasis on the importance of having a ‘one-stop shop’ where engineering firms and engineers can access job vacancies across various sectors.
“The transformation of our industry increasingly requires professionals capable of integrating technologies such as automation, robotics and artificial intelligence into production processes. This agreement allows us to bring new professional opportunities to engineers and, at the same time, help companies find the talent they need to remain competitive,” said Apiñaniz.
The agreement also covers the development of other initiatives such as:
- Technology outreach events
- Promoting STEAM careers
- Fostering talent and training
- Synergies and networking
- Institutional outreach
Dialogues in the Garden
This partnership agreement includes the organisation of a round-table discussion entitled “Robotics in industry: the present, trends and future of factories and production”, held on 3 June as part of the “Dialogues in the Garden” series organised by the Official Association of Industrial Engineers of Álava.
The round table was moderated by Leire Balzategui and featured three partners from Robotekin. Carlos Calleja, head of the control and robotics team at Ikerlan; Jon Fernández de Retana, manager of Automach Ingeniería; and Ricardo Romo, manager of Rubi Automotive, analysed how robotics and automation are transforming industry, how this is affecting organisations and employment, and what opportunities these changes offer for achieving greater strategic value and competitiveness.
The speakers agreed that:
- Robotics and automation are unstoppable. It is an evolutionary and natural process that is being incorporated into various sectors, particularly the industrial sector, although at different rates, with faster development in sectors such as the automotive and pharmaceutical industries, and also depending on the size of the companies.
- Efficiency and productivity. These are two key factors when it comes to incorporating automated processes into production facilities, particularly for the most arduous and repetitive tasks carried out by workers.
- Key developments. The introduction of collaborative robotics (operators and robots), digital twins that help to understand and simulate environments, and the incorporation of AI and machine vision to gain a broader perspective.
- Shorter and more customised production runs. Automation projects are increasingly involving more customised specifications with higher standards and quality.
- A thorough understanding of the production process. Before implementing automation, the speakers agreed that it is advisable to analyse and understand the production process in each case, to study where and how automation can be applied to increase efficiency and effectiveness, and to set deadlines for implementation.
In conclusion: robotics and automation are here to stay in industry and across all sectors as a natural means of increasing efficiency and productivity, simplifying the most arduous processes, and enhancing traceability and process quality. Robots will continue to be integrated into our lives to make work easier, but with supervision, maintenance and command carried out by operators with increasingly digital skills, helping to create more bespoke and flexible programming.
Getting Together
