The news magazine of

OnlineONLINE training, a great INNOVATION project

ProductCEPSA Aerogear synt

Face to faceALTAIR for better training

WorldwideAntonio Higuero.Chairman ofImportacionesNavarra

At seaTraining is important

Issue 22 • 1st half of 2010

TRAININGTraining well to inform better

We are still LOYAL TO THE RED

Speaking to DAVID VILLA

2

If you have any news you would like to publish or any suggestions, please e-mail them to: lubricantes@cepsa.com

If you would like to make any technical consulta-tions about any of our products or services, send your e-mail to:st.lubes@cepsa.com

Internet address:www.cepsa.com

Direction and publication: Marketing Department, CEPSA Lubricantes, S.A.

The following people have contributed to this issue:Alicia Cuervo, Alvaro Macarro, Antonio Higuero, Beatriz Calvo, David Villa, Eva Pavón, Eduardo Gó-mez, Fernando Mendieta, Florencia Fernández, Flo-rencio Pérez, Gerardo Socorro, Ignacio Ramiro, In-maculada Abadía, Jaime Sastre, Javier Pulgar, José María Hernández, Luis Zamora, Marcos Pallás, Marisa Hernández, Marta García de Vitoria, Marta Lugris, Nuria Aparicio, Paco Avecilla, José Antonio Tirado, Paloma Martínez, Remedios Barona, Susa-na Ortega and Trinidad Espinosa.

Many thanks to all of them.

Design and layout:

Printing:Ibergráficas, S.A.

Editor:Juan Manuel Vidal

Photographs:Javier Torrente

Half-yearly publication distributed free of charge.Edition: 8,000 copies.Legal deposit: 50580

summary

4 CEPSA GROUP:• CEPSA behind the national team more than ever• PROAS seminar on technological specialization• CEPSA presents its Annual Report and Corporate Responsibility Report with a new image• Environmental statements from the three refineries, CEPSA Química y Lubrisur

6 CEPSA ON LINE:• General automotive catalogue. Also online• New CEPSA web• CLSA at the Forefront in 2.0 training

8 QUALITY, SAFETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT:• Good training prevents risks on motorbikes• CEPSA Highway Training School

10 PRODUCT:• The new Drum Decanting Unit is consolidated• Presentation of the new CEPSA AEROGEAR SYNT lubricants for wind turbines

12 CEPSA WORLDWIDE:• Guatemala, a country of possibilities• Antonio Higuero, Chairman of Importaciones Navarra. The entrepreneur who invented himself

15 COVER REPORT:• Comprehension. Learning, Surpassing oneself. Advancing

18 FACE TO FACE:• Interview with Fernando Mendieta, manager and partner of Altair Consultores

22 COMPETITION:• DAVID VILLA, The Red’s striker• MOTORBIKES: Dany Torres stands his ground

26 CEPSA LUBRICANTES AT SEA:• Training is important• José María Hernández. An “old sea wolf”

28 FLASHES:• CEPSA Oasis, 15 years on the “road to Jerez”• CEPSA Lubricantes at full throttle in MotoCross MX ÉLITE and MX 2• CEPSA Lubricantes with sport, in Myanmar• EJAB Bangladesh visits Spain• CEPSA Lubricantes consolidates its international presence• CLSA collaborates with Chile after the earthquake

30 ADDING HEAT TO THE PROCESS (SCENES FROM THE HISTORY OF PETROLEUM):• Adding heat to the process (V)

3

Edito

rialSome time ago I read a manual on coaching techniques and found

the affirmation of an expert in Knowledge and Training, which I am quoting here in the pages of Oleum. The statement goes “If anyone has any doubts about the results that can be obtained through training and knowledge, they can always try ignorance… and compare results”.

Fortunately, nobody seems to doubt that the main - if not the only - way to cope with everyday life successfully inevitably involves training, and the direct consequences of making the most of it: knowledge.

This is not current fashion or trend. Since times past, different societies have advanced on the basis of study and knowledge. Amongst the many definitions of training, there is one which stands out in particular:

“It is the process of innovative and maintenance learning, organized and systematized through planned experiences, to transform people’s knowledge, techniques and attitudes.”

This definition includes concepts such as innovation, undoubtedly one of the great drivers of progress. It also refers to organized and systematized processes, where intuition is replaced by models of reflection and deci-sion through experiences, and where knowledge, techniques and attitu-des are adapted to the circumstances and transformed.

The above takes on capital importance, since everyone is aware of the changes in the ways and means of relating to each other, of communica-ting with each other and of working, as a result of technological innova-tion and the advent of the present information society, which will take us to the knowledge society.

It is in this society of ours, the knowledge society, the society of ongoing training, as another chapter in the cycle of life, where we have to run our business. Consequently, training continues to be of major importance for CEPSA Lubricantes and the whole of the CEPSA Group, as can be seen, and has also been recognized in different forums. At CEPSA Lubricantes, we are convinced of the advantages of investing in training and we will continue along this road.

When groups of professionals are asked what is most demanded of com-panies, the answer is unanimous: training tops the list. At times of crisis, like the ones we are going through, with black clouds looming in the dis-tance, there could be a temptation to cut back on some intangible items.

But there are three which should never be written off and where the return on the investment will be extremely satisfactory. As you will have guessed, I’m referring to brand, training and marketing.

Both marketing and brand are important concepts, but I will not go into them just now. However, investing in training as a means of ensuring knowledge will be the way to put human resources and competitiveness to value. Some time ago, I attended a conference given by a leading automo-bile spare parts manufacturer. There, figures showed that the distributors who had made the most of training courses and programmes had clearly boosted their results. In contrast, the distributors who did not believe in these practices dropped to second place, with very dangerously flat re-sults, commercially speaking.

Like everything else, training evolves and the new technologies bring inter-esting opportunities to get the best out of it, so that it is more attractive and more efficient, and requires less travelling and saves on opportunity costs. It could be no other way; I’m referring to the so-called Online Tra-ining - perhaps named like this to differentiate it from the old distance courses. This online training, which will not replace attendance at courses, complements traditional training and boosts results, besides ensuring up-dated ongoing training.

At CEPSA Lubricantes, we are developing an advanced programme which will allow many people to train successfully wherever they are in the world, whatever time it is and regardless of their level of knowledge of lubricants; this is already a reality. The new highway to knowledge is ready. Let’s get on it!

editorial

The highway to knowledge

Florencio PérezSales Manager ofCEPSA Lubricantes, S.A.

CEPSA group

4

Vicente del Bosque and “the people of the Red”

With the slogan “This country is crazy about the Red”, CEPSA’s new advertising cam-paign was recently presented, starring Vicente del Bosque and the village in the province of Salamanca, Candelario, as part of its sponsor-ship of the Spanish National Football Team. This campaign aims to breathe encourage-ment and hope into the whole country for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where the Na-tional Team is playing an excellent role, espe-cially after its spectacular victory in the 2008 Euro Cup.

The campaign started to be broadcast on television on 19 May and consists of three commercials which show a village which is so enthusiastic about the Red that it has repla-ced ordinary names with the names of Natio-nal Team players, reflecting the hopes of the “red tide” following Spain. A great show of popular support for “the Red”. The village of Candelario took part in this campaign and for three days its villagers filmed enthusiastically alongside Vicente del Bosque.

The TV campaign is accompanied by a promotional ad to inform of the offer of the National Team’s official drinking glasses, which can be obtained by filling up at CEPSA Service Stations.

CEPSA behind the national team, more than ever

Crazy about the RedSeveral commercials were also presented

with the slogan “This country’s crazy about the Red and at CEPSA we’ll always be crazy about them”. In one of the commercials, Spa-nish painters show their loyalty to the National Team by mixing all the colours into one: red. In another commercial, real Red fans are playing cards and they decide to change the names of the pack for National Team footballers.

Moreover, in the interactive part of the cam-paign, www.estepaisestalocoporlaroja.com is a website created to give all the entertaining news about all the “crazy things” done in the name of the “passion for the Red”. CEPSA will continue to support the National Team at each match it plays in the World Cup, and will be pre-sent in general and sports newspapers.

The world at the Red’s feetThe National Team provokes such eupho-

ria that CEPSA has recovered one of the mas-terpieces of Sevillian painter Diego Velázquez “The Surrender of Breda”, better known as “The Lances” and, under the slogan “The world can be ours again”, and has made it into the epicentre of its “Loyal to the Red” campaign in support of the National Team.

Since last April, CEPSA started this gra-phic campaign to accompany its sponsorship of the Spanish National Team. The picture shows Spanish troops, dressed in the team’s red jackets, accepting the keys which imply the surrender of the Dutch town of Breda from Jus-tino de Nassau.

With its sights set on the World Cup in South

Africa, CEPSA aims to transmit the values of sponsorship in an original manner and to put a smile on supporters’ faces. We will continue to see them in sports newspapers and special supplements on the World Cup.

Last November saw a great deal of acti-vity in Andalusia. On 18 and 19 November, the capital of the River Guadalquivir, Seville, and the home of the Alhambra, Granada, hosted the 2nd and 3rd PROAS SEMINARS on TECHNOLOGICAL SPECIALIZATION in relation to bitumen and asphalt mixtures, respectively. On this occasion, the seminars were aimed at technicians in the roads and highways sector who work in Andalusia.

Under the title “Seminars on Technologi-

cal Specialization”, PROAS, a company in the CEPSA Group, planned a series of ses-sions with a view to updating and informing professionals in the sector, from a technolo-gical standpoint, of all the most important innovations in asphalt bitumen, and ma-king the sessions into a technical forum for exchanging knowledge.

The seminars were inaugurated and ooor-

dinated by Mr Félix Pérez, professor of Civil Engineering at the Universidad Politécni-ca of Catalunya. High-ranking Spanish and international speakers explained the current situation of bitumen and asphalt mixtures at the technical and regulatory level, and des-cribed the new technologies and products which the industry is currently developing and which will be in common use in the near future, such as the use of materials deriving from tyre recycling or the use of new po-

lymer materials to manufacture modified bitumen, with improved features.

These seminars have been held on a re-

gular basis in the different Self-governing Re-gions since 2008 to provide training and co-ver for all the professionals related to roads and highways.

These sessions, held in rooms at the Ho-tel Barceló Renacimiento, on the Isla de la Cartuja in Seville, and at the Hotel Abades Nevada in Granada, welcomed over 100 representatives of official bodies from di-fferent Andalusian public authorities, the Universities of Granada and Huelva, and a large group of people representing mana-gers and specialists from the main compa-nies in the sector in Andalusia, who gave their support through the Council for Public Works and Transport.

The sessions ended with a lively discus-

sion between speakers and the public and were closed by Mr Alberto Martinez-Laca-ci, PROAS’ Sales Manager. The contents of the talks given at these seminars are availa-ble in the Professionals Area on the website www.proas.es

PROAS seminarson technological specialization

This year once again, CEPSA has publis-hed its Corporate Responsibility and An-nual Reports. The main novelty is their new, more modern, fresh design, aimed at making reading easier and faster. Moreover, this year the two documents were delivered together at the Shareholders’ Meeting, which was held on 28 May.

In addition, in its permanent bid for res-

pect for the environment, CEPSA has repla-ced part of the publication of information on paper with digital publication, saving twelve tons of paper.

CEPSA opted for an innovative design

with its reality revolving around a constantly changing world, involved in caring for the environment.

CEPSA presents its Annual Report and Corporate Responsibility Report with a new image

5

CEPSA Quimica, Lubrisur and CEPSA’s three refineries have renewed their commitment to the environment with the publication of the 2009 Environmental Statements.

The documents, certified with the AENOR seal, are proof that CEPSA takes its responsi-bility for the environment in which it operates. The Company is committed to reducing its environmental impact to a maximum, by setting up different mechanisms to fulfil this commitment.

Any of you who are interested can find the reports of “La Rábida” and the three factories of CEPSA Química -Guadarranque, Palos de la Frontera and Puente Mayorga- on CEPSA’s we-bsite. The reports of the “Gibraltar-San Roque” refinery, the “Tenerife” refinery and Lubrisur will also be available shortly.

