Inventus Power has four manufacturing facilities located in Woodridge, Illinois, USA, Tijuana, Mexico, Qingxi, China; and Manaus, Brazil. This global manufacturing footprint allows us to strategically balance such factors as product mix, operating costs, and speed of delivery.
As far apart as these four locations may be geographically, they are closely aligned philosophically. Through such factors as strategic hiring of the most skilled people sharing common core values; comprehensive training programs; implementation of uniform manufacturing, quality & safety systems; and working at the senior management levels to establish a highly desirable workplace culture, our employees all see themselves as being part of a global family, each individually empowered to serve the customer.
That said, each facility also maintains its own local and cultural distinctions as they pursue their collective drive for product and service excellence. In this series, we will take a look at each of our four facilities in turn, highlighting both the shared values that connect us, and the distinctive outlooks that make us unique.
In this segment, we'll focus on our facility in Manaus, Brazil.
A prominent presence in Manaus
Manaus, Brazil is a business and residential center located deep within the Amazon rain forest. In addition to being the capital and largest city in the state of Amazonas, it has become the seventh largest city in all of Brazil, home to more than two million people, as well as host to one of the country’s largest business parks.
Looming large in the area is Inventus Power’s manufacturing facility, totaling some ~7500 sq. meters (~80,000 sq. feet) of production space, with additional expansion capacity in the wings. In fact, according to Walber Miranda, Vice President of Sales & Business Development for Brazil, our company’s logo and brand colors are a focal point for many in town.
“Our people are very enthusiastic about Inventus Power, like fans of a sports team,” he explained. “I was talking to one employee the other day and she said that she had been passing by the factory her whole life and that finally getting to work here was like a ‘dream come true’ for her.”
Expanding skills, expanding product lines
Perhaps one reason for the excellent reputation that Inventus Power has earned in the Manaus area is due to the facility’s commitment to personal development. The plant invests in thousands of hours of training every year, such as six sigma quality programs, student apprenticeship programs, and more. In fact, Inventus Manaus has been recognized by the Brazilian Association of Human Resources for its building of a dynamic learning and development culture.
But training is only one part of the plant’s equation for success. The Manaus facility had originally been established by another company in 1995, geared to producing simple cable products. After moving through several owners, it became part of the Inventus Power family in late 2015. That, according to Miranda, is when large investments in people development as well as product development started in earnest, with the facility expanding in product lines as well as the addition of cutting-edge automation.
Today, the facility produces a high volume of mobile phone battery packs for the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the country, as well as notebook batteries, fast chargers, and batteries and power supplies for wearable devices like smart watches and earbuds. The facility’s 1000+ people are assisted by a wide variety of advanced machines for operations and quality control processes that in many other places are done manually, such as precision adhesive placement, cutting, laser marking, quality testing and more.
“We are consumer products focused right now, which is kind of a unique manufacturing niche at Inventus Power,” said Miranda. “However, we are poised to leverage our strong automation base and skilled workers to help the company grow in several other key markets, including producing industrial battery products for medical, government, and light electric vehicle use, and supporting South American markets outside of Brazil.”
Local challenges drive environmental stewardship
One of the reasons that Manaus is such a high growth area is that the government has made the city a free trade zone, providing tax incentives for companies to create jobs in the region. The flipside, however, is challenging logistics—products and raw materials can usually only enter or leave Manaus by air or by boat.
“We literally put trucks on ferryboats to get them where they need to be, and between all our different avenues, we’ve become very adept at getting materials in and getting products delivered to customers in a timely manner,” said Miranda.
Unfortunately, there were some developments in the area last year that made the facility’s logistics even more challenging, as well as tragically impacting the area’s ecosystem: the worst drought in over 100 years dried up the Amazon River in many locations. The area is still in recovery and people are working to understand the full impact on the region. This situation serves as a reminder to the people of Manaus of the vulnerability of their community and the need for dedicated environmental stewardship.
Miranda notes that the facility has a strong sustainability culture. In addition to being certified under ISO 9001 quality management and ISO 14001 environmental management, the plant follows the stringent guidelines of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). In fact, Inventus Power Manaus was recognized last year by its largest customer as one of the top performing EHS suppliers, noting such actions as its safety training and waste control efforts. “We are in the middle of the Amazon so we have to be very respectful to the delicate balance here,” said Miranda. “It is something that is always top of mind for us no matter how far and fast we grow.”
Walber Miranda
Vice President, Sales & Business Development
Manaus, Brazil
