Page 7 - Dallara_ENG

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7
Stefano De Ponti, how is work on the new
Dallara factory in Indianapolis
proceeding?
“The work is complete, the assembly and
body work departments in the new
building are already operative, and we are
starting to manufacture the parts the
Indycar 2012. The composites department
will be ready by the middle of March; after
which, the quality control department,
warehouse and offices will be transferred
from the temporary building to their
permanent home. We expect to 100%
operative by the end of March”.
Can you give us a road-map for the
coming months?
“We have to be ready for the start of the
championship at the end of March, and
this means being prepared to manufacture,
repair and distribute spare parts for the
cars, as well as providing technical
support”.
How are the activities and the exchange
of information with the headquarters in
Varano de’ Melegari managed?
“The technical aspects are handled by two
engineers: Alex Timmermans is in constant
contact with the Indy project manager and
the technical department in Italy in order
to keep abreast of the development of the
car, while Sam Garrett handles all
communications with the teams and
Indycar.
We are in permanent contact with the
production department in Italy: we will be
delivering the third batch of fifteen cars on
15 February, while the final batch is
scheduled for delivery on 15 March.
Italy defines the strategy, and we are
responsible for putting it into action, in
addition we ensure that information passes
correctly between Varano, Indycar and the
teams. We are laying the foundations for
highly effective teamwork”.
Can you give us a few figures regarding
number of employees, number of cars
that will be produced, and total
investments?
“There are currently twelve of us. We are in
the process of hiring additional personnel
for the composites department, so we
should be up to fifteen employees by the
end of March. We have delivered all the
cars that were ordered and we aim to keep
five to ten units in stock in order to cover
any requests during the Indy 500 period:
this illustrates that, despite the current
economic crisis, interest in this sport
remains high.
We will be producing a total of 60 cars,
IS