Environmental statements from the three refineries, CEPSA Química and Lubrisur

Seville and Granada, unparalleled settings for the sessions

CEPSA online

6

Mejora continua

6

A digital interactive version of CEPSA Lubri-cantes’ Automotive Catalogue now comple-ments the catalogue regularly published on paper. Users can download it from the website www.cepsa.com/lubricantes/autocat.html. The website is available in three languages (Spa-nish, English and French) and gives detailed information about the catalogue and how to download it.

This digital version of the catalogue should be installed on your computer. Then you can con-sult it interactively in three languages (Spa-nish, English and French) without having to be connected to the Internet and find all the infor-mation on CEPSA Lubricantes’ ranges (descrip-tions, presentation formats and images of the products), technical information on each pro-duct available in PDF format and a guide to the quality specifications of each range.

The capacities of the Digital Catalogue can also be extended if you have an Internet connec-tion, so that you can go to CEPSA Lubricantes’ website and access the product search engine, the lubrication guide, consult and download the latest technical information and, in short, obtain the most up-to-date information on CEPSA Lubricantes’ product portfolio.

CEPSA recently launched the new ver-sion of its portal www.cepsa.com in order to provide a modern web service, adapted to the new market standards and more focu-sed on the user. Flexibility, independence and speed for the internal creating and ma-nagement of contents, personalization of services and technological stability and ro-bustness were some of the objectives of this renovation.

CEPSA is moving ahead and making a bid for Vignette technology, today part of Open Text, the leading suppliers in ECM (Enterprise Content Management) and world leader in WCM (Web Content Ma-nagement). In short, an association which is a guarantee of evolution, dynamism and innovation.

The avant-garde platform facilitates the creation of websites, management, compu-terization of processes and the publication of contents, in addition to the future addition of 2.0 web contents and better accessibili-ty, amongst many other improvements.

Although this project was eminently techno-logical as a basis for future developments, CEPSA took advanta-ge of the introduction of its advanced pla-tform to also redesign its portal, making its presentation clearer and more in line with its

positioning in advertising. Browsing is also more accessible and intuitive as it starts from a menu which is always present and leads to all the web contents.

Thus, it manages to offer the informa-tion of the contents most in demand more quickly, such as the Service Station net-work, the lubrication guide, the safest route calculator, the loyalty-building cards, job offers and product promotions. It has also made improvements to online applications and requests and paid special attention to optimal positioning of the por-tal in search engines.

Within its sector, CEPSA continues to be in the forefront of the main trends in design and technology.

General automotive catalogueAlso online

New CEPSA web

CLSAen elmar

77

One of the theorists of the new economy is the great Chinese strategist and tactician Tsung-Tzu, who spoke of “knowing for con-quering” in his thirteen-article book on “The Art of War” just over two thousand years ago, the slogan par excellence of any information service which claims to be such.

Training must be pursued jointly by the parties involved: the company and the worker. In one case because one demands of oneself, although one needs willpower and commitment to grow as a professional; but in the other, it is pure necessity to adapt to the new demands stemming from the evolution of both the market and products, which no company can or should ignore.

Managing knowledge means getting invol-ved in “knowing what the workers know at the present time, and knowing what they should know from this moment on” accor-ding to the experts we consulted. Obviously the level required of each post varies. “Ad hoc” packages should be prepared to cover the needs of each group, although the star-ting point could be basic knowledge on which further knowledge is gradually built, according to the level of specialization.

However, companies need to value how far they invest in training courses without their professionals having to attend these courses in certain place and in person. Perhaps this is the toll to be paid by the firm: there can be no learning without sacrifice. To get round this obstacle, “science has really forged ahead” and we have seen the birth of e-learning or online training, i.e. distance learning.

This type of training optimizes time so that each employee can use it when it least affects their work and when this teaching is most efficient. In this way, there is a move away from the idea of attending courses and a move towards guaranteeing knowledge.

Thanks to this distance training model, technical training can be distributed to every corner of the organization which needs it, whether it be in Spain or abroad, without the need to adjust diaries. Learning is personalized for each worker and they can consolidate their learning at the right time and to the right extent.

Another major advance is the permanent updating of knowledge of the products and/or services offered by the company, building a culture aimed at ongoing learning, These courses are evaluated through feedback using questions and answers, and improvements are made for future training schemes.

In addition, the levels of technical knowledge related to each echelon of the di-fferent commercial organizations are iden-tified with the people who are employed at each level. And more especially, this training system brings a notable reduction in direct costs stemming from travel, hotels and meals, and in opportunity costs.

CEPSA Lubricantes is committed to the ongoing training of its workers and, through its online website www.campuscepsa.com, it has set up a detailed training scheme. The main object of this scheme is to provide distance training/information without a ti-

metable, tailored to the pace and needs of each employee.

The scheme started with more general mo-dules, with a view to later going further into the different applications, trying to adapt the level of knowledge with the training needs of the different groups. New work dynamics will be added in course of 2010. As the idea is for this to be a “live” process, the scheme will be enriched with forums where experiences, real cases, the most frequent problems, etc. will be shared.

Amongst the main observations to be poin-ted out and highlighted, we find that:

• The basic modules for the different online subjects should not take more than 30-45 minutes to do (depending on the user’s knowledge).

• It is important to know the user’s opinion to gradually improve the online campus.

• The forum which will be included will feed on the commercial and technical expe-rience of all of us.

With all of this, the success of the website www.campuscepsa.com is guaranteed.

CLSA at the forefront in 2.0 trainingIn-depth knowledge of a product and its applications is absolutely essential for every worker is order to optimize their task and maximize their efforts. This mission is the joint responsibility of the company and the person concerned. The new website www.campuscepsa.com aims at online management of knowledge, also known as 2.0, putting CEPSA Lubricantes at the forefront in training in its sector.

8

The nineties were crucial in the sense that training schools for motor-cyclists appeared, re-gardless of the cylinder capacity of their bikes. The annual figures for victims on the road began to be especially alarming. In 2008 a total of

463 bikers lost their lives in accidents, 22%

down on the 2007 figure. However, the number of deaths is almost double the deaths in other vehicles.

According to a study conducted by the Mo-torcycle Accidents In Depth Study (MAIDS) of the statements about 235 mortal motor-bike ac-cidents which occurred in 2007, the biker was responsible for the accident in three out of every four cases. Also according to the report, one third of the accidents were caused by errors of per-ception, comprehension, decision and reaction, because the features of the motorcycles grew exponentially in terms of models, designs, con-sumption, power, tyres…

But with this, the attitudes of many motor-

cyclists changed as they were not really aware of what they were driving, especially younger bikers, and more so if we consider that the “ca-sing” is the person. A slight accident in a car or in another vehicle may result in more or less serious structural damage, but in some cases this type of accident is fatal for people on motor-bikes. And don’t let’s consider a serious or very serious accident. Just a few drops of rain or oil, thin ice on the road, or the thick paint used to paint the road can make the road into a slippery dangerous surface.

That is why there is a need for correct tra-

ining, both at the beginning for novices and later as reinforcement for motorbike veterans, in order to avoid accidents, although many of them are caused by third parties. Now we will be talking especially of the first of the two groups. Here we come up against a basic pro-

blem: many users believe that they know a lot, but they ignore more than they know, since they have acquired bad habits which are difficult to eliminate.

There have been pioneering initiatives in

training for motorcycle users, such as the dri-ving schools, Honda Escuela de Conduccion

(HEC), an itinerant school created in 1992, which was complemented in 2009 with the creation of the Honda Safety Institute (HSI), the only European centre exclusively dedica-ted to training motorcyclists. Further initiatives came from the magazine Motociclismo, through its Action Team activity club in 1996 and the initiative of the Poolbox Training School in 1998. Other centres have gradually added to these initiatives.

“Técnicas de conducción defensiva”

“The HSI training courses – in the words of

José Peiró of Honda Public Relations – place

emphasis on defensive driving techniques in

order to prevent accidents, since they are not

driving courses as such, but courses aimed at

safer driving. We offer courses for people with

little experience and for those who have been

riding bikes for a long time; we also offer dri-

ving courses for sports”. Depending on the school chosen we can find courses “for those who have just joined the motorcycling world and those who are attracted by the racing side of motorbikes and want to learn racing driving” as Action Team’s Elena Carrascosa points out. Not forgetting courses for professionals, such as po-lice officers, civil guards, couriers, etc. In some cases, the offer is extended to include training for driving school instructors.

The courses last between one and two days, with timetables varying to meet students’

needs. At the courses “we teach them techni-

ques aimed at enhancing the capacity of reac-

tion and control, placing special emphasis on

techniques which could save them from real

– not potential – risk situations, because on

motorbikes every error takes its toll” as José Ramón Díaz Fornos, Poolbox manager, points out. These courses consist of a theoretical part and a practical part, where students are trained in agility, braking and balance.

The courses are either held on circuits or at facilities with several tracks, since in this way maximum safety conditions are guaranteed, with a road surface in perfect conditions, wi-thout bumps or dangerous routes, which would put the bikers at risk. Some centres have their own facilities. This is the case of the HSI and its circuit in Sta. Perpetua de Mogoda (Barce-lona), and others which operate on different Spanish circuits, like Action Team, Poolbox and HONDA school BY ZK.

The dates of the courses are usually spread throughout the year, but they try to adapt to students’ availability. Weekdays are the best for private

Good training prevents risks on the motorbike

Training - really good training - is essential for any new driver, but it is also essential for veterans who have been bikers for years and do not think that they need any further training or need to correct anything they learnt badly. Perhaps being aware of the risks of reckless attitudes, the possibility of learning better techniques or the new licence by points and the traffic authority’s sanction mechanisms are enough to make us sit up and choose to do improvement courses.

CLSAquality, safety and

the environment

individuals and weekends are best for profes-sionals. Prices vary and range from Poolbox’s 160-240 euros, according to the circuit, HIS’s 75-110 euros to 215 euros/day (360 euros for two days), depending on whether the courses chosen are for private individuals and/or pro-fessionals. Normally, the motorbikes are pro-vided by the schools. To consult prices, dates and other details, we recommend visiting the schools’ web pages.

The common target these schools pursue is continuous improvement as an attitude “especially – according to the experts consul-

ted – when the level of preparation required

to obtain the licence is so primary and the

penalty point system is not an incentive for

these types of courses”. Fortunately, drivers are increasingly aware of their limitations and look for tra-ining, since knowing how to react in time could save their lives.

More stringent driving licence requirements

Very much aware of the high accident rate amongst motorcyclists and wanting to help bikers more than anyone else, these centres lament, “the authorities’ lack of involvement; they should

be trying to provide support, either in making

the driving licence more difficult to obtain, or by

promoting this type of training course”, although it is everybody’s job to contribute to safety and social responsibility.

At this point, we cannot ignore the human factor, better defined by Action Team’s Elena Carrascosa, as “the emotional component,

which is linked to the pleasures of riding a bike,

where the feelings of freedom and enjoyment

are multiplied”. However, the crazy things other people do cannot be controlled. “Safety

campaigns like ours aim to raise people’s

awareness and courses like these make the

students who come to the courses with a

defensive attitude become more humble”, José Peiró from HSI explains.

Without trying to undermine the passion for bikes and also considering that motorbikes are increasingly used to get around cities

more easily, we should still insist on the advisable

and necessary training for riders; it is always

a good thing and increasing bikers’

skills can prevent extremely serious accidents. And if we add to this – as can be no other way – a good lubricant like the ones CEPSA Lubricantes offers, then bikers will be able to enjoy their bikes for a long time.

The motorbike - this strange cult object and sweet object of desire, this metal horse that flies low - has become a philosophy of life for many people, and is more than just a means of transporting people and small packages. Perhaps the golden sixties of Easy Rider have come to an end; perhaps motorcycling romanticism comes to end with age but, anyone who has chewed dust, anyone who has felt the breeze on their cheek, anyone who has seen a sunset from their bike, can never forget it. Perhaps one of the penultimate romantics is José Ramón Díaz Fornos, Poolbox manager, who says that he is still “in love with his 12-year

old two-stroke Italian motorbike, which leaves

him stranded half the time, but

when she goes well, she really

moves!”.

