LEHENDAKARI ATTENDS COMMISSIONING OF THE NEW SOLDAVANZA MACHINE MANUFACTURED BY BERKOA MACHINE TOOLS

The Lehendakari (President of the Basque Government), Iñigo Urkullu, has presided over the commissioning of SoldAvanza, the rotary friction welding machine manufactured by Berkoa Machine Tools. In his speech, the Lehendakari congratulated Berkoa Machine Tools for this great advancement in the machine tool sector.

Also in attendance at the Berkoa facilities were Arantxa Tapia, Regional Minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, Ane Beitia, Mayor of Elgoibar, José Pérez Berdud, President of AFM Cluster and Xabier Ortueta, General Manager of AFM Cluster, hosted by the President of BERKOA, Iñigo Arriola and its General Manager, Andoni García Abad. The event was also attended by Jaione Ganzarain, General Manager of Lortek and Ixaka Egurbide, Director of the IMH (Machine-Tool Institute).

On behalf of Berkoa Machine Tools, General Manager, Andoni García-Abad, warmly thanked the lehendakari for attending and showing support for this small business, which is still in the fledgeling stages but has an ambitious development plan.

The SoldAvanza project consists of a Rotary Friction Welding test bank in which new systems are developed with advanced technological capabilities for the welding process.  The innovations made in collaboration with Lortek, the technological centre specialising in bonding technologies, focus on a new process control system (BLSC 4.0), making use of embedded sensors, as well as new drives or subsystems that enable multi-process capabilities and multi-material manufacturing.

The project was financed by the CDTI (Centre for Industrial Technological Development) and the entire process was conducted at the Berkoa facilities: testing, certification, shift from other bonding technologies to rotary friction, subcontracting and training courses. This technology is being adopted by an increasing number of sectors: automotive, farming, railway, tools, etc. Berkoa is currently manufacturing another welding machine with a capacity for up to 50 Tn for IZAR of Amorebieta, this time for fast steel bonding with F-114 for bits. In the short term, Berkoa Machine Tools aims to consolidate itself as Spain’s top manufacturer of rotary friction welding machines.

Berkoa Machine Tools is a company largely dedicated to manufacturing special machine tools, offering bespoke solutions to each client. It is a cooperative founded six years ago by nine former workers of KONDIA-AKOIN, which closed down in 2016.

The nine associates created Berkoa Machine Tools on 5 February 2016. From the start, they recruited young technicians from the IMH to work on the project, which benefited from the experience of the founders and the youth and innovation of the new blood. This aim inspired its slogan “Innovation, Dedication and Enthusiasm”, which is embodied by the 15 members of the Berkoa Machine Tools human team. Its key services include retrofitting and the technical assistance service (S.A.T.).

In terms of exports, over its six-year trajectory to date, the company has delivered machines to France, Russia, the US and India. Although its machines were originally targeted at the automotive sector, the company is now also working for the aeronautics, farming and capital goods industries.