GOIALDE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES ITS PLAN 18-21

The Goialde group, specialised in co-engineering, manufacturing and supplying turnkey machining solutions, has completed its 2018-2021 strategic plan with significant progress in the sectorial diversification of its client base. This goal had been set to mitigate the uncertainties around the automotive industry, which were worsened by the Covid crisis, and the group has repositioned itself towards technological transition in its motorisation. According to sales director, Bitor Elgezabal "during this time, we have maintained the level of machine tool activity, increasing the number of clients in large hydraulic equipment manufacturers and breaking into the hybrid motor car sector”.

The new references will mark the development of investment plans in Zestoa and also the strategic lines of the 2022-2025 Plan: “In the first case, we have already activated a first stage for the acquisition of new manufacturing cells, with the support of the Ministry of Industry. In terms of the future plan, we are still in the reflection stage, although we will definitely be maintaining our commitment to growth, diversification, automation and robotisation of processes, incorporation of new technologies and more added value for parts, as well as sustainability. In the case of the latter, within the 2021 strategic plan, we have obtained the ISO 14001 and the Basque Government’s EMAs”.

The actions to study for the coming years include the plan to expand its industrial base in the area, since “we are getting close to saturation point at our plant in the Sansinea Erreka industrial estate and in the coming quarters we intend to continue adding manufacturing programmes and workshop resources”. The expansion of its supplies for the hydraulics sector includes expanding references with the Danish company Danfoss, which “has chosen us as the second source of supplies for two families of parts that were being manufactured to date exclusively in India”. They have also intensified collaboration in different manufacturing programmes with the Catalan group Roquet, and have added references for the US firm Husco International and two other important German companies in the sector.

In the automotive sector, a highlight was the project directly sourced with Audi to manufacture a key component for the injection pump used in hybrid propulsion, which also represents a diversification in this field. In this programme, which will include assembling a join and performing an airtightness test, the company's broad experience in burnishing technology provided an added advantage. For the scaled entry in production of these projects and to reinforce the resources of its Components and Precision divisions, Goialde has designed a phased investment plan. The first operations consisted of acquiring two Dixys which will be incorporated shortly to expand the tapping capacity in the Machine Tool and Precision divisions and also in the implementation of new cells. In the latter case, the Ministry of Industry has supported the project through the Plan for Modernisation of Machine Tools for SMEs, covering the purchase of a machining centre, an internal gear grinder and a horizontal lathe.

The third division of Goialde, High Speed, also tackled a series of technological innovation works for product digitalisation and processes to strengthen its market position. Thus, it is currently undertaking project ABIO, geared towards providing production improvements in the aeronautics sector by developing flexible, smart and efficient manufacturing systems that allow for improved productivity and, in short, according to Bitor Elgezabal, “better manufacturing competitiveness in this sector”. The plan, which is financed by the Basque Government’s Hazitek and conducted alongside Egile, GMTK, Ibarmia, Ibermática, Fagor Automation, Sariki, Segula and SmartPM, “is built into the management of information technologies, through the Machine Tool and its components, together with the manufacturing of the aeronautics parts themselves”. In parallel to this, Goialde High Speed is taking part in the MARKET 4.0 project, which is geared towards the “creation of a product configurator and a new computerised tool used to make a quick estimate of the cost of repairs based on historical data and the type of intervention”. These tools will be available from an APP and both solutions will be integrated into the Market Place Market 4.0 platform, which receives European Commission funding. The Goialde High Speed (GHS) catalogue will also be accessible through Market 4.0 Marketplace, a platform that brings together manufacturing companies and production equipment.

 Source: Empresa XXI.