Introduction to Autofer’s Success Story
Preparing a strong application contributes to a project’s success, but more important than an approved application is a successfully executed one.
With this in mind, and taking as an example a successful project by Autofer, which utilized support from Portugal 2020 (now Portugal 2030), particularly through the Productive Innovation program, we developed this Success Story in partnership with the company.
Representing Autofer is Renato Gaio, the Commercial Director of the metalworking company. From HM Consultores, Andreia Galante, Commercial Director, and Maria José Marques, Investment and Strategy Consultant, are involved.
Project Background

HM: What were the company’s needs that led to the need for productive investment?
RG: It was essentially a need to increase productive capacity. We were in a situation where growth prospects were quite promising, but with the conditions we had, we couldn’t grow further without investing. For instance, most of our shifts were already occupied. So, we invested in productive equipment, machines, and also facilities to house the machines, to achieve the goals we had set and committed to our clients.
It was really necessary to make a significant investment in both structures and productive equipment. Our intention was also to increase installed production capacity, meaning doing more of the same, but also doing different things. Hence, some of the equipment was designed to directly increase production quantity, and others to produce something we didn’t previously produce.
It was also important for us, within this investment, to focus on our sustainability policy and reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions. Hence, this project included investment in photovoltaic panels to reduce our environmental footprint.
HM: What motivated you to seek support from Portugal 2020?
RG: Firstly, it is important to stress that all the investments we make are because they are necessary and we will gain added value from them. With or without support, we invest. Once we decide to do it, we do it.
In this case, using Portugal 2020 [Productive Innovation] was interesting because it was a significant investment. It was around 2 million euros, and as I said, although it wasn’t a hindrance, the decision is always influenced by whether or not we have support.
Therefore, the possibility of having support, especially non-refundable, helped make the decision faster. This was effectively what motivated us to use Portugal 2020 – the possibility of having non-refundable support for the total investment. This allowed us to continue investing in other areas with the refunded amount.
HM: What were the pre-established objectives of the project?
RG: The main objective was to meet the immediate needs of our clients, meaning increasing the quantity of current products and diversifying our product range. There was a need that later, indeed, proved correct in subsequent years – there was a significant increase in customer demand and, consequently, our production, and we needed to increase our capacity.
We also aimed for more rigorous quality control of our products. Hence, the investment in a coordinate measuring machine, a three-dimensional one, and taking a significant step towards our environmental awareness goal with photovoltaic panels. These were the main premises that drove us to proceed with the project.
Project Background by Andreia Galante

Andreia Galante, Commercial Director, comments:
Autofer’s project was quite interesting not only because it was structural for the company, aiming to meet current client demands and diversify the client portfolio, but also considering that the projects in the pipeline were, in part, innovative on a global level.
As for difficulties, they were more associated with the investment timing since in the last Portugal 2020 calls, like this one, the budget allocation was smaller, increasing project requirements. In these cases, on a scale of 0 to 5 points, only projects above 4 points would receive funding (this practice has now been adopted in Portugal 2030, with this threshold already identified in the opening notice, but in Portugal 2020, we did not have this pre-defined threshold, so at the beginning of the community framework, 3 points were sufficient), making initial risk analysis crucial.
As always, I was provided with detailed information about the project, its impact, and its importance to the company, and even with a conservative initial analysis, we could reach the 4 points. There is always an important phase of discussion about the score and how we can sustainably raise it without jeopardizing post-project evaluations, but there was no critical point.
This was a case where, right from the start, there was more than a green light to proceed with the proposal and subsequent application preparation.
Application, Follow-up, and Project Development

Regarding the application and its follow-up, Maria José Marques, the Investment and Strategy Consultant dedicated to this project, states:
Autofer and the other companies in the Group, with which we maintain a long collaboration, have a very interesting history of funded projects, both quantitatively and qualitatively, all with a near 100% execution rate. This shows the company’s attention to managing and monitoring projects in close collaboration with the consulting team. Taking this Autofer project as an example, I highlight five behavioral and management aspects that stand out and can be seen as best practices to adopt in other initiatives. They are:
- Appoint a project manager/guardian of the processes who also acts as the point of contact with the external team, ensuring effective communication and continuous coordination.
- Involve all stakeholders (and the Administration) from the beginning, facilitating information validation, decision-making, and shared understanding of the “rules of the game.”
- Manage budgets and documentation with rigor, professionalism, and financial management capacity, especially in payments and associated documentation, ensuring compliance and transparency.
- Execute and monitor goals and objectives to facilitate the proactive adoption of corrective actions and adjustments to the initial plan.
- Maintain a positive attitude and collaborative behavior at all stages, allowing a solid partnership and open communication.

HM: What were your impressions and challenges regarding the project?
RG: It was indeed a big challenge due to the varied types of investments, meaning it wasn’t just about acquiring equipment, but also infrastructures and human resources. We immediately realized it would be a quite complex bureaucratic process, as it required compliance with legislation and various standards, but fortunately, the HM Consultores team managed the whole process very effectively and efficiently from the start. Thus, as we made investments and purchases, both equipment and infrastructures and works, we always had HM Consultores‘ support for managing all the documentation processes in a very simple way.
Another major challenge was managing the installation of infrastructure investments during the pandemic. Often it was difficult to unblock some processes due to limitations of various stakeholders, like suppliers or public entities, in this case from the City Hall for licenses. The constraints were significant, but since the project was very well prepared by HM Consultores, we had a guide and clearly understood our mission and direction. We managed to achieve the goals and results we set.
Results

HM: What were the results in terms of…
- Economic Impact
RG: They effectively manifested in the increased capacity due to investments in infrastructure and equipment. This led to increased sales and, therefore, business volume growth. In the last 2/3 years, our business volume grew by around 60%. So, it was indeed very important for us to respond in the right timing to achieve this economic result.
- Organizational Impact
RG: The investment in new equipment and increased infrastructure naturally led to a significant growth in both qualified human capital and more operational staff. Overall, these reinforcements improved and solidified the company’s entire organizational structure. Thus, we became a larger but also better company. We also grew in our infrastructure or the company’s organizational structure, which still remains today. We haven’t grown further, but at least what we gained we have maintained, and it has served as a basis for all our businesses.
- Market Development
RG: These gains did not naturally manifest in the market beforehand but were more or less anticipated. When we invested in this equipment and infrastructure, we aimed to increase our market share. So, not only did we increase it in our traditional markets, but we also solidified our market share in the automotive sector, which we were developing. We had this goal for some time, but with these investments, we were able to achieve some of our predefined goals more easily.
HM: What were the advantages of working with the HM Consultores team?
RG: We have worked with HM Consultores for many years, on many projects, all successful. Therefore, the rigorous and proactive follow-up by the HM Consultores team throughout this process was crucial to its success. As mentioned earlier, this project faced execution difficulties due to various constraints, but we always had solid and efficient support from HM Consultores. I recall that this project happened relatively recently and a few months ago was selected for an audit. Once again, the HM Consultores team was impeccably prepared. They prepared all the necessary documentation for the audit, resulting in a final assessment without any remarks. Thus, I can only thank the entire HM Consultores team that supported this project.