Since 2006, Grupo Azvi has held its annual awards ceremony at the end the December. The Azvi Awards are the company’s public recognition of its employees for their merits, effort and job well done in the various projects, businesses, activities and daily duties, as the best example of the company’s business culture.
For the last 18 years the Azvi Awards have been a meeting point for the company and Sevilla‘s business, economic, social and cultural fabric.
The awards are not only testament to the excellence of a Sevillian company such as Azvi, but also a reflection of the city it represents and the society that protects it.
Alongside the different programmes run by the Grupo Azvi Foundation and the awards it grants, the Azvi Awards are a catalyst for progress and collective wellbeing, recognising organisations, entities, institutions and individuals who, through their actions and commitment, contribute to making this a better society.
With the celebration of its Awards, Grupo Azvi highlights both internal and external achievements, showcasing the company’s values and contributions not only as a company, but also as an active agent in the construction of a more prosperous and sustainable environment, both for the city of Seville and all the places where it operates around the world, as well as for all the people who form part of it.
AZVI AWARDS 2024
AZVI AWARD FOR THE BEST WORK
The Azvi Award for the Best Work recognises the work that has best met the award’s criteria, due to its technical characteristics, quality of execution, compliance with the deadline and the client’s expectations. This year, the Evaluation Committee has chosen the Mexico-Toluca Intercity Train as the winning project. The work was designed to connect two of Mexico’s most dynamic cities: the capital Mexico City and Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico.
This 58-kilometre-long railway corridor includes seven stations and will provide service for 230,000 passengers a day. It will transform connectivity in the Valley of Mexico, reducing journey times from two hours by car to 40 minutes by train, boosting the area’s development and providing citizens with a more efficient and sustainable means of transport.
The consortium made up of Azvi, CAF, Thales and Isolux were awarded the €668 million contract to carry out track, catenary and energy system assembly, as well as the supply, installation and implementation of Rolling stock, electromechanical systems, signalling, communications and the control centre.
Through its Mexican subsidiaries Construcciones Urales and Cupisa, Azvi is responsible for the track. catenary and energy systems with a budget of €170million.
Receiving the award are the current Site Manager César Meraz Brenes, and his predecessors in the role: José Manuel Fernández Torres, currently in charge of Azvi Scandinavia and, Andrés Vázquez Gutiérrez, now Azvi’s Director of Industrial Works, as well as Miguel Ángel Aranda Caracheo, Brendalid Miranda Pérez, José Alberto Solano Delgadillo, René Andrade Ortiz, Juan Carlos Lancharro Iglesias, Alberto Navas Martín, Ignacio Parada Álvarez and Mauricio Gómez González.
AWARD FOR BUSINESS TRAJECTORY
This year Grupo Azvi has given the Azvi Award for Business Trajectory to Construcciones Urales Procesos Industriales, CUPISA, a recent addition to Azvi’s subsidiaries in Mexico which, since receiving its first contract in 2020, has grown to compete among the biggest players in metropolitan transport and become a reference in the Area of Works and Mobility for the City of Mexico.
Specialising in the development of projects for electromechanical, energy, technological and mobility works, the company’s technical expertise and solvency and its quest for excellence in its daily work have led to important contracts for public administrations and private clients, on important projects including the Maya Train (sleeper factory, Stretch 3, Workshops and Train Sheds, Stretch 5 South B), the Iztapalapa elevated trolleybus, the Mexico City Suburban Train, or the México-Toluca Intercity Train. In total, the company has signed over 20 contracts since its launch, worth €280million.
The award was presented to CUPISA’s General Manager, Julio José Cruz.
AWARD FOR THE BEST PROJECT
In the Best Project category, the award was given to PorTren, a rail freight transport contract carried out in Uruguay by Cointer, Grupo Azvi’s concessionaire company. This project connects Paso de los Toros with the Port of Montevideo along 275 kilometres of track, providing transport for up to 2.3 million tonnes of wood pulp per year for the client UPM, for the next 22 years.
The project included the construction of an Operations and Maintenance Centre (COM), the PorTren operations hub, which has been operating since January 2023. The complex includes a 3000m2 workshop-warehouse space equipped to provide daily control and maintenance for the seven locomotives and 140 wagons which carry out the transport service. It also has a Control Centre and a 1000m2 administrative block to manage operations along with 3,500m of track with access branches and an eight-track area dedicated to operation, maintenance and inspection.