Good training prevents risks on the motorbike

SAFE DRIVING COURSES• The magazine Motociclismo, through its Action Team activity club. Courses nationwide

http://blogs.motociclismo.es/conduccionsegura/tag/cursos-de-conduccion • Poolbox: Itinerant driving school on circuits. www.wilock.com/menu2.htm

• Honda Driving School and Safety Institute (HIS): Courses on racing driving circuits aimed at all levels, from the most elementary to the most expert. www.honda-montesa.es/inscripciones

• Honda School BY ZK: Courses on racing driving circuits aimed at all levels, from the most elementary to the most expert. http://www.honda-montesa.es/espacio/experiencia/zk.php

9

CLSAproduct

10

Highway safety concerns all of us, since we can all both receive and broadcast its messages and behave accordingly on the road. To think that it is just the obliga-tion of the authorities is to deny the evi-dence. It certainly seems that the autho-rities act as catalysts, but if motorists, passengers and pedestrians fail to do their bit, little more can be done.

At CEPSA we are motorbike fans and we are also aware of the large percentage of accidents on the road. Consequently, we are concerned about preventing accidents, by carrying out a road accident prevention programme with the Itinerant Highway Training School, sponsored by CEPSA Lu-bricantes and aimed at secondary school students doing compulsory education, non-compulsory education and vocational training programmes.

This School gives theoretical and practical classes and all kinds of events related to highway safety are held. All of this is the result of concern and aware-ness of traffic problems, which especia-lly affects the younger generation.

Here are some examples. In the first five months of the year, 76 motorcyclists were killed, a figure to be added to the 283 victims who died on the roads in 2009. Speeding, distractions when driving and other offences continue to be the main causes of accidents. Incorrect overtaking and the use of helmets are some of the factors over which the traffic police have the most control.

That is why Paco Avecilla, the head of CEPSA’s Itinerant Highway

Training School, with over thirty years ex-perience believes that education is some-thing inherent to society and, thus, a so-cial necessity. Consequently, the school is a place for action, as teenagers come into direct contact with the vehicle and go from being a pedestrian to driving a motorcycle. Often the lack of training could cause ac-cidents because of a lack of experience or bad habits.

This type of project is preventive, since to really reduce accidents emphasis must be placed on training drivers and pedes-trians. The aim of this School is for young people of this age to become aware of the dangers of traffic and to acquire positive atti-tudes and habits when driving.

To this end, the team of CEPSA’s Itinerant Highway Training School, with Paco Avecilla at the helm, have designed activities where students’ involvement and participation is fundamental, so that they feel like the real protagonists of the process.

CEPSAHighway Training School

The new Drum Decanting Unit isconsolidated (DDU)Already working at full tilt: the new DDU (Drum Decanting Unit) at the lubricant oil manufacturing plant. The plant manufactures over 300 different products, each of which can have up to six different additives in the drum. The quantity of additive to be decanted from drums can range between a few kilos and dozens of drums.

The lubricant oil manufacturing section processes over 20,000 drums of additi-ves a year, of some 300 different types. The new DDU makes it possible to decant the different additions which are used at the plant with great accuracy. In addition, it has the following advantages, amongst others: an improvement in the safety conditions of the operation and a reduction in the en-vironmental impact, since the drums pro-cessed with the DDU can easily be recycled (they do not suffer any deterioration and, moreover, the DDU cleans them inside, lea-ving minimum residue). Another advantage of this solution is that the flow of materials has been optimized, since it is no longer necessary to take drums upstairs from the mixing room.

The possibility of drum decanting is tota-lly new for the plant and makes measuring

11

CEPSA Lubricantes, focusing on training and the constant evolution of its products and services, presents its new synthetic lubricant oils for wind turbines, CEPSA Ae-rogear Synt (ISO 220, 320, 460, 680).

Wind turbines need specific appropriate lu-bricants because their mechanisms work with heavy loads and in high temperatures. These modern oils meet requirements in terms of length of service, load capacity and high thermal stability.

The CEPSA Aerogear Synt range con-sists of high-performance synthetic oils de-signed to provide:

• Great resistance to ageing.• A high viscosity index, favouring the for-

mation of a uniform lubricating film, even if there are changes in temperature.

• Good protection against wear of the bearings.

• Resistance to micro-pitting because of less friction between the metal surfaces.

• Great energy output, as there are fewer power losses.

• Longer intervals between oil changes.• Protection against the formation of foam

and deposits.

The range consists of four types of lubri-cant according to the ISO grade.

CEPSA Aerogear Synt oils meet the most representative industrial quality specifications: FLENDER; US STEEL 224 ( AIST 224); AGMA 9005- E02 (EP); DAVID BROWN S1.53.101 Type E: DIN 51517 P-3; CINCINNATI MILACRON P-74; and MULLER WEINGARTEN LOAD CAPACITY.

They meet the specifications requirements of leading building contractors such as WINERGY, HANSEN, and BOSCH REXROTH and they are recommended by such major Spanish firms as ACCIONA and GAMESA.

Presentation of the new CEPSA AEROGEAR SYNT, lubricants for wind turbines

low viscosity additives – of which there is a high proportion – easier. The new facility is complemented by two new circuits which make it possible to send the additives from the DDU to any manufacturing tank. To prevent the risk of contamination, these circuits are automatically cleaned inside through pig elements.

The system has its own robots: progra-

mmable electronic equipment designed to control the process, integrated in the plant’s control system.

The new unit puts the lubricant oil ma-

nufacturing section at the forefront of te-chnology in the handling and measuring of additives from drums and containers.

12

“Everything was in suspense, everything was calm, silent; everything still, quiet, and the extension of the sky was empty”. That is how the story of the Creation begins according to the Popel Vuh, which in the Mayan language quiché means “Book of Advice”, a compilation of legends from Mayan mythology which tells of the origins of the world, civilization and the different phenomena which occur in nature. And for many people Guatemala is a beautiful natural phenomenon.

Guatemala (from the Náhuati word Quauhtlemallan, “place of many trees”) is the most Northern Central American republic and is in an enviable geostrategic position, since it is bordered by the Caribbean Sea and the republics of Honduras and El Salvador in the East, by the Pacific Ocean in the South, by Mexico in the West by Mexico and by Belize and the Caribbean in the North-East. All of this gives it an unparalleled commercial value.

Besides its capital Guatemala City, it has other important towns such as Mixco, Villa Nueva, San Pedro Carcha, Coban and Quezaltenango. Its

unequalled beauty has made it the most popular tourist destination in Central America (1.7 mi-llion tourists in 2009, according to Guatemala’s Ministry of Economy). Visitors can enjoy places of natural beauty such as Semuch Champey in Alta Verapaz, Santa Cruz Barillas, Río Dulce next to the wonderful Izabal lake and the beaches of Monterrico, its mountain ranges, headed by Sie-rra Madre and Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, and wild areas such the Petén rainforest in Tikal.

You can also choose to visit the numerous lakes scattered around the country, such as Atitlán, Petén Itzá, Amatitlán, Ayarza and Izabal mentioned above. Then, there are the beaches of black sand on the Pacific, such as Champerico, Tres Cruces, El Chico, Manchón and Tulate. In all these places and those mentioned earlier, you can try delicious dishes such as caldo de pata (beef soup), atol de elote (corn and other ingre-dients), rellenitos (plantains and black beans), camote en dulce (sweet potato), chuchitos (corn, meat, vegetables and tomatoes), tamales rojos (pork, corn and vegetables served in plan-tain leaves), revolcado de panza (tomato-based curry), jocón (meat or chicken and vegetables

served with rice), pepián (a meat and vegetable stew), hilachas (beef and potatoes served with a vegetable sauce), stuffed chilis, enchiladas (toast or tortilla, meat and salad stuffs)…

Guatemala, which became independent in 1821, is a constitutional democratic republic. It is currently governed by Álvaro Colom, of the Unidad Nacional para la Esperanza (UNE). Its currency is the quetzal, and its main source of income comes from trade, closely followed by farming, stock-breeding and fishing. Its best customer is the US, which is also its main supplier. It has discrete re-lations with Mexico and El Salvador. and China is rapidly moving up the scale as a supplier.

Exports are based on its agricultural re-sources (coffee, sugar and bananas) and on petroleum, while it imports commodities and consumer goods. But, in spite of living through moments of uncertainty and upset like the glo-bal society, different analysts see unparalleled potential in Guatemala with respect to the rest of Central America. It is a key time for the Free Trade Agreement signed with the US, Mexico, Colombia and soon with the EU.

Guatemala, a country of possibilitiesWith 13.5 million inhabitants and 109,000 Km2, Guatemala is a dynamic country in every sense of the word: in politics, in social themes and even in seismic matters, since it has suffered from earthquakes throughout its history. Today, it is enjoying a calm which is almost unheard of.

For many analysts, it is the country with the greatest potential in Central America

13

CLSAworldwide

The entrepreneur who invented himself

Born in Cáceres on 7 September 1951, but brought up in Alsasua (Navarre), he li-ved through difficult times and worked very hard from when he was very young. He sold oranges; he picked cotton; he was a joiner; he made bread, gloves and even tiles. His life changed when he decided to emigrate to Guatemala at the age of 26. Despite a tough start, today he has made a name for himself in Central America.

In his long career, Antonio Higuero has

forged a future through hard work, thinking about and planning every step, like a busy “ant”, while other “cicadas” got lost along the way. He has made his fortune in the beautiful Central American country, but he claims that he is still the same person he always was. He loves perfection with the same passion that he hates hypocrisy. Tough on the outside, but sensitive inside, if work dignifies, this man must be one of the most dignified. And the three most important people in his life, to whom he is devoted – his wife Luvia and his sons Miguel Angel and Jose Antonio testify to this. That is Antonio Hi-guero, a man who invented himself.

You educated yourself. What difference is there with people educated at school?At that time, the circumstances did not bring opportunities and, on top of that, people were hungry. I developed an instinct for survival, not to earn more but to fulfil the dream of doing better, but I had to do it outside Spain.

What made you emígrate to Guatemala and not another country or to another city in Spain?In 1973 a neighbour from Alsasua went to Gua-

temala and told me that it was a very beautiful country, with lots of opportunities. At the age of 26, I decided to go there with the few savings I had and start a new life. My dream was to create something in Guatemala, but first I had to discover its idiosyncrasies and its people.

Guatemala

What’s Guatemala like as a country? The idiosyncrasies of the Guatemalan?The people are very hard-working and noble. They soon open their doors to you. It is a coun-try of opportunities, with almost unequalled great natural and cultural beauties. It recei-ves thousands of tourists from all around the world. I can recommend visiting it. It’s an im-pressive country.

What is Central America’s role in the world? Central America has a tremendous amount of potential, a really tremendous amount, more than people imagine. Guatemala is the country with the most potential in Central America and I recommend investing in it. It is a key moment because of the Free Trade Agreement.

What view does an emerging economy, like Guatemala, have of the international financial situation and Spain’s situation in particular?The major entrepreneurs and financiers are up to date with international information, especially information on Europe and Spain, but people in general have more information about the US, Guatemala’s main trade part-ner. In fact, 70% of Guatemalan revenues co-mes from dispatches from the US.

Antonio Higuero is CEPSA Lubricantes’ key man in Guatemala in particular and in Central America in general. An example of a self-made man, he represents the interests of CLA in this strategic region.

Antonio Higuero, Chairman of Importaciones Navarra

14

CLSAworlwide

Relations with CLSA

How did you get into the oil business?After a complicated working life, I began

with an oil company working on my own at a sales outlet specializing in the automoti-ve market. It gradually grew and I reinvested all the profits in the business. I began to im-port automotive filters and, in 2002, CEPSA appeared: After visits from many informal re-presentatives, I met Álvaro Macarro, the ma-nager of CLSA. I saw the seriousness of a good product, with its quality standards, with competitive prices and what they said they would do, they did.

