Can you provide highlights from 2023 for Tecno Fast? 

During last year, a key milestone was acquiring 85% of Balat, a leading modular construction company in Spain, which specializes in office and workspace rentals and sales. This venture is in line with our operations in Chile and represents a crucial step toward realizing the vision of becoming a globally recognized company. Our international operations also include the United States and Peru, where we have established a production plant and rental service.

One of the year's major successes was building three camps for 5,500 people for Collahuasi. It was our largest project to date and demonstrated our ability to overcome logistical challenges and deliver on time, within budget, and safely, reaffirming our commitment to high-quality and safe solutions.

What does the achievement of the Mutual Gold certification signify for Tecno Fast?

Our work with Codelco’s Radomiro Tomic led Tecno Fast to become the first company to achieve the Mutual Gold certification. The project includes the construction of seven modular buildings and areas for hazardous waste. This accomplishment highlights our excellence in industrial assemblies and supports our commitment to providing effective risk control methods and personalized support to our clients. Our approach is to maintain close relationships with the clients, listen to their needs, and offer comprehensive solutions, which is fundamental to our growth and client-centric focus. This recognition highlights our hard work, effective leadership, and strong teamwork between us, our clients, and our subcontractors.

Can you provide an example of Tecno Fast’s anti-seismic design? 

We constructed a seven-story wooden building for Anglo American that is currently noted as the tallest wooden structure in South America. This building includes six floors, with the seventh serving as a roof and technical space. To ensure its safety and stability in response to earthquakes, we carried out detailed testing, placing modules on a platform to simulate seismic stress and testing them up to seismic grade 12. These tests showed that the modules could withstand significant seismic forces without failing.

What measures has Tecno Fast taken to enhance its sustainability practices?

In comparison to traditional building methods, modular construction is more eco-friendly, mainly because it utilizes wood. This material is known for its environmental benefits, including its capacity to store carbon, contributing to the sustainability of our products. Our buildings are also constructed entirely off-site. This minimizes environmental impact because we do not have to bring large equipment into mining sites, which can disrupt the local flora.

In our factory, we are working towards a zero-waste goal and have already achieved a 60% recycling rate for our waste thanks to the collective efforts of our team and the implementation of new practices. Efficient processes can be negated by unsustainable packaging. Therefore, we are collaborating with our suppliers to reduce the use of non-recyclable packaging materials. Our automated plant in Lampa is entirely powered by solar energy. In 2023, we made significant progress by installing solar panels at our Colina plant, resulting in 80% of its energy consumption being solar-powered. 

Our sustainability committee, which has been operational for nearly two years, is working on a carbon footprint emission calculator, which is a significant achievement given that our operations encompass production, logistics, assembly, and supplier management. This calculator is a crucial tool for understanding and mitigating our environmental impact. We are now looking to use this calculator not only to offset the carbon footprint of the company but also to engage our customers in sustainability efforts. 

What does the future hold for Tecno Fast?

Our presence in Chile has been a constant and it makes up around 65% of Tecno Fast’s global operations, therefore we will continue operating within the country. Meanwhile we are also looking for opportunities in Canada and Australia. Also, we are focused on consolidating the acquisition of Balat. Moreover, we are launching a tent-renting service in March, which will be a nice addition to our portfolio.

Our main purpose as a company is improving people’s lives, which includes both the lives of our clients and our employees. One of our biggest goals is to ensure we have zero accidents. Also, we would like to continue consolidating in the mining industry, since we believe there is a lot of opportunity. We believe the future is modular.