With an investment of $95 million, PorTren has becomes a reference in the modernisation of Uruguay’s logistics, incorporating cutting edge technology and a team of specialised workers to reach a milestone in Latin American rail transport.
The award was received by the General Manager of Cointer in Uruguay, Enrique Blázquez.
INNOVATION AWARD
This year, Grupo Azvi also recognises Mario González Carreño, manager of the railway maintenance company Manfevias, for his collaboration in the execution of Phases 1 and 2 of the DF-MAS “Digital Fleet Maintenance Services” innovation project. DF-MAS is our digitalisation platform for the maintenance of railway vehicles with digital twins.
This system enables a more efficient use of material and human resources, optimising preventative and corrective maintenance. Thanks to real time monitoring and predictive analysis, we can detect and anticipate possible failures, improve safety and reduce inactivity rates.
AWARD FOR QUALITY, HEALTH AND SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Juan Ruiz Cabet, Personnel Manager, received the Azvi Award for Quality, Health and Safety and Environmental Management for his collaboration with this area in the company. His work has been key to the efficient training, monitoring of health and the settlement of proceedings with government administrations.
He also contributed actively to the proper functioning of management systems, ensuring the updating of training plans, defining job roles and monitoring staff qualification indicators.
GOLD BADGE FOR 25 YEARS
The Gold Badges recognise the effort and commitment of the professionals who, for 25 years, have been participating in the development and growth of the company.
These professionals represent a fundamental value for the company. Their knowledge of our culture and good business practices should serve as a guide for all the employees of the different companies that make up our business group.
It is a source of pride and satisfaction for all of us to pay tribute to these professionals: Juan Jesús García de Pablo, Director of Strategy, Azvi; Guillermo Sánchez, Director of Sustainability, Grupo Azvi; Luis Castro, Director of IT Systems, Grupo Azvi; Lola Pérez, PA to the Management, Grupo Azvi; M. Jesús Fuente, Studies Technician, Azvi; Ana Masó, Risk Technician, Azvi; Feliciano Fuentes, Head of Civil Works, Azvi; Claudio Arribas, Head of Topography for Railway Works, Azvi; Miguel M. Genovés, Railway Works Foreman, Azvi; and Juan F. Berbel, Railway Works Foreman, Azvi.
GRUPO AZVI FOUNDATION AWARD
Social responsibility is integrated voluntarily into the management of Grupo Azvi’s activities, and the needs, expectations and demands of our stakeholders, linking improved financial results and the fulfilment our obligations with social wellbeing and sustainable growth.
The Grupo Azvi Foundation is one of the channels through which Grupo Azvi materialises its commitment to the social development of the environments where it is present, through the implementation of its own programmes or in collaboration with other organisations and entities.
This year, the Grupo Azvi Foundation honours the work of the MAS Foundation, for its commitment to Education, job creation and helping deprived groups. The MAS Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of people’s lives and contributing to the development of society.
Since 2009 it has carried out activities in key areas including education, social work, healthy lifestyles and volunteer work. It aims to support the most vulnerable groups of people, promoting job inclusion and strengthening local development.
The award was received by the President of the MAS Foundation, Vicente Martín.
GRUPO AZVI FOUNDATION DRAWING AWARD
Every year, the Grupo Azvi Foundation organises the Grupo Azvi Foundation Children’s Drawing Competition in which the children and young relatives of Grupo Azvi employees take part.
In this edition, the jury, which included the artist Reyes de la Lastra, and the architect Juan Ruesga has awarded first prize in the Fundación Grupo Azvi Children’s Drawing competition to the drawing by 7-year-old María J. de la Puerta Castillo. The drawings by Natalia Espinosa Bandera and Paulina Romero Millón were runners up.
As in previous years, the winning drawings were used as the Grupo Azvi Christmas greeting.
CORPORATE CULTURE
Emilio Marcos, Corporate Director for Human Resources, Grupo Azvi, gave a speech which focused on the company’s corporate culture, highlighting its key role in cohesion, excellence and international projection. Marcos outlined the work done this year to internalise the group’s core values – commitment, excellence and teamwork – set out in his Mission and Vision statement, which guide every action and strategic decision. He went on to remind the audience that this solid culture is the result of a family business project with over one hundred years of history, which has grown from deep roots to successfully face the challenges of a competitive global market. “This is the Azvi Culture”, he concluded, encouraging all employees to live and reflect these values in their daily life.
