This is a journey through the career of Pablo Sarfiel, who recognizes the learnings that the different tasks, areas and positions in which he has performed have left him throughout his walk in the world of HVAC.
by Alejandra García Vélez
Each person follows a different path to discover their vocation, some do it by chance, while others have always been clear about it; in the case of the Argentine Pablo Sarfield, his professional development is linked to the people who have driven and accompanied him since the beginning of his career in the world of HVAC.
Sarfield, our Professional of the Month for Argentina, does not hesitate to thank the engineer Ernesto Tobías Córdova, who was his professor of the Chair of Air Conditioning at the Technological Institute of Buenos Aires (ITBA), and who guided him in his first experience in the industry. "I had the opportunity to work with him and it was there that he really started his teaching work; ernesto, to this day, I thank him for that first opportunity he gave me," Sarfield said.
But the list of people Sarfield remembers with affection, admiration and gratitude is not short. It also includes Sergio De la Mata "who guided me during the initial period of BGH, in which I worked as an account executive", and added that "above all I must thank the engineer Diego Teubal, one of the directors of BGH, for the trust he has given me and because throughout the last years of my professional career he has led the way for me".
The way
Sarfield, who is a mechanical engineer specialized in thermomechanics, is currently the manager of Works and Investment Projects of BGH S.A.; In addition, he belongs to the Argentine Chapter of ASHRAE, being elected for the period from July 2001 to June 2012 as Secretary and President of Research Promotion. He also belongs to the Argentina Green Building Council as a representative of BGH.
For him, every step of his career in the world of air conditioning and refrigeration has been important, has left him teachings and has been marking the path of his professional development.
First of all, he remembers his work from 1994 to 2000 at York Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Inc. There he initially served as a sales engineer, which, according to him, allowed him to instruct himself in the process of selecting and selling residential, commercial equipment and ice water systems. In addition, he had the opportunity to interact with the main distributors in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Brazil.
Later he had the opportunity to work as an Aftermarket Sales Manager, where the challenge was to develop the supply of inputs for the sales channel of refrigeration houses. Sarfield believes that in that role his main learnings were on sales plan design, product presentation, distributor training and purchasing scheduling.
His next step was his arrival at the company BGH S.A. as Product and Marketing Manager. From this moment he affirms that "in that position I was able to grow professionally learning the processes of development, design and launch of new products, in addition to collaborating with the development of the annual strategic planning of the business, learning about the administration of management and interacting with the sales force".
His time in this position also gave him the opportunity to meet plants of other manufacturers of HVAC products in China, Malaysia and the United States, which allowed him to learn about new technologies in the industry.
In addition, he participated in works such as the implementation of the first L-connection system in South America, for one of the main centers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The installation of the first VRF Digital Scroll system in Argentina, for the iron mountain offices. He was also part of the construction management of the modernization of several sectors within the Casa Rosada with VRF Digital Scroll systems and the first green McDonalds in Argentina.
Finally, since the end of 2010, Sarfield has served as Manager of Works and Investment Projects in what he describes as "a new challenge in which the objective is to develop the commercialization of BGH and Lennox products directly with developers, real estate investors and national accounts; achieving long-term relationships, providing personalized service and generating business opportunities for our installer channel customers."
The challenges and the industry
Beyond his work, Sarfield remembers two moments that have changed his way of seeing the world and facing the profession he is passionate about. His first trip abroad for a 16-week training in 1996. "On that trip I learned to rely on my own tools and to put into practice all the theory I had learned, both at home and in college. There was really a before and after the trip, in the way of facing the problems and pitfalls that appeared," he said.
He also marks the birth of his son as a moment that changed the order of priorities and values he had, "for the first time I saw the real dimension of what it means to be responsible for another person, which also helped me improve the way I work with my team. I became aware that his future will depend on what I can do today for him and that is why I have dedicated myself to spreading the rational use of energy, and natural resources; in the same way I try, as far as possible, to promote the development of products in BGH that follow these guidelines," he explained.
When inquiring about the challenges that have been presented to him in the exercise of his career, the Professional of the Month affirms that the most difficult thing is to adapt to the pace of change that there is in the new forms of communication and in technology within the HVAC industry, "to put it in other words, when I started in the industry most of the controls were electromechanical, today we are talking about touch screen panels that can communicate over the Internet or by phone with the user," he said.
From his position, he highlights the importance of a good administration of resources in order to meet the objectives proposed by the shareholders of the company. "It is essential to have a good work team that knows and is aligned with this objective. Customers have the most important role since without them there is no business, so it is essential to try to generate strong long-term relationships and, in some way, share with them what we expect from them to help each other to achieve objectives, "he said.
On the other hand, he highlighted the perspective of social responsibility that every company must have, "in BGH, for several years, we have begun to generate awareness internally and externally about the rational use of energy and recycling; In addition to providing special containers to discard batteries, we do talks on these topics and actively participate in the Argentina Green Building Council."
Finally, Pablo Sarfield shared his impressions about the immediate future and the possibilities of expansion of the industry in the region. In his opinion, there is growth in Latin America driven by investments in the construction market and that pulls the HVAC industry.
"Carrying out projects that contemplate construction opens the market to new business opportunities for those manufacturers who have opted to develop products that can be applied in them," he said.