How well-established is the brand in Guatemala?CLSA was unknown in Guatemala and there were no 5-litre containers. Neither was there any clear desire to change brands. Today, CLSA is the eighth brand in the country after only eight years here with respect to another 108 brands.

Do you feel part of CLSA’s succes in the region?Yes, but not out of vanity. I’m a straightforward man and the work that has been done is incre-dible; I have a lot to thank CEPSA Lubricantes for, because I might have good ideas, but if the product’s not good, there’s nothing you can do. And exclusiveness in representing the product is crucial when it comes to investing in adver-tising and in positioning the product. I offer some advantages, with guarantees, with an unparalleled service nationwide, and dealing efficiently with emergencies.

Why do you think ongoing training is so im-portant for your employees?

It’s important to look after the “human fac-tor”. We do a lot of training, with seminars for customers and employees, weekly talks, encouraging them to meet new goals and con-ducting different initiatives in order to motivate them as people. We try to make them feel a commitment towards the company.

What initiatives have you taken in the field of marketing?We don’t do marketing – it’s just ideas that we have and we develop them. We write articles in the local press about the product and we decorate the “oilcans” and we put up luminous signs. We also put mobile advertising together on T-shirts and billboards on the roads: we hold draws for trips; we hire trucks which go all over Guatemala City promoting our products. These are our ideas.

What do the Expomobil and Expotrans fairs where you represent CLSA consist of?They are aimed at different segments. Expo-mobil at the light service (cars and motor-bikes) and Expotrans at the heavy service (industry). They consist of exhibiting the pro-ducts; the public look; you explain and publi-cize your product and/or service to them; and they become customers.

How do you view your relationship with CEPSA Lubricantes?The balance is very positive, and although there was some friction at the beginning, this has been corrected. The best piece of luck was to have met Álvaro Macarro.

Close-up

What is your next goal?After consolidating CLSA’s business in at stra-tegic area, I told my wife that my work was done and the dream fulfilled, but she knows me and she knew that I wouldn’t stop. We are already analyzing other options. I did everything for my sons, who deserve this and more.

You talk about your family and your work with passion. What do you need to be happy?My family comes first. Keeping it together is vital and a great support at difficult times, especially my wife, who is very intelligent and knows me, and is there when I most need her. Another vital thing for me is to be healthy enough to keep on working, which is what keeps me alive. If I retire, I’ll die, although I’ve been told to “slow down”.

Is the future of Importaciones Navarra guaranteed with your sons Miguel Ángel and José Antonio or will they go other ways professionally?It’s a hundred per cent guaranteed. I didn’t oblige them to be in the company. I asked them and they both like the businesses. They are enterprising in their departments and they complement each other very well. One is operations manager and the other sales manager. And we shouldn’t forget my wife, who’s the administrative manager. Each of them has a very specific responsibility.

I believe that Guatemala is an enthusiastic follower of the Spanish Football League. Where does this enthusiasm come from? Are opinions divided like they are here?In Guatemala, football is the king of sports and the Spanish League is what is most closely followed. So much so that when there is a Real Madrid-Barcelona game, which is on at midday, the streets are often deserted, with not a car to be seen. Even the Spanish Centre gets packed when matches are broadcast from Spain! And of course there is rivalry, even in my own family: José Antonio supports Madrid and Miguel Ángel is a Barcelona fan.

Do you feel nostalgic about your hometown, Alsasua? Will you ever go back there to stay?I feel very nostalgic. I’ve always liked country life. I’m not so keen on the city. When I go to Alsasua, I spend all morning in the fields and I miss knowing everyone and saying hello to them and having a glass of wine or a sand-wich with them. That’s what I miss. But, to be honest, coming back to live, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible, but pretty unlikely. I’ve been back many times, but after a fortnight I start to miss Guatemala. I’ve been living there for a long time. You get fond of the people, the coun-try and, besides, that’s where my family is and, although it’s not my homeland, I love Guatemala.

Coverreport

15

“In times past, when people wandered the world on foot, rode on horseback, or sailed in ships, the journey itself accustomed them to the change”. This is one of the first lines of “The Shadow of the Sun”, a masterpiece by Polish journalist Ryzard Kapucinsky, who died in January three years ago. It is true that life is like a journey where there are perpetual changes, which involve knowledge and, vice versa, every piece of knowledge is a lever for progress.

In this issue of Oleum, we have been talking to you about the knowledge which comes from On-going Training: training as a strategy, which can be personal, related to the person’s own incentives to gain skills and add value to their career, and/or collective, related to corporate needs of adapting their staff to the new pro-ducts and services demanded by the market. Both are complementary to each other; the difference resides in who pays for the training.

Another key may reside in who is doing the teaching. The German playwright, Wolfgang Goethe, quoted a famous sentence from Taoism: “When the student is ready, the mas-ter appears”. For Jesús Briones, corporate training director at the CEPSA Group, “It makes no difference whether the instructor is internal or external – the important thing is for s/he to be a good instructor. If you’re good, the participants will appreciate the

effort you’ve made by being with them for hours, making them participate, transmit-ting knowledge to them, trying to make every subject as interesting as possible”.

With the new requirements and compe-tition in the labour market, comes the need

to bring knowledge closer to the real profes-sional world, to relate the two so that wor-kers can do ongoing training at any moment in their professional life. Thus, in different countries in Europe professional skills re-ports are being developed to enable emplo-yees to do a job even they have had different types of training. In this way, the training is broken down into the professional skills re-quired to do the job.

Professional competences

If we had to define the concept of profes-sional competences, we would say that they are many ways of knowing (knowing how to be, knowing how to behave and knowing what to do) which the employee uses to carry out a

task in an optimal manner and that, consequently, it also defines the ac-tual post this person occupies.

When it comes to analyzing what it is most important to teach, whether it is training teams, managing products and services or languages, amongst others, Jesús Briones says that “The question is not what is more or less important. The important thing is to adapt training to the real needs of the organization and the jobs to be done. If training is to be beneficial, it should form part of a logical sequen-ced process, which means responding to the company’s real needs, taking into account the current situation of the organization, division or company, and forecasting what they will need

to be able to cope with the changes required and the challenges of the future”.

Once the skills required have been defined on the basis of the competences, it is time to evaluate how they can be acquired with current training models: training in class, vocational training, ongoing training, online training, re-gulated training or other types, or through the previous professional work done by the worker.

Reading is the main support for knowledge, the basic seed of ongoing training with which professio-nals are taught so that they can surpass themselves as people and as workers and help the company which gives them value and receives value from them to advance.

The key to training resides in the initials of this company

Comprehension, Learning, Surpassing oneselfand Advancing

toTrainingwell

inform better

Coverreport

16

Online training

Let us just stop here for a moment to talk about online training, which has evolved tremendously in the past few years. The flat e-learning courses of the past have given way to environments of collaboration, where the user has the possibility of cooperating and sharing knowledge.

Online training is just another method to

complement a collaborator’s learning pro-cess. It has many possibilities in the sense of putting comprehension, experience - in short, knowledge – at the service of the organization at a relatively low cost. This is its advantage over other methods.

Proof of its gradual implantation is that, in

less than five years, the CEPSA Group has gone from a percentage of less than 5% of total trai-ning hours using online or mixed methods (blen-ded learning) to over 20%.

This method is used in practically all areas of knowledge: leadership and management skills, languages, risk prevention, introductory programmes, information technologies, pro-ducts and services, etc.

One example would be the technical tra-ining environment at CEPSA Lubricantes where, thanks to the conviction of its mana-gers and all the departments involved in the use of this method, a new strategy is being developed to share knowledge, in this case of the product. This is a fine example of the use of these technologies, which will gra-dually extend to other departments in the Company.

Training contents

The training contents provided are as varied as the diversity of companies and/or areas of business. The training solutions, commonly ca-lled courses, can be so specific as to provide a personalized solution because of their charac-teristics. They are designed to provide a more or less standard solution and are confirmed as being a component as close as possible to the specific needs of the businesses, As a result of this, we can find more general contents, which can subsequently be transferred between jobs and even companies.

True personalization of training is that

which is acquired informally, i.e. from the mere fact of performing the tasks associated with a job, instead of the organization, at a moment in the production process. This is what we called “learning on the job”.

However we live in the new times, new needs and demands are born, grow and re-produce, as the old parameters do not always work and we need to observe and learn to continue in the market. The old anonymous precept so much used in training schools says it, “If you want to triumph, don’t just stand looking at the stairs. Start to go up, step by step, until you get to the top”. In this way, contents related to management and skills development appear.

Amongst the subjects on which special

emphasis is placed are Leadership and team management, to lead a group and motivate it; Development of high performance teams, to really know the mission of professionals in their company and the climate of their organi-

zation; Management and animation of pro-ject teams, to enhance efficiency in regard to customers, optimizing team activity; and also, an essential theme, team training, given the importance of working in groups.

More recently the evaluation or estima-

tion of uncertainties was added. This refers to the old “error theory”, like the ones made by professional teams, even from top ministerial echelons worldwide, and which has already been implemented with programmes on the management of complexity and complex en-vironments to improve processes, in cases of maximum tension.

Quality control

However they arrive, working skills and ca-pacities become the backbone of a machine shaped on the basis of training which is also articulated with the reality of the professional sphere. Thus, the so-called Management Approach by Competences appears as a standpoint in the interim of Human resources management.

The training courses are naturally sub-ject to the ISO quality standards. Accor-ding to Jesús Briones, “There are some de-partments in the Company which have been submitted to quality audits and controls for some years now – not just the ISO standards but other very rigorous standards such as Lloyds’, where training is one of the aspects to be audited. In other areas, training is eva-luated according to the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) and the others are involved in one way or another in this type of process”.

The controls which imply being subject to the different quality regulations mean that daily activity is permanently questioned with a view to keeping high standards of rigour in respect of the quality of the program-mes and their results, to the benefit of the people who receive them and, by extension, of the Company.

Subsidies for training

The necessary control is partially due to the EU subsidies which it receives through the Tripartite Foundation for Training (formerly FORCEM), which finances part of the training taking into account general criteria:

• The training must be included in a strategic plan in terms of Human Resources at the company or in the sector.

• The training must be aimed at improving com-petitiveness, employment and management, especially at SMEs.

• It should mean the addition of training projects to the areas defined in EU programmes.

• It should include women being involved in the training projects in proportion to the total workforce and employees above 45 years of age, also in proportion to the workforce.

• It should include unskilled workers in propor-tion to the company’s workforce.

• It should be directed at training in companies with 250 workers or less

on the payroll, and the subsidies will particularly consider companies with

25 workers or less.• Training will aim to correct possible imbalances between supply and

demand of skills, in the corresponding territorial and sector scope.

Understanding training as a strategic tool for change to a large extent prevents planning training according to the subsidy to be recei-ved. It seems more logical to address the need by looking for a balance between the solution and the cost, without considering the possible subsidy, since in many cases the training pro-jects to be introduced may not be entitled to subsidies.

Indeed, according to its website (www.

fundaciontripartita.org), the Tripartite Foun-dation contemplates what it calls “Company training projects”, i.e. the projects which companies plan and manage for their emplo-yees. To finance these, corporations use the amount for training assigned to each company according to its workforce.

This training initiative includes the indivi-dual training authorizations, which mean that employees can do training recognized by an official certificate, with no cost for the company where they are working. Companies receive a loan to finance training of their employees. The amount of this is obtained by applying the amount deposited by each company the pre-vious year for professional training, the per-centage of which is established every year.

Companies which grant indivi-

dual authorizations for training will receive an additional loan, according to Ar-ticle 13.3 of Royal

Decree 395/2007 and Article 23 of the Order regulating this initiative. For compa-nies which have training schemes and grant individual authorizations, a company trai-ning management application has been developed, which enables the companies to communicate the beginning and end of the training projects to the Foundation, as esta-blished in the Ministerial Order which regu-lates them.

