Nestled among the hills of northern Spain, Tecasa Tecnologia del Carton S.A. is settling in nicely to its new, 40,000-sq.-ft. facility just outside of San Sebastian. The converting equipment supplier has designated space for machine assembly and testing, offices, warehousing and painting and parts manufacturing with an additional 12,000 sq. ft. available for future expansion. As Tecasa's business has increased every year, its former operation-24,000 sq. ft. divided among three buildings-was no longer able to support its growing needs. However, the search for a new location was not easy.

"We wanted to stay close to our suppliers," explained Gabriel D'Anna, the general manager at Tecasa. "But finding a place to keep close to them was difficult because in this area you are not allowed to build on the hills, only in the valleys."

This was understandably a difficult undertaking as most of Spain's northern countryside is mountainous. Yet, Tecasa's persistence to stay close to its suppliers stems from its drive to produce quality machinery-a mandate that will not be sacrificed nor comprised. Tecasa assembles the machinery but depends greatly on the supply of quality parts. Therefore, it focuses on smaller suppliers who can concentrate on the type of quality the manufacturer demands. All suppliers are qualified, which means their parts must meet certain guidelines, tests and verifications when they arrive at Tecasa's facility.

The search for a new site was well worth the wait. Bedecked with marble staircases, an open assembly area and a convenient layout, the facility currently has three assembly lines and the capacity to manufacture 16 to 20 flexo folder-gluers and rotary diecutters per year.

Recently, Tecasa held an open house to celebrate the completion of its new domain and invited 35 people, including Tecasa customers, industry suppliers and the media.

The group saw firsthand the workings of the Spain operation, which houses 63 people, divided in their duties as follows: four in general management and administration; three in sales; 11 in engineering; eight in material management; two in quality control; and 35 in production and after-sales.

Global Goals The management at Tecasa believes not only in being close to its suppliers but also its customers. For some, it's easy, like Cartonajes Limousin, a corrugator just steps away from Tecasa's headquarters. However, for others the distance is far-reaching. To serve these customers, Tecasa is committed to expanding its worldwide presence. The company already has technical support and service operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Asia, Mexico and Brazil.

"We need to be close to our customers so that we can get a feeling for what's going on in their markets," D'Anna explained. "We began with Tecasa Brazil because Brazil is a difficult place to import products, and we needed people there."

The operations in Singapore and the United States came next, followed by the United Kingdom and Mexico. The company is seeking to make big investments in foreign markets. In fact, at the beginning of this year, Tecasa expanded its U.S. operation with the purchase of a 17,000-sq.-ft. facility in Joliet, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. The new site offers technical support for the 12 Tecasa machines in the United States in addition to those in Central America and in the future, Canada. Eventually, Tecasa hopes to assemble machines in the United States, however in the interim, one main concern customers have is parts availability. Tecasa showed a commitment to these customers when it sold a machine in the United States and sent $150,000-worth of spare parts with it.

Concentration on Quality Although separated by great distances, Tecasa's operations are united by a common philosophy: to manufacture good, quality products. The company has a quality procedure in place to ensure that each part of the process is monitored, from incoming parts to machine delivery. It is working toward ISO 9001 certification, however, German Lopez-Ocana, the quality director at Tecasa said, "We don't simply want an ISO stamp saying we're good. We want to be good.

If a problem should occur on a machine, Tecasa first helps the customer solve the problem, then re-examines its own procedures to discover the source and implement the necessary changes. We still have much to learn, but every year we are improving," D'Anna noted. "We try to never lose the goal of manufacturing good products, and we don't believe in making promises just to sell machines. That's not the way we do business."

Forward Thinking In the future, D'Anna sees several growth areas for Tecasa. The first-and perhaps most important-is in the area of service and training. The company hopes to create a separate area dedicated to these objectives. With the continual proliferation of computerization of machinery, the supplier has plans to help its customers train their people to run high-tech equipment. This training will come in the form of pre-installation courses as well as updating courses.

Tecasa management implements training within its staff as well. Five years ago, it took on the goal of teaching people English. Now, an English teacher comes to the site three times a week, and 50% to 70% of the employees at its headquarters can understand and speak at least some English. Tecasa also believes in multi-training so that people become skilled in more than one job.

Another goal for Tecasa is to continually develop and improve its product range, which it does by talking to its sales department and visiting its customers. This work was evident in the release of the Starprint range, which boasts eight installations in its short time on the market. Product development will also incorporate further work with vacuum transfer, which D'Anna believes will differentiate suppliers in the future. Tecasa is already working closely with Sparks, Maryland-based Sun Automation, a lead-edge feeder