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Machinery: Engineering Excellence
This location spurred development of a large contingent of metal-making, metal-working and machinery-building firms. Some are leaders in their field. All show that good business savvy, combined with Spanish engineering expertise, can build an area's reputation for excellence.
One story shows just how globally influential the industry has become.
M. Torres Diseņos Industriales S.A., is an engineering-based machine tool company that sells in world markets, exporting 85-95 percent of its products.
That's a good record but not nearly as exciting as the company's next move. In the late 1980s the company branched out into the aerospace industry, designing and developing unique tools to machine the curved parts of aircraft. These are integrated into sophisticated systems that combine laser beam cutting with positioning in space of large parts. The flexible tooling system operates on multiple axes. Computers control the movement of the tool on the X, Y and Z axes. Among Torres' products are milling and drilling machines, laser machines, multiflexible universal holding fixtures and CNC tape layer machines. The flexible system handles tooling for many parts.The advantage is tremendous time savings and process efficiency -- reconfiguration time from one part to another is two minutes or less. Aircraft makers formerly spent a half hour or more to change the tooling to machine another part of the airplane. The company's first multi-access laser systems went to CASA, the Spanish national aerospace company. As a result of that favorable experience, the company sold to DASA, the German partner in Airbus, which then opened the door to other aerospace companies, like Boeing. Torres built six of the big machines in 1996. The U.S. is a big market for Torres, buying half the company's output. Last year was particularly busy, with the company delivering to such clients as Boeing, Northrup and McDonnell Douglas, as well as to European aircraft makers DASA, CASA and Gamesa, which does work for Embraer and Sikorsky. The key to Torres' success is performance, service to customers and dedication of relatively high four-six percent of revenue to R&D. "We do not sell standard machines; we always customize for the clients," says Juan Solano, sales director. "This requires us to have a very strong engineering department." Over a third of the staff are engineers, most of whom are attracted locally from Pamplona's universities. The company also pulls from Navarre's vocational schools, which turn out the skilled machinists and tool and die makers the industry requires. Most of Torres' customers are repeat business. "We always go into a business relationship knowing this will not be a one-time shot," says Solano. The company has invested in two plant expansions but manages to keep its employee rolls at about 145. The key is to outsource most of the fabrication and bring back in house the final assembly. "We're in a very good location for that -- we're surrounded by reliable subcontractors," says Solano. "Within 200 km we can subcontract 90 percent of the fabrication we need for parts, such as casting, etc. The availability of these qualified suppliers enabled us to install this policy. So with just 145 people we have a very nice turnover capacity." Recently, Torres developed a machine to generate carbon fiber parts. (Most of the aerospace industry uses aluminum parts.) Carbon fiber, lighter than aluminum and more wear-resistant, is becoming more prevalent on commercial aircraft. |
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The company in 1975 was making paper converting machinery, early on placing its machinery in printing and packaging plants on five continents. Some 2,800 machines later, Torres continues to chalk up progress in development of equipment for winding and splicing paper for continuous feed to web presses.