Because of all the above, we need to go back to the beginning of our arguments to conclude that training from knowledge acquired through reading provides poten-tial for personal betterment, first for the workers and, by extension, for the com-pany where the workers will use their new competences and/or skills, thus helping them to surpass themselves and fulfil their individual and collective stra-tegies of confidently advancing towards the future.

17

SEPARATALeading Spanish Training companies:• Altair Consultores: www.altairconsultores.com • Tea-Cegos: www.tea-cegos.es • Net Campus: www.comunet.es • Élogos: www.elogos.es

faceto face

18

Fernando Mendieta Benedicto (Madrid, 1959), manager and partner of Altair Con-sultores, is a mining engineer and has a Master in Business Administration from the Instituto de Empresa. His professional experience has been in sectors such as banking, public works and mining machi-nery distribution, and the automotive in-dustry. In 1999 José María Morrondo and he founded Altair Consultores, a consulting and training firm and, in these eleven years, they have provided services for some of the leading companies in Spain, they are spe-cialists in distribution, car maintenance and repair and have forty-two experienced professionals working for them.

Is training a means of achieving something or is it an end in itself?

Training, as a universal concept, can of course be an end in itself because it is inhe-rent to the development of the human being; and so we see it in both the schooling of our children and in the great classical philoso-phers. However, if we are talking about trai-ning in a company, the approach changes radically and training becomes a tool to achieve a specific aim, which should result in an improvement in the daily performance of professional activity.

Are we all good for everything or isn’t there perfect ideal training which can make anyo-ne particularly gifted?

Understanding training in the business world and, thus, aimed at adults and limi-ted in time, the results that can be achie-ved from training depend on many previous conditioning factors of the student and his or her environment. To give you an example: we could hardly make an expert neurosur-geon of a person who, at the age of 40, had no idea whatsoever of human anatomy and

who also has to reconcile this training with an eight-hour day as a clerk and with his or her family life. Consequently, it is impor-tant to adapt each type of training to the profile and level of the people attending the course, according to the goals we want to achieve.

How much knowledge and how much psychology is necessary to teach and to learn?

In teaching, the teacher’s knowledge and their skill in transmitting that knowledge, i.e. their teaching capacity, are equally im-portant. I think that we have all experienced at some time the typical lecture-like class; we go away after the class feeling that the teacher knows a lot about the subject but, in the end, we hardly understood anything. Prior knowledge in line with the level of the subject we are going to deal with is essen-tial to learning. To give you another example, if we’re going to do an advanced electricity course for car repairs, we are unlikely to get the most out of it if we don’t know Ohm’s law beforehand. Apart from this knowledge, the student must come with an open mind – in short, with a desire to learn.

What should a student attending a training course expect and demand?

Students should expect to receive knowledge and tools which will help them to improve in their daily work, taught by a competent, entertaining teacher. And we should demand of students – apart from some prior knowledge of the subject to be taught – that they be prepared to change. At a course in the world of work, students will change rather than learn. If after the course the student continues to do things in the same way as before it, the course has been pointless.

Why is it necessary to use the new tech-nologies in training? Have books become obsolete?

Books as just one more element have not become obsolete, but that’s what they should be – just one more element amongst many others. Audiovisual and interactive elements should take pride of place amongst these many others. Training based entirely on books will gradually lose interest, especially as the younger generations start to move into the labour market. Their environment since they were born has been characterized by such at-tractive and, what is more, such interactive – elements as the Internet, mobile phones and video consoles.

What is the great challenge society faces in regard to teaching children and young people today?

It is to make them find learning interesting. Teaching methods have not changed very much in the last hundred years, and that’s putting it mildly: books, with more images and colours, but paper in the end: reading them; listening to the teacher’s explanations; memo-rizing, perhaps reasoning a little, and reprodu-cing what has been learnt to show that it has indeed been learnt. Today, when young people get home, they find 30 TV channels broad-casting 24 hours a day, video games they can play online with other young people all over the world, while they are chatting to them, etc. We can see that the motivation which books can provide as the main and only element in training is very scant.

Does online training provide the same gua-rantees as attending a course, or does a course provide another item?

Online training can have the same guarantees as attending a course, provided that it is really online and it is

“Training is fundamentalto having professionals with greater decision-making capacity”

19

of high quality. I mean that today anything which means that students don’t have to move, with the corresponding saving in time, travelling expenses and sometimes accommodation costs, is starting to be called online training. This “anything” might consist of allowing computer access to some pages of texts and images, exactly as if it were a book, with a questionnaire on the subject at the end. In other words, they use the fact that you do it on a computer to call it online, but it’s really the typical “distance training”, similar to what has existed for over 50 years, where paper is replaced by the screen. There is no way this type of training can guarantee the same quality or motivation as attending a course.

So online training has to offer an additional stimulus?

If the online training consists of texts, images, interactive games, seeing films, chatting between students, and all of this under the careful supervision of a tutor live who can immediately interact with each and every one of the students connected, who incidentally all have a fully equipped pla-ce (computer and webcam) outside their usual working environment; in this case, we can definitely say that online training provides the same guarantees as atten-ding a course as far as the transmission of knowledge and skills is concerned. Howe-ver, the student will always miss the extra motivation which comes from getting out of their everyday environment and meeting up personally with other colleagues and sha-ring experiences with them, not just during the classes, but at more relaxed moments, like during the coffee break or over lunch.

Is this type of training sufficiently widespread?

Everyone knows that quality online trai-ning, as I described it, is still very thin on the ground for two reasons. First, it requires an investment in hardware and in developing applications, which not all companies are in a position to make. Second, it requires dis-

Fernando Mendieta, manager and partner of Altair Consultores

faceto face

20

cipline and commitment from the student and his or her organization which is not easy to achieve in the demanding and competitive professional world today. Let’s just imagine, a car salesman who is in his showroom doing an online course in an office which has been set up and equipped for this, but which is still inside the showroom. A customer who he had been with the day before and who was deci-ding between a car this salesman sells and another make comes in and decides to buy the car, and asks for him. Do we really believe (with car sales being as complicated as they are today, and with what reaching the targets established represents for the dealer and for the salesman’s commission) that the custo-mer will be told to come back in an hour’s time, or tomorrow, because the salesman can’t see him, or that the salesman will be called and he will have to interrupt his course to complete the sale?

Are quality controls necessary at the end of the courses?

These controls are essential to have an immediate measure of the suitability of the course. However, and I can’t repeat it enough, the real measure of the effec-tiveness of the training should be taken on the job when the training has finished. There should be changes, new results and improvements in performance.

Every company is different in terms of sec-tors, owners, countries… Should the trai-ning respond to each company’s particular features or can the same things be taught to lubricants as to automotives, building contractors, pharmaceuticals, in one coun-try or another?

More than by country of origin or owners, what has the most influence when it comes to designing a training scheme is the sec-tor to which each company belongs. Thus, although there may be a common original part to the course, for example, aimed at sales ma-nagers, the development of the course, the practical cases and even the language used will be entirely different when we are doing it

at a network of car dealers or a pharmaceuti-cal laboratory.

Does better training guarantee greater competitiveness of the person or does this depend on their capacity and decision?

If by competitiveness we understand pro-fessionalism, then we definitely say that the more training a person has, the greater their capacity will be. Indeed, in Latin America “tra-ining” is precisely called “capacitation”. As far as a person’s degree of decision, this is directly related to the confidence they have in themselves. It’s obvious that the more knowledge we have of a subject, the more in-formation, the more practice, then the more confidence we have. That is why training is fundamental when it also comes to obtai-ning professionals with greater decision-making capacity.

I see that Altair are specialists in the automotive industry. On the basis of this experience, how do you specifically see the lubricant sector within the automotive industry?

The lubricant sector is currently one of the most innovative and dynamic sectors within the automotive industry, and it is so from the time when the product is concei-ved. Conceiving the product is increasingly demanding to respond to the requirements of vehicle manufacturers: with their less contaminating engines, lower fuel consump-tion, better performance and longer main-tenance intervals. This is meaning having to design not just one lubricant for each make of car, but almost a specific lubricant for each engine of each make. Not only is it competitive in terms of the product, but in everything rela-ted to marketing, where different players are involved, such as lubricant manufacturers, di-fferent distribution channels (private garages, garage chains, hypermarkets, service sta-tions, etc.) and car manufacturers with their demands and recommendations. All of this means that a project like “Órbita Cepsa” has tremendous importance, since it will give a series of great competitive advan-

tages to all the garages associated with it and this means more and greater commer-cial and business opportunities.

What are professionals from the automotive sector like (car dealers, garages, etc,) and what type of training do they need?

It’s impossible and it wouldn’t be fair to give just one definition for all of them. We’re not talking about a profile in general of a per-son, with scant basic training, who starts his own little garage and who gradually starts to prosper. Although this profile still exists, it li-ves alongside second generations who are in charge of the business and, although in some of these cases, they still have no academic training, in many other cases, these children who continue with the family business, have sound basic training. A new model has also appeared in this business: large groups, which either engage in auto distribution in its entire-ty or garages, which are associated or directly belong to these groups.

Does this type of entrepreneur require any specific training?

The training each person needs should be designed “à la carte”, in other words, considering each one’s starting point as far as academic training, specific training for the job and practical experience are concerned. For the group of garages in the “Órbita Cepsa” project, we have designed a trai-ning programme which covers Manage-ment, with modules like “legal implica-tions in the auto repair process” and “Efficient management of a SME-garage”, and goes as far as Marketing and Sales, with modules on “Sales opportunities in the customer care process at the garage” or “Introduction to marketing for private garages”, amongst others.

Why do some schools go for aggressive training? Should aggressiveness be a characteristic of an executive?

The word aggressiveness should be eli-minated from the world of business and, consequently, from training. Anything that is

21

aggressive involves tenseness, putting indivi-dual achievements before collective achieve-ments and, thus, before the company’s achie-vements: in other words, “bad vibes” between staff. If anyone wants to destroy a team and, by doing so, make them fail to meet medium and long term objectives, all they have to do is foment aggressiveness in the leaders or mem-bers of the team.

It’s a different thing is we confuse our

terms and by aggressiveness we are trying to express qualities such as being attentive to the environment, making the most of the opportunities it can offer us - in short, get-ting ahead of competitors. In this case, we are really talking about “proactiveness”, a quality or characteristic, as you said in your question, which of course I believe that every good executive should have and encourage in his or her team. At such a competitive time as now, if we limit ourselves to being “reactive” – in other words, waiting for things to happen and then deciding what to do – we are com-mercially “dead”.

And what happens to charisma?Although personally I prefer to call it

leadership, charisma is the sum of this executive or manager’s many qualities and ways of behaving, such as, amongst other things, having an inspiring winning vision; a sense of continuous planning; setting an example with their own work; developing collaborators’ talents through daily training and helping them as they go along; and, in short, being capable of motivating and achieving the team’s commitment to meet the targets established.

Does the future of training involve super-specialization ori t is better for everyone to know a bit of everything to cover every possibility?

That’s not an easy question to answer. It’s an old debate which questions not only trai-ning within the company but also university education. There are two models of edu-cation: the French model and the Anglo-

Saxon model. The French model is based on the encyclopaedia culture and defends the position of knowing a bit of everything. The post-industrial revolution Anglo-Saxon model believes in knowing a lot about something very specific, even if you don’t know very much about anything else. There are clear economic motives behind both of them. Let’s take an example. What is pre-ferable? To train a generalist engineer and teach him quarterly subjects which he will never see and for which the school does not have the technical resources, or to train a specialist engineer concentrating on the speciality from start to finish, especially because you have the technical resources? The answer is obvious.

