Sergio Domínguez, a history of growth and commitment to excellence at Canagrosa

In this interview, we talk to Sergio Domínguez Núñez, technical director of Canagrosa, who offers us a journey through almost 20 years of dedication, from its beginnings in a small laboratory to leading strategic projects in the aeronautical sector. With more than 70 employees and 98% of its turnover linked to the aerospace industry, Canagrosa has experienced exponential growth under his supervision.
Sergio talks closely about the purposes and challenges, teamwork, evolution and the keys to Canagrosa's success.
Could you share your experience as technical director of Canagrosa?
I joined the company in October 2005. At that time, Canagrosa's laboratories were located on the first floor of some buildings in front of Maria Luisa Park, in the center of Seville, and had about ten employees.
I started as an analyst in the agri-food laboratory, since my training in Chemical Sciences is specialized in that area. Then I jumped to the “first division” of the company, taking charge of the aeronautical laboratory, to later manage all the technical aspects of the company.
Today, Canagrosa's turnover is almost entirely related to the aerospace sector and it has almost 70 employees. My professional development has been linked to the development of the company, growing in parallel to the company with the milestones that have been reached. Each year for me has been very diverse, with new challenges and satisfactions. All of this would not have been possible without the collaboration of all the colleagues with whom I have worked during this time, as well as the support and backing of the company's founding partners since I started at the company almost 20 years ago.
What are your responsibilities as Technical Director and Operations Director?
As Technical Director, I am ultimately responsible for ensuring that all of the company's technical processes meet the client's expectations, guaranteeing the quality and accuracy of the services. While as Operations Director, my goal is that the delivery time, quality and cost indicators are always in the green.
What key moments and milestones would you highlight over these 20 years?
Almost two decades in such a dynamic and demanding sector as the aeronautics industry is a lot. But if I had to choose, I would highlight the change of location from Canagrosa to Aerópolis without ceasing a single day in its activities, the creation of the metrological management area and the entry into the aeronautical maintenance or MRO sector.
What solutions for the industry does Canagrosa offer?
Canagrosa mainly offers its customers comprehensive solutions to cover all their analysis and metrology needs, in addition to providing other services such as consulting, training or development of new products or processes. All of them stand out for their high specialization in the aeronautical sector.
Regarding Canagrosa's projects, could you tell us about any successful case thanks to your coordination, such as Iberia's internal MRO laboratory?
Managing the internal laboratory of a company like Iberia has been possibly one of my biggest professional challenges. As part of a reorganization process, the internal staff of the Iberia MRO laboratory in Madrid was going to be relocated to other areas of the company and, the day after this change, we had to start managing the laboratory, with the commitment of not impacting production, having 24/7 availability for any urgent requirement and achieving in less than a year the accreditations that Iberia's clients demanded from their laboratory.
Thanks to the involvement, commitment and professionalism of both the team that initially moved to Madrid, as well as those who stayed on to provide support from Seville, we were able to meet all the commitments made. After 10 years, we continue to have the confidence of Iberia and the IAG group for the management of their laboratory, and we are one more production center within the Engine Building in La Muñoza.
Canagrosa gives a fundamental importance to its value chain. Can you point out something about this?
Many of our customers outsource their analysis and calibration activities to Canagrosa, as they do not consider them “core” of their business. From Canagrosa we try to bring to our results the extra values of the experience of a company dedicated to quality control for more than 35 years. We try to be useful and close to our customers as if we were an internal department of the company.
From your point of view, to what extent Canagrosa improves the industrial processes of its customers?
Canagrosa brings to the processes of our customers the knowledge in the latest technological solutions for testing and metrology, highlighting the high reactivity of our services without reducing the compliance of quality requirements, as demanding as those of the aerospace sector.
Specifically, what does Canagrosa contribute to the aerospace industry?
In my opinion, the greatest contribution of Canagrosa to the aerospace industry is the knowledge about the requirements of the final customers of the sector and about the requirements of the different accreditation and certification entities that are demanded in this business.
What challenges and opportunities does Canagrosa face in the next three years?
After COVID, our core workload has changed from being routine and planned, to working on a project basis and with increasingly international clients. The next challenges for Canagrosa are to continue adapting to the needs of its clients, diversifying its activities and internationalizing our core services.
On the other hand, you are a PRi Training Nadcap teacher, can you tell us how did you get there and what kind of training do you provide? What benefits do you observe in the companies/people who receive the training, what are the current trends in training in the aerospace industry?
Six years ago I was collaborating with the Nadcap Supplier Support Committee as one of the European representatives of the audited companies when the position of trainer for the Spanish courses in preparation for Chemical Processes audits became vacant. I started to collaborate with them teaching this course and, later on, I started to teach other quality related trainings such as the Root Cause Analysis and Corrective Actions course, or the contract review.
Attendees to these courses receive the most complete and updated training on the special processes of the aeronautical sector audited by Nadcap. The current trends in these trainings are oriented to e-learning, the delivery of more interactive on-line courses and training for personal certification in special aeronautical processes, as traditionally done in non-destructive testing.
Finally and on a personal level, we know that, in addition to your professional career, music also occupies an important place in your life, could you give us more details?
I play electric bass in an instrumental funk band with some good friends and great musicians. The band is just an excuse to get together from time to time and enjoy music together. Being able to create and perform music, surrounded by good people is for me, without a doubt, the best anti-stress therapy.