Fagor Automation reaches its highest record in export sales

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Fagor Automation reaches its highest record in export sales
Posted by World in General

Fagor Automation reaches its highest record in export sales getting close to its €70 Million of before the world crisis.

Fagor Automation will launch new projects in 2011 in the sales, industrial, innovation and international areas. Actions going from the launching of new products to the creation of technology for electrical vehicles and investments at their manufacturing plants in Mondragón and Usurbil (Spain).

Fagor Automation faces the year 2011 with the only unknown caused by the weakness of the European market. In the rest of the world it already showed a remarkable recovery in 2010 with a new record in exports: €58 million that represent a 63% annual growth.

Pedro Ruiz de Aguirre, Anton Sagasta, Koldo Berasategi

China was the main market representing 40% of their international sales and 35% growth; the USA with 60% growth and India where they grew sevenfold. Their greater penetration in this country as backed by the opening of their branch offices in New Delhi and Pune in 2010 adding to the one in Bangalore (2008) and they are planning to open a new subsidiary in Rajkot (Gujarat). This network is becoming almost as important as the one in the USA (6) and in China (5, including a manufacturing plant).

Although the Spanish market only reached 50% of its potential, the sales of the cooperative amounted to €66 million, getting close to the €70 million invoiced before the world crisis.

In order to maintain the rhythm of product innovation, Fagor Automation will dedicate more than 10% of its revenues to R&D, an area employing more than 80 people of its staff. The company has added projects backed by the Basque government, the Ministry of Industry and European institutions. The most recent one, Etorgai, will open their doors to diversity towards the electrical vehicle. The research will take place between 2010 and 2012 together with Fagor Ederlan, Cegasa, Ecenarro and Mondragon Automotive. Fagor Automation will work on creating a new electrical machine and a charger that will take advantage of the energy generated by an explosion (combustion) engine to load the battery and extend the autonomy of the vehicles beyond 300 km.

At the same time, in the machine-tool area, it participates in two projects having to do with machining on large machines: the Cenit Impeler, with Ibarmia, Correa, Juaristi and Ona; and the European Chameleon, with Soraluce and Goialde. Also, Fagor Automation is part of the Innpacto-Fore project with the Complutense University in Madrid to create large angular encoders, up to 2 meters that will facilitate the positioning of large machines or scientific facilities. They have also recently signed a three-year agreement  to promote R&D with the Automatics and Robotics Center in Madrid.

And last, the people in charge of the company have come up with an investment plan for €3 million for 2011. The funds will be destined to reinforce the machining capability of motors in Usurbil by incorporating boring mills and improve part finish quality and accuracy in the manufacturing plant of Arrasate-Mondragón by automating their processes which will require among other equipment, the installation of a special line of covering, automatic dosing machines and robots.