The Spanish canning equipment manufacturer HERMASA inaugurated its new facilities located in Vigo’s Technological Park last month.
For over 60 years, Hermasa has been dedicated to the development and manufacturing of full line equipment for the canning production.
Hermasa has invested Euro 2.68 Million Euro on its brand-new facility. From this new high tech facility tuna canning machines and total production lines are exported to 50 countries. Among the equipment exported is Hermasa’s fastest tuna packer in the world that produces 500 cans per minute.
According to the company president, Mr. Candido Rodriguez, Hermasa commercializes the products that they produce themselves and at the same time 6% of their profits flow to their R&D department (investigation/research + development + innovation) that during 2005 reached a budget of 450,000 Euro.
Last year Hermasa invoiced 7.8 Million Euro, of which 82% come from the exports.
In 2005 their main clients were tuna canneries in Thailand, Korea, Philippines, American Samoa, Iran, Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, Venezuela and Ghana.
Fifty people work at the new factory that occupies a total surface of 5,500 square meter, With the opportunities provided by this new infrastructure, Hermasa intends to strengthen its presence in the worldwide tuna canning market. Its equipments and machines have already been installed in canning factories in over 50 countries.
Today its star-product is the tuna-packing machine TUNIPACK 500 able to reach 500 cans per minute. From this model other three machines have been developed with lower capacities: Tunipack 100, Tunipack 200 and Tunipack 300.
Mr. Miguel Romero as General Director noted that, “TUNIPACK 500 is the world’s fastest tuna canning machine in the market. Our company we have a team of seven persons who are dedicated to research and development and the clue is to be competitive among other manufacturers of canning machines, mainly from United Statesâ€.
Hermasa has patented more than 50 different machines, like tuna and sardine fillers, automatic boilers, and vacuum boilers. Hermasa’s machines for the tuna canning companies take 65% of the company production, while the machines for sardine industry only represent a 12% of Hermasa’s production.
Mr. Miguel Romero, HERMASA General Director notes that “research and development is the base of our company. On our R&D projects we are completely supported by the local Government of Galiciaâ€.
The machines produced by Hermasa for over 60 years are of their own design. He also remarked that, “Hermasa solves the needs and problems of their clients. From there, our technical team develops the projects required to find a solutionâ€. The path followed by Hermasa has been recognized through the award for Galician Business Innovation in 2004.
The strong growth of foreign clients in over 50 countries makes Hermasa to establish strategic alliances with companies within the same sector, besides opening new ways of commercialization. One of those ways is the leasing of industrial machinery for the canning companies.