But training in the company is very diffe-rent from university education, especially considering the age of the students

You are quite right to point out the fun-damental difference of the moment in the professional life of the student to be trained. It’s true that the most appropriate type of training (generalist or specialist) will very much depend on who we are thinking of tra-ining. If it’s a young person at the start of their professional career with plans to reach certain managerial posts in the future, it is clear that we should go for more generalist training which will give him or her a wide view of all the departments in the company. If, on the contrary, we are talking about a senior executive who has recently focused his or her career on Human Resources, it is clear that we should give him or her speciali-zed training in this subject, and it would not be practical to train him or her in local mar-keting, for example. This is also applicable to any post in the company. So, if instead of management, we are referring to the pro-duction department of a garage, the training given to a new apprentice should not be as generalist or as specialist as the training gi-ven to an electro-mechanic who is an ex-pert in new technologies and has twenty years experience.

We can conclude from what you’re sa-ying that training should be as personalized as possible. Is that right?

Every day, with every company, every sec-tor, we come up against different challenges which should be addressed in different ways. This is where the real key to developing quali-ty training is to be found. The debate should not focus on whether attending a course or training online is better, or on whether the tra-ining should be generalist or specialist. Trai-ning should be tailor-made for each person, according to their circumstances, so that they can do their daily work better and so that, in this way, each person is more efficient, more motivated in their work and, as a result, the company targets established are met.

CEPSAcompetition

22

Win, and win and win and win and then win again…!” was the motto of the previous trainer of Spain’s national football side, Luis Aragonés (nicknamed ‘The Sage of Hortaleza’), the man behind

Spain’s spectacular win in the 2008 UEFA

European Football Championship. And we believe that the Asturian warrior, David

Villa, “El Guaje”, carries that motto

in his DNA. A product of the Mareo football academy, only an injury kept him out of the final against Germany, but his fighting spirit had already infected the rest of his team. Now, in South Africa 2010, Del Bosque has once again put his trust in him and has gi-ven him the opportunity to prove why he is the indisputable number 7 of the Spanish side – The Red!!

DAVID VILLA, Striker in Spain’s national football team

It was approaching Christmas time in the troubled year of 1981 when David Villa Sán-chez was born into a humble family of miners in Tuilla, a small parish in the municipality of Langreo (Asturias). Perhaps that is what forged that tough and determined character which makes him so special. Six months before the best forgotten World Cup in Spain, El Guaje (The Kid), as he was called by his friends because he used to play with youngsters older than himself, was born to play football for his country. With an impeccable right foot, a childhood injury to his femur forced him to become two-footed which, together with his speed, mobility, and ability to beat his man, makes him a hard man to second guess today.

He started playing in his home town team, Unión Popular de Langreo, but when he was 17 he joined the famed Asturian football factory, the Mareo football academy, belonging to Sporting de Gijón. Paradoxically, when he was 9 he had had a trial to join the rival club, Oviedo, but they failed to see in the boy the player he would become. After 2 years playing for the As-turian club, he was signed by Zaragoza, where he played for another couple of years, winning the Copa del Rey and a Spanish Supercup. In 2005 he joined Valencia, and since May 21, and for the next four years he will play for F. C. Barcelona as their latest signing, where he will be under the orders of Pep Guardiola.

In February 2005 the “Sage of Hortaleza”, Luis Aragonés, called Villa up for the first time, and he made his debut against San Marino in the a qualifying game for the Euro 2008 Austria-Switzerland. Since then (not including the South Africa World Cup), the Asturian striker has earned 55 caps and scored 36 goals, closing the gap with the ‘Gran Capitán’, Raúl González, from whom he has inherited the Spanish number 7 shirt.

The red’s Striker

23

Considered by many Valencia fans as the direct successor to “El Matador” Kempes, El Guaje has followed in the wake of many fa-mous fellow Asturians, such as Enrique Castro “Quini”, Luis Enrique, Manjarín, Eloy, Ablanedo, Zurdi, Mino, Juanele… players who shaped an era while playing for Sporting and, like the first two mentioned, will be taking the same path from Gijón to Barcelona, after the fiasco of Real Madrid’s much vaunted attempt to sign him in the summer of 2009.

Very much a home-loving family man, he does not forget the efforts of his father and mentor, José Manuel Villa, in helping him to realize the childhood dream of that boy “who would never be separated from his ball”. David is married and has a daughter. He is an Asturian by birth and upbringing, and although he cannot go there as often as he would like to, he is a huge fan of the typi-cal Asturian bean dish, fabada, especially if it has been made by his mother.

He starred in CEPSA’s “Óptima” adver-tising campaign, he is committed to a great many social causes, he is a Unicef ambassa-dor, and a collaborator with the Red Cross, and he has also lent his name to an initiative of the old Mareo academy so that others can follow in his footsteps and one day become football stars like him. Such is David Villa, El Guaje, “heart and soul of Spanish football, striker for Spain, and standard bearer for the national side, but above all else…the Red’s number 7!”

Who were your footballing heroes when you were young in Tuilla?

My heroes were always Quini and Luis

Enrique. They were the most famous Astu-rians players. Also, in the case of Luis Enrique, who I was able to see more of as a player, I loved his strength, his tenacity, the fact that he would never give a ball up as lost, and his leadership on the pitch.

Of the players who you’ve trained or played with, whether in the same team or against them, who has impressed you most and why?

I’ve played and trained with a lot of players in several teams and, to tell you the truth, you always get something positive from everyone; their effort, their enthusiasm, their quality... There’ve been a lot of people and I couldn’t name one in particular.

What have you had to sacrifice to become a top footballer?

Like everything in this life, you always sacrifi-ce something. As a footballer, training and trave-lling means you don’t have much free time and you can’t spend as much time as you’d like with friends and family, so whenever I can I’m with my family and friends.

What has football given you that otherwise you wouldn’t have had?

Apart from recognition from the fans, what it has given me in particular is the satisfaction of making my hobby my profession; of being able to enjoy what I do 100%.

Can you give some advice to the youngsters who want to follow in your footsteps be the football professionals of the future?

Hard work. They should never stop working, training hard, pushing themselves every day. They should also have an enthusiasm for their profession, they should love and enjoy it, becau-se if they don’t it’s very hard to go out there and give your best. And lastly, they should not let suc-cess go to their heads; they should continue to be the same person they always were and not abandon their friends and family.

Mareo, Lezama, La Masía… what role do football academies play in the training of young footballers? Are the academies taking second place to star signings?

I think it has been demonstrated that football academies are very positive, and we have many great examples in Spain. As well as be-coming great footballers, the youngsters grow up in a good atmosphere. Quite another thing is whether they will have the good fortune to end up playing in the first division or in one of the big teams. Also the academies help promote Spanish players.

Trainers like Guardiola, who is 100% a pro-duct of the Barcelona academy, are proof of the need for football academies within the clubs and for club professionals who really know the youngsters?

I have always thought that it’s good for tra-iners to have been players. This means that when you speak to the squad, with the players, you understand them better and are more aware of their problems, their needs. Also, knowing the club always helps, of course.

Tell me about the Cabaña Multiusos (Multi-Purpose Cabin) at the Mareo football campus which is named after you. How did it come about? What do they do there?

It was an initiative proposed by my ex-club Sporting three years ago and I was delighted by the idea of having the Cabaña Multiusos named after me. It is part of the Mareo aca-demy, and it’s mainly used by Sporting’s cam-pus. It’s a building for 150 people fitted out for a number of different activities including, among many others, the delivery of classes during the campus.

The World Cupand team building

Is there a need to work a little on player ps-ychology at these football academies to re-inforce the personalities of future professio-nals, or is that a matter for each individual? Should young players be taught how to cope with success?

Of course, the psychological aspect is very important. I think that, from the time they be-gin, the youngsters should be surrounded by a good, stable environment, one which doesn’t let them move too far away from their training. This

I’ve played and trained with a lot of players in several teams and, to tell you the truth, you always get something positive from everyone

CLSAcompetición

24

doesn’t just apply to the football academies but to their personal environments too, like their fa-mily and friends.

A comment about team building: are 11 individuals a team or is a team really 11 members of a cohesive and collaborative group, each one with his individualities? How do you build a team?

In my opinion, a team is more than eleven individuals. In a football team, each player has his position on the pitch and has to be good in that position. But it isn’t only quality that makes a good team. The understanding between players, generosity towards your teammate, sacrifice for the good of the team, and having a good team vibe are so-metimes more important than you being the best in your position.

How do you approach a World Cup? Is the mentality different compared to a long com-petition like the League, the Spanish Cup, or the Champion League?

It’s very different. In a league you play 38 matches and it’s a question of consistency. If you mess up in one match you have the chance to make up for it in the next. In competitions like the World Cup or the Champions there’s no room for error. For example, to win the World Cup, you only have to play 7 matches and a bad day can knock you out. Also, the World Cup is different from the other competitions, because you are

representing your country with the best pla-yers, and that feeling is hard to explain.

What real chance does Spain have in South Africa 2010? And, if Spain doesn’t win, which side would you like to win?

In my opinion the Spanish national side has every chance of doing well. I don’t know if we are favourites or if we are going to win the World Cup, but what I can say is that we have never been in a better si-tuation to be able to pull it off. Although we mustn’t forget that, like us, there are other great sides who are also capable of doing it, and who are going to be tough rivals, not to mention those teams that have won the World Cup, like Argentina, Brazil, Italy or Ger-many, while we are still to win it.

Cars and driving

In July of 2007 you received the ADA (Aso-ciación de Ayuda al Automovilista) Gold Award. What’s your relationship with the road? Do you take on minor repairs yourself, like changing a wheel or putting on snow chains, or do you wait for a mechanic?

The truth is I’m not much of a handyman… I prefer to get a professional to help me, since I don’t know how things would turn out if I did it myself. But if have a puncture and I’m by my-self, I can change the wheel, no problem.

Do you choose the lubricants you use or do you take advice?

I prefer to take advice from people who know. I like driving a lot and having my car in

good running order. That’s why I take it to the garage and let a professional do the work. What I do know is that CEPSA lubricants are the best, that much I’m sure of.

A lubricant such as one by CEPSA Lubrican-tes keeps a vehicle’s gears running smoo-thly. What do you need for everything in your life to keep running smoothly?

What I need is for my people to be near me. For my family, my friends, the people that love me to be near me and in good health.

All vehicles need the best technical advi-sors. Who do you let advise you in your life and profession?

In my life I let my family advise me. My father has been very important for me and I have taken his advice to be who I am today: the same person I was when I started; a humble man who values the important things in life.

How did you get on with the Óptima advert for CEPSA, appearing as a “Man Friday” type character after being such a long time without having to refuel? Did you have to work hard at the role or did it come to you naturally?

Hey, I’m an not an actor, I’m a footballer, and so it was a bit hard for me, although appa-rently I didn’t do too badly, because it only took a few takes. The truth is I had a great time with all the team and I think it the end result was very funny.

Due to your job you’ve travelled a lot, but is there any dream trip you’d still like to make?

Being a footballer allows you to travel to a lot of places you wouldn’t normally go. But in fact you are mostly confined to the hotel, or going to the stadium, so you don’t have a lot of time to visit the place. That’s why I’d love to go back to many places I’ve been as a player. For example, the Caribbean, which I love.

The understanding between players, generosity towards your teammate, sacrifice for the good of the team, and having a good team vibe are sometimes more important than you being the best in your position.

25

El Guaje, in close-up

What other sports or activities help you to “switch off” from football?

I like playing padel a lot. And a lot of other sports that I don’t practice but I like to watch either live and/or on TV, like Formula 1.

How important in your life are such virtues as sincerity, loyalty, friendship, generosity? Is there a lot or a little of this in your pro-fession?

They are very important. Playing such a global sport and being so famous should not make you lose your values. Also, we shouldn’t forget that football is a team sport and so you should try to get on well with your teammates and be generous.

As a good Asturian, are you a lover of good food?

Well, I don’t cook, but I love Spanish coo-king and, obviously, Asturian cooking too, and if it’s my mother’s cooking, so much the bet-ter. Whenever I go to Asturias I never miss a chance to eat a good fabada.

Do you go back to Asturias often?

Well, not often, but whenever I get the chance, either in summer, at Christmas, or when I get some days off with my team.

You collaborate with UNICEF, with the Red Cross, you visit the sick in hospitals and children with Down’s Syndrome; where does this spirit of service to others come from?

