13 May, 2022José Pérez Berdud was elected to the two-year tenure as president of the association of manufacturers of machine tools, accessories, parts and tools, AFM Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, at the association's annual assembly held this morning.
55-year old José Pérez Berdud, from Zumarraga (Gipuzkoa), is a Technical Electronic Engineer with an MBA from Mondragon University. He has been working at Fagor Automation since he entered the workforce in 1993 as a technician in the Research and Development department. He has held a series of positions at the company, relating to manufacturing, logistics and purchases, acting as industrial director from 2005 to 2016, when he became CEO/general manager.
Fagor Automation develops and manufactures automation and machine control products and employs a staff of almost 700. In operation for over 40 years, it has 14 subsidiaries and over 30 offices distributed worldwide. It has its own technological centre, Fagor Aotek, with 36 active patents, and allocates over 10% of sales to R&D&i, as well as having around 90 researchers, 12 of whom are doctors.
The new president of the sectoral association is also widely experienced with AFM, being a board member since 2016. He is also a delegate of the European manufacturers’ association, CECIMO, of which AFM has been a member since 1962.
In parallel to the AFM general assembly in which Pérez Berdud was elected and César Garbalena stood down, the assembly meetings were also held for the other four associations forming AFM Cluster: ADDIMAT, ESKUIN, AFMEC and UPTEK.
After the general assemblies, all the attendees gathered at a joint celebration event, “2022 Advanced and Digital Manufacturing Day”, at which, after a presentation on the economic outlook by Xabier Ortueta, general manager of AFM Cluster, guest presentations were given by Tirso Maldonado and Isabel Moreno. During the event, the association paid tribute to two persons who are very beloved and respected in the sector, José Antonio Iriondo, of the company GRIP-ON, and José Ignacio Nicolás Correa of the group NICOLÁS CORREA, who were presented with the AFM gold insignia. José Ignacio Nicolás Correa also received a facsimile edition of the association's 1946 founding document, signed by his father, Baldomero Nicolás Correa.
The closing ceremony was attended by Arantxa Tapia, the Basque Government’s regional minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, Markel Olano, president of the Regional Council of Gipuzkoa, and Galo Gutiérrez, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism's general director of Industry and SMEs. Also in attendance were, Ane Beitia, mayor of Elgoibar, Mikel Amundarain, deputy minister for Industry of the Basque Government, Estíbaliz Hernáez, deputy minister for Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness of the Basque Government, Cristina Uriarte, commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, and Aitor Urzelai, general manager of SPRI.
From the business world, the presidents of the AFM Cluster associations, Miguel González of ESKUIN, Aitor Alkorta of AFMEC, Nerea Aranguren of UPTEK, Mariel Diaz of ADDIMAT, the president of AIMHE, José Ignacio Ortiz de Urbina, the president of Gaia, Elena Zárraga, Javier Zubía, the president of the Mondragon Corporation, Íñigo Ucín, the president of ADEGI, Eduardo Junkera and its director, José Miguel Ayerza, as well as representatives from several companies associated to AFM.
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