You know you’re coming to the factory Prestige car In Viceroy of Pine before I see the signs on the street: hundreds of vans sprinter In orderly rows, shining in the sun, they are an unmistakable sign. Prestige Auto is the importer of Mercedes Benz in Argentina and produces the Sprinter, a vehicle that is part of the urban landscape and that the company exports to the region.
The invitation was to visit the plant’s new Community Visitor Center, a space that provides space for schools, institutions and neighbors. The place is modern, neat, without fanfare. There are nods to motorsport history: from a helmet and gloves that belonged to the five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio even a physical one with George Russell, driver of the McLaren-Mercedes-Benz team.
In this context a lecture was given between Daniel HerreroCEO of Prestige carAnd Viviana ZoccoFounder and CEO of Ticmas: a meeting where we can talk about education, industry, employability and the future. It was also announced there that the factory will begin producing 20,000 units in 2026, incorporating new projects previously carried out outside the factory. Aside from that, Prestige will work with Ticmas to train 1,500 technical students and training centers in La Matanza in specialist areas that are missing today.
The audience was mainly made up of teachers: directors of technical schools, secondary schools and primary schools in La Matanza, inspectors and ministers of education. Representatives from universities and the private sector were also present. Silvina GvirtzMinister of Education of La Matanza – Virrey del Pino, the place where the power plant will be built, belongs to this municipality –, Alfonso Pratt GayVice President of Prestige Auto, Gaston Homme from the Faculty of Engineering, Austral University, Jorge EterovicVice Dean of Engineering at the National University of La Matanza, were among those present. The atmosphere was relaxed and characterized by camaraderie.
Daniel Herrero has more than 25 years of experience in the automotive industry. He was president of Toyota Argentina between 2010 and 2022, a period during which the company consolidated itself as a leader in production and exports and expanded its workforce from 2,200 to 8,000 employees. At Prestige Auto, it promotes local production of the aforementioned Sprinter and projects the plant’s growth through new developments, such as the production of Electric bikes.
Viviana Zocco She is one of the country’s best-known entrepreneurs in the fields of innovation, education and technology. With Ticmas created one comprehensive educational platform which works with schools across the region, integrating content and technology for transformation Teaching and learning processes. Previously founded TKM And Bookendsand his first company, Risk analysiswas sold to Standard and Poor’s and became a case study for Babson College, published by Harvard Business Review.
The dialogue was characterized by important definitions. In the context of structural changes caused by technological expansion, a rethink is necessary and urgently required Strengthening bridges between education and industry.
For Herrero, the changes coming to the automotive industry “will be very violent: the automationThe artificial intelligenceThe robotics They will produce substitution and creation.” On the one hand, repetitive tasks such as welding, data collection or carrying out ergonomically difficult work are carried out by machines. If ten years ago an operator had no decision-making authority, today he needs “a qualified operator that can monitor automated processes,” he said.
The stage presents a number of Risks for those who do not adapt: You face an insurmountable skills shortage, you lose your job, you are excluded from the polarization between those who have access to technical training and better salaries and those who do not. At this point it is important to recognize a responsibility: “As an entrepreneur,” he said, “we have to say that everything I get is achieved through productivity.” It must be used to grow and create new jobs; I need to train the supervisor of the cell we just automated to leave the previous workgroup.”
Viviana Zocco explained that education requires an immediate update. “We need to think about it from a different place, from a place of growth,” he said. The problem begins when students do not understand why they are learning what they are learning.. “If we don’t give them the right answers, if we don’t guide them in finding those answers, we’re going to be dropped out and frustrated in high school.” And he proposed three non-negotiable pillars: meaningful learningHe Teamwork and the learn to learn. “You learn, then you unlearn and then you learn again. If we don’t train young people to have one agile mindset that captures and adapts to new contexts and new realities, we will block it again before we begin.”
Education, he said, You can’t just distribute content: “Today, education means providing tools, preparing skills and abilities and making them part of a project.” Here education must be linked to employment. Public-private articulation is very important: concrete, real, without empty talk. The private sector has to get involved, we have to be there. If not, there is no future.”
For Blacksmiththe solution is to “end this dichotomy in Argentina that I am either a donkey or an engineer.” He claimed that Intermediate technical education and the Professional practices that help schools show what the reality of an industry is like. And he agreed with Viviana Zocco: “If we, who were lucky enough to have training and are in a company, do not accept it Responsibility to help a school“To help a training center, it is very difficult for us to have a successful future.”
An anecdote that can illustrate the strength of technical schools. Daniel Herrero said this Joe GibbsOwner of the most important team in NASCARHe had problems with pit stop tools. He put his people to work, but they didn’t see a solution. Until one day he made a replica at his factory and called Students of technical schools: He expected them to suggest improvements: “No tool manufacturer could ever surpass the tools they made,” he said. “This is the potential of education, transformation and the ability of professionalizing practice in reality.“.
Before opening the microphone to the public, both of them reversed their roles. Instead of talking about what the industry needs, they appealed to teachers. “I am a compulsive problem buyer,” said Daniel Herrero, continuing: “Bring any project you have and we will accompany you. can help educationCome on, we’re ready.”
Viviana Zocco called for excellence: “I really value the work of teachers because they do wonders with a little and a lot I would challenge them not to give up.“He suggested they think outside the box and embrace innovation.” “The industry needs to grow, it will grow and it will need you.” Think of the teacher as a coach, someone who pushes the children forward. This is fundamental.”
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