I think we all should have a sense of solidarity with those most in need. It’s so-mething that I love doing and I don’t see it as a burden. I’m a UNICEF ambassador and I collaborate whenever I can. I also think that a person in my position has a lot to offer.

What makes you cry?

Well, that’s something intimate and perso-nal, but I can tell you that the most important thing for me is my family’s health.

What preferences do you have in terms of music and literature?

I like all kinds of music, though I must admit that my favourite group used to be “El último de la fila” and now it’s Manolo Gar-cía. As for reading, I like novels, especially those of Dan Brown; I liked “The Da Vinci Code” a lot.

When the day comes for you to “hang up your boots”, have you thought about carrying on as a trainer or having some link with other forms of football or other activities, or haven’t you thought about it yet?

I don’t know. I think I still have a num-ber of years in me as a player and I haven’t thought about it. Obviously I love football and hope to be linked with football for many years to come.

As this interview took place a few days before his signing by F.C. Barcelona on May 21, there are no questions about, nor con-firmation of, the persistent rumours which saw his future in the Catalan side. So we can only quote his official website, in which he says that “it is an honour, something I am very proud of, and a very important step in my career” and that with his humble contribution he would “try to help Barça to continue to win everything”.

Playing such a global sport and being so famous should not make you lose your values

2010 started like a dream for Spanish super-pilot Dany Torres as far as international competitions are concerned. He won two vic-tories at his X-Knights competitions in Pana-ma and Costa Rica.

Although the first X-Fighters competition in Mexico (April) had to be called off because of the rain falling on the Bullring, Dany was in fourth position when the competition was cancelled.

The upcoming X-Fighters competitions will

be held in Moscow (June) and Madrid (22 and 23 July). This Red Bull championship will end with the races in London (August) and Rome (October).

MOTORBIKES: Dany Torres stands his ground

CLSAat sea

26

In this special issue of Oleum dedica-ted to training, the Marine Department could do no other than one again show their high level of preparation and market diagnosis, where accurate knowledge of products and services is necessary for

offering the customer the very best.

At CEPSA, Marine Lubricants train and in-forms of lubrication, because the sale of oil is associated with a set of values which give this brand the prestige so many cus-tomers see in it today. Thus, it forms and informs about:

• Logistics Service: A distribution network which covers Spain and Portugal. It provides the training and information required at any time, in any port and with maximum flexibili-ty and always has the supply from CEPSA Lu-bricantes, underpinned by its training work.

• Technical service: SIGPAT MAR, CLSA’s analytical tool is designed to provide useful and effective help in controlling every piece of equipment on the ship and as an indis-pensable aid in maintenance work, thanks to the high level of training of its personnel.

• Sales Service: A highly trained and expe-rienced human team attends and listens to customers to be close to them, thanks to their constant training. The words ser-vice, flexibility and understanding are part of their daily work.

• Advisory Service: This is linked to the Technical Service and Sales. Thanks to its extraordinary level of training, it gi-ves advice on the maintenance of ma-chinery and on the choice of the most suitable lubricant.

• Training: The cornerstone of the image of professionalism and capacity CEPSA Lu-bricantes’ Marine team has in the sector.

The generalized crisis currently affecting Europe stems from the fact that some cus-tomers focus exclusively on the price when it comes to choosing a marine lubricant, and overlook other extremely important aspects, such as quality, suitability for the machine to be lubricated and the analytical monitoring which should be conducted throughout the life of the machine.

For this reason, the Marine department continues to insist on training everyone in their environment about the importance of all the factors mentioned. This is achieved with useful appropriate training to provide the best service for customers, which is CLSA’s raison d’être, and to always give the best solution within market conditions. For this reason, technical knowledge is essential, as is direct communication with crucial su-ppliers like CLSA.

The training given by the Marine de-partment is not just limited to customers, but is also given to all the naval acade-

mies in Spain, CEPSA Lubricantes puts its service and experience at the disposal of these academies with a view to teaching the importance of optimum lubrication to keep all the machinery on the ship functioning co-rrectly and to giving these future professio-nals a critical spirit and the knowledge requi-red to always choose the best lubricant for each application.

This practical training, aimed at the day-to-day reality of a ship’s engine room, con-sists of an introduction to marine lubri-cants; their raison d’être and their special applications, which distinguish them from land lubricants; and monitoring the state of each machine through an analytical study of the lubricant, which makes it possible to establish key operating criteria to take deci-sions on the basis of the results obtained in the reports generally made on the state of the oil and the machine.

Training is important at sea

27

In the mid eighties, José Ma Hernandez Carmona joined CEPSA Lubricantes’ Marine department as manager of Te-chnical Assistance and Training. With over 35 years’ sound experience in the marine world and with a great reputation amongst customers, this “old sea wolf” works tirelessly and has given over for-ty courses in the last five years, at such different venues as the Naval University Colleges in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Bil-bao, Gijón, Santander, Coruna, Cádiz and Barcelona, where he has trained fleet inspectors and maintenance managers

of shipping companies.

How did your story at CEPSA start?

Everything started when I was a machine student on one of CEPSA’s oil tankers, the ASTORGA, in October 1971.

Have you always occupied this post?

Since I started in Madrid, in January 1985 – 25 years now!

What experience do you have in the world of the sea?

When I was a sailor, I worked on CEPSA oil tankers, when the fleet formed part of the company’s business. I occupied all the posts in my profession, starting as a machine student and ending up as Chief Engineer, a total of about thirteen years (1971–1985). I worked on different types of ships in the fleet, such as oil tankers, che-mical ships, gas tankers, asphalt ships, etc. An interesting and unforgettable stage in my life!

What’s your opinion of the courses you give to customers and colleges?

It’s a job I love and it also enables me to re-cycle myself all the time. Having the chance to share experiences with chief engineers, fleet managers or students who will have the-se same responsibilities in the future is a real privilege which makes me take my work very seriously. Training and technical knowledge are much more important today, given the tendency to focus exclusively on the price, be-cause of the crisis we are going through. In the case of the students, it is a case of “sowing to later reap”, since in the future these students may occupy important posts at a shipping firm or a company in the marine sector and they may have happy memories of CEPSA because of this training and so help in the commercial development of our products.

With the current crisis where it seems that everything is decided purely on the basis of price, how does your training work with schools and customers fit in?

It ‘s more motivating than ever. Obviously the price of the lubricant is important, but my experience has shown time and time again that more is saved and greater economic effi-ciency is obtained by choosing the most suita-ble lubricant and from good maintenance. In other words, we should not focus on price, but on the cost of lubrication. I try to trans-mit this message in all of my courses.

After so many courses and meeting so many people, you must have some stories to tell

It’s really rewarding when I visit a ship and meet some Engineer or Machine Technician that has happy memories of the day at the se-

minar on lubrication when they were students and they tell me that CEPSA effectively gave the course, but they don’t remember that I was the person who gave it. It might be be-cause I must have changed a lot or it might be that the final message became engraved in their memory and they don’t forget the name of CEPSA.

A wish for the future?

I hope that the crisis which has recently been affecting the sector will soon be over and everything gets back to normal. It is a very important sector for Spain and it has given us many good moments. On a personal level, I don’t like making plans for the future. I prefer to go on as I’m doing now, with the inno-vations in the marine sector business, and remaining active and agile in my everyday work, without becoming apathetic and dis-couraged. I love what I do!

An “old sea wolf”José María Hernández

CLSAflashes

28

Over 14,000 people began the great biker festi-val at the MOTOCICLISMO CEPSA Oasis rest areas, located along the historic Ruta de la Plata and in Cor-doba, to make a break en route to the Jerez Grand

Prix. At the various venues, under a warm spring sun, the 15th anniversary of the Oasis was celebrated in grand style with all the bikers who, as always, were provided with all the best services.

All the bikes which passed by the Oasis rest areas were pampered by products from CEPSA, the leading brand in lubricants, benefiting from

the exclusive offers and discounts - greasing chains, cleaning screens… But

the bikers had a great time as well, listening to the best music, collecting free gifts, and enjoying the friendly atmosphere of a bikers’ get-together.

In this 15th Oasis, which lasted for over 16 hour, thousands of bikers decided to take a break and recharge their batteries at the facilities provided by CEPSA, in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix. This year like every year, nobody wanted to miss out on the best souvenir of the 2010 Jerez Grand Prix, and from early on Friday, thousands of Oasis 15th anniversary T-shirts were given away.

The family is growing. Many bikers joined the

Action Team club at the Oasis to be able to enjoy

all the advantages when they arrived at the Circuit

of Jerez. Among those advantages there had to be a spot of relaxation, because at the circuit everyone knows what it means to make a long trip on a motor-cycle. That’s why two physiotherapists were on hand

to give a massage to anyone who came along.

The event was an all round success, and for yet another year the spirit of the team which has made 15 years of CEPSA Oasis possible has been re-

newed, leaving them ready and eager to host futu-

re events with all CEPSA Lubricantes’ friends and

customers.

Oasis CEPSA, 15 years on the “road to Jerez”

CLSA continues to sponsor Spanish CEPSA MotoCross MX ÉLITE and MX 2 Championships. This year the MX Elite Championship will be televised live by Inte-reconomía TV: all the heats in full, including MX2 races taking place on the same day.

This year CEPSA Lubricantes has ca-rried out a number of promotional activities in the areas of influence where the events are being held, including giving race day ticket discount vouchers to customers who buy lubricants.

CEPSA Lubricantes at full throttle in MX 2and MotoCross MX ÉLITE

CEPSA Lubricantes has brought together two great passions

Last spring CEPSA Lubricantes launched a promotional cam-paign which brought together two of the great passions of Spanish sports fans, motorbikes and football. Customers buying CEPSA Moto products automatically took part in a lucky draw where they could win some great prizes such as customized full-face hel-mets, tickets for two to see the final of the Spa-nish CEPSA MotoCross Championship, motor-bike driving lessons with the Action Team, and Spanish national football team gift packs.

Also, the first 600 participants received a free, exclusive “Loyal to the Red” T-shirt. That’s what CEPSA Lubricantes promotions are like, always looking for the best for our customers. To know what is best for you engi-ne, visit www.cepsa.com

Calendarof the ÉLITE National Motocross Championship DATE ORGANIZERS VENUESeptember 19 Moto Club Las Arenas Malpartida de CáceresOctober 24 Moto Club Talavera Talavera de la Reina, Toledo

Calendar of the MX 2 National Motocross Championship October 3 FCM Castelloni, BarcelonaOctober 24 Moto Club Talavera Talavera de la Reina, Toledo

The top representatives of the CLSA dis-tributor in Bangladesh, EJAB- BANGLADESH, Mr. Esthiaque (General Manager) and Mr. Zeeshan (Country Manager), visited Spain from May 12 to 15, 2010.

Over a number of days several meetings were held in which they reported on their company’s work to date aimed at introdu-cing CEPSA Lubricantes in Bangladesh, along with their goals, investments, marke-ting plan, etc.

In addition to the EJAB BANGLADESH re-presentatives, representatives from CLSA also attended the meetings, led by José Luis Prieto (CEO), Álvaro Macarro (General Export Manager), and Inmaculada Abadía (Export Manager for Asia).

EJAB Bangladesh visits Spain

Through our distributor, Asia Petroleum, in Myanmar, CEPSA Lubricantes continues to promote such popular sports events as golf and tennis.

As a result of the successful presence of CEPSA Lubricantes at golf tournaments in Myanmar (the latest being the IBTC Open, held from December 1 to 4, 2009), Asia Petroleum decided to extend their links with sport by organizing tennis tournaments too.

Thus, late in February, the first sponsored “Men’s Lawn Tennis Championship 2010” was held at the Pun Hlaing Country Club, considered to be one of the most prestigious clubs of its type in the country. Fifty players from the various embassies and NGOs in Yan-gon City took part.

CEPSA Lubricantes with sport, in Myanmar

29

In AsiaThe presence of the CEPSA Lubricantes brand outside Spain is growing steadily as distributors step up their efforts to introduce CEPSA products abroad.

New markets are being consolidated, while work continues to grow sales in new markets. An example of this is the presence of CEPSA Lubricantes in Myanmar, through ASIA PE-TROLEUM; in Taiwan through AUTOPRIX; and, more recently, in Afghanistan through EJAZAZIZ; in Pakistan through NIMEX PETROCHEMICAL LIMITED; and in China through SHANGHAI LION KING.

In Latin AmericaThe Feria ExpoActiva Nacional (an agricultural trade fair) has now reached edition number 15. This year’s event took place from March 17 to 20 in the city of Mercedes, the capital of the department of Soriano, Uruguay. This event brought together producers and companies to see machinery in action. Visitors could receive technical training in respect of each machine, get to know one another, and talk business about these and other products, among which

were CEPSA’s lubricants as well as other brands, including ANCAP and YPF.

And continuing on the subject of advertising and promotion, CLSA’s main distributor in Central America, Importaciones Navarra, is basing its advertising on mobile billboards, located in stra-tegic areas with large volumes of passing traffic in Mazatenango, Guatemala. But they are also using more conventional media, maximizing spaces to create a solid brand image.

CLSA collaborates with Chile after the earthquakeIn March 20101 CLSA, together with UTA (Union Técnica Automotriz), MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG, Knorr Bremse-Eaton-Ringfeder, and Pai, donated a MAN 33.350 FDC truck with a 16,000 litre aluminium tank to the commune of Padre de las Casas in Chile, whose 72,000 inhabitants were se-riously affected by the earthquake of the Fe-bruary 27, 2010. The donation was received by the mayor of the commune of Padre de las Casas, Sr. Juan Eduardo Delgado, and the Provincial Governor, Sr. Miguel Mella-do. CEPSA Lubricantes remains faithful to the philosophy of corporate responsibility, which involves making a commitment and acting whenever or wherever society needs urgent help.

CEPSA Lubricantes consolidates its international presence

In their search for increasingly efficient procedures for obtai-

ning kerosene for lighting, the early refiners found products

other than kerosene which had extraordinary properties. Today

we call them oil derivatives or by-products. Today, these by-pro-

ducts continue to satisfy our needs and now form an irrepla-

ceable part of our everyday life. The author reveals the origins

of these discoveries

30

Horacio Wells was an excellent

compassionate dentist of profound

religious convictions. Moreover, like

many dentists, surgeons and doctors

of the middle of the 19th century, he was very con-

cerned about preventing pain for his patients. It

was the beginnings of modern anaesthetics.

Wells was particularly sensitive to causing his

clients pain – so much so that, after many agoni-

zing interventions, he had to retire for a few weeks to recover from the suffering

he had caused. In Hartford, Connecticut, where his surgery was, his campaign

for people to brush their teeth often with its slogan “clean teeth don’t fall out”

became famous.

At that time, people began to experiment with ether and nitrous oxide, also called

laughing gas, as anaesthetic products. Nitrous oxide was used by travelling actors

in different shows.

After watching one of these shows, Wells decided to use nitrous oxide as an anaes-

thetic in his interventions and wanted to do the first experiment on himself. On

9 December 1846, he had someone take out an infected tooth under the effects of

laughing gas.

A small group of colleagues and surgeons attended, amongst them a doctor from

Boston, Henry J. Bigelow. The gas was administered through a wooden cannula

at the end of which an animal bladder contai-

ning the gas had been inserted. The cannula

was inserted in the patient’s mouth while his

nostrils were blocked. The anaesthetic effect

occurred after about a minute.

There must have been a mistake in the dose

as Wells felt pain and, consequently, he was

not convinced by the experiment. But despi-

te everything, Wells continued to use it and

promote it and even travelled to Europe in

the hope of finding a more understanding

audience.

When he returned to the USA, ether had completely replaced nitrous oxide as an

anaesthetic and people were starting to experiment with chloroform too. Wells con-

sidered this new product and, in turn, started to experiment with it in January 1848,

using it on himself. He ended up getting addicted to it and going crazy.

One day, out of his head, he headed for the street and threw sulphuric acid at two

prostitutes. He was condemned to prison in the terrible Tombs jail in New York,

where he ended up committing suicide by slashing an artery in his leg with a razor

blade after inhaling chloroform. Today professionals of anaesthetics recognize

and thank him for his contribu-

tion to this science.

Sixteen years later Dr Bigelow

of Boston who, as we saw, had

been present at Wells’ experi-

ment and had been successful in

extracting gallstones and kidney

stones, was looking for a local

anaesthetic to prevent cerebral

damage to patients. For many

years, he had known the anaes-

thetic effect, due to intense refrigeration on evaporation, of keroselene

and he used it as a local anesthetic, but with difficulty, due to the lack of suitable

instruments for administering it.

Merill had obtained keroselene through the steam distillation of the lightest frac-

tions from the tri-distillation of coal oil, using ice and salt in the condenser.

After discovering that this product was more volatile than ether and less toxic than

chloroform, Dr Henry Bigelow used it in his surgery from around 1861.

In 1866, looking for a more volatile product, even with greater freezing effects, Dr

Bigelow asked Merrill, his supplier, to explore the possibility of obtaining an

improved anaesthetic from oil rather than coal.

Probably in this process of obtaining keroselene from oil instead of from coal, a

product was obtained, using the same procedure, known as gasoline. The phonetic

derivation of the word in English is clear, but the person who first discovered this

product is not very well known.

Rhigolene y cymogene

At Dr Bigelow’s request, Merrill responded by subjecting an extremely light gaso-

line of 85ºB to re-distillation through steam. Once again applying ice and salt to

the condenser, he obtained an output of 10% of the lightest fluid then known, with

a specific gravity of 0.625 and a boiling point of 65ºF (18ºC), much lower than that of

ether 96ºF (35ºC).

On 9 April 1866, Dr Bigelow reported to Boston medical society a great advance in

local anaesthetics through the use of a new petroleum product which he called rhi-

golene. The name comes from the Greek words “rhigo” and “elaium” which mean

“extremely cold” and “petroleum” respectively. If he had used a modern name,

he would have called the product “mixture of pentane and butane”.

For many years, the lack of spraying equipment and scant knowledge of techniques

for administering the product limited the use of rhigolene to the most advanced

surgeons, but by 1871 hundreds of gallons had been acquired by doctors and den-

tists at one dollar a gallon. For almost two more decades, rhigolene continued to be

one of the primary local anaesthetics.

Henry J. Bigelow.

H.Wells is anaethesized with nitrous oxide

Horacio Wells

Scenes from the history of petroleumAdding heat to the process (V) Francisco Javier PulgarLegal Advisor to CEPSA Lubricantes and CEPSA Gas Licuado

In spring 1866 shortly after the presentation of

rhigolene, another doctor, Dr Peter H. Van

der Weyde from Philadephia, Pennsylvania,

announced the discovery of a product derived

from the distillation of even lighter

gasoline, with Beaume gravity of 110º and

a phenomenal boiling point of 40ºF (5ºC).

He called this product “cymogene”, based

on the Greek words “cymene” and “gene”,

which mean storm or cold, and to generate,

or “generator of cold”.

This eminent doctor, who had given up his post as professor of chemistry at the

prestigious Girard College to become an industrial consultant for oil refiners, had

discovered the liquid petroleum gas, known today as “butane”.

Van der Weyde sent reports and performed demonstrations before groups of scien-

tists, proposing the same use of cymogene as Dr Bigelow so successfully proposed

for rhigolene. But the extreme volatility of cymogene and the lack of techniques for

its administration prevented its use as an anaesthetic.

Faced with this situation, Van der Weyde developed an outlet for his product in

ice-making machines since, compared with ammoniac, ether and other coolants

usually used in these devices, cymogene had the advantage if its evaporation ratio,

which was much faster and had a more acute freezing effect.

To this end, Van der Weyde designed and patented a compression machine for

making ice, which he sold to Daniel L. Holden, who eventually became a promi-

nent figure in this industry. At the end of the decade, obtaining his cymogene from

Van der Weyde at 1.5 dollars a gallon, Holden had manufactured and installed

many machines in Texas, which was the main market for these machines, as it was a

major beef producer.

During the first twenty years of the petroleum industry, kerosene for lighting ac-

counted for practically all the demand for refined products. Consequently, all the

refiners of the times sought to obtain the greatest fraction of kerosene possible and

extended the process to cracking the heaviest fractions beyond its range.

However, whatever they did, they inevitably obtained a large lighter fraction before

getting to the kerosene fraction and also a second heavier fraction than the

kerosene fraction. They could extract a large quantity of by-products from these

two fractions through re-distillations and subsequent treatments.

The lightest fraction was naphta (20% of low gravity crude oil), and the heaviest,

above the range of kerosene, was used as a basis for lubricant and paraffin wax.

This residue could also be divided into low boiling point bases for light lubri-

cants (spindle oils) and paraffin wax (today called grease) for heavy lubricants

(cylinder oils).

Only a minority of refiners, strategically based near large industrial towns, which

were potential markets for these products, saw a big enough field for investing in

obtaining these by-products. This did not happen until the second half of the sixties.

Despite its small volume in relation to kerosene, this business brought the biggest

innovations to the industry in those early days.

Naphta (Benzine)

Naphta was used as a dissolvent for rubber and gutta-percha to manufacture

waterproof materials such as canvases or coats: this is the case of the famous Mac-

kintosh raincoats. It was also used in the manufacture of paints and varnishes.

The refiners who did not see enough compensation from these purposes used it as a

fuel, in well-cleaning or even got rid of it by throwing it away.

During the US Civil War, when the turpentine market was suspended, benzene

found a place as a replacement of benzene and of alcohol in manufactures

such as stiffening for hats, furniture polish, glues and adhesives for the models

and rollers used in cotton mills and in smelting and in transmission belts for

steam engines.

New uses were discovered for the lighter naphtas such as solvents, in the extraction

of seed oils, linen, beans, cotton and many others. In spite of everything, demand for

these products could not absorb the volume of naphta produced in refining, some

3-5 million barrels a year. Consequently, the large surpluses often ended up by adul-

terating kerosene.

Gasoline and naphta gas

The development of machines which managed to apply these by-products to

the manufacture of lighting gas in towns (something which had been obtained

from coal since the beginning of the century) opened up a more extensive market for

these by-products.

Devices appeared which were capable of evaporating the lightest oils to produce a

fixed or permanent gas: gases which could not be condensed at normally com-

mercial temperatures, 200ºF (93 ºC) or more or a less than 32ºF (0ºC). The gas could

be channelled and burnt to light buildings which were not on the companies’

distribution networks.

Merrill applied kerosene refining processes to petroleum naphta and, obtaining

an output of 1.5% of production, in 1863 he started the commercial production

of gasoline at the Downer plant in Boston for the major gas machine manufactu-

rers. To introduce this product, they initially fixed a very competitive price and re-

solved the problems of transporting it by choosing special quality waterproofed

beer barrels for packaging it.

Demand for gasoline grew rapidly, and the utilization of gas manufacturing

machines grew equally rapidly in many towns. Although the insurance compa-

nies penalized policies which covered users,

many refiners started to produce gasoline

commercially and, in 1872 there were al-

ready 101 companies involved with gas ma-

nufacturing machines.

The refinery of Charles Pratt & Co. in New

York, called Astral Oil Works and the leader

in high quality kerosene, was the biggest

gasoline producer in the world for nearly a

decade and was immediately absorbed by the

Standard Oil Company.

31

Astral Oil Works refinery in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Dr Peter H. Van der Weyd

Scenes from the history of petroleum

CEPSA LUBRICANTES PRESENTS ITS CEPSA STAR AVANT RANGE, DESIGNED FOR ANY TYPE OF ENGINE.The CEPSA Star Avant range of lubricants is designed to meet the most demanding quality specifications every engine requires, whatever the technical features, type of driving and the weather to which it is exposed. The Avant 15W40 and the Avant 20W50 have a certified API SM quality level, which guarantees the maximum quality of these lubricants and our commitment to offering you the very best.

Together a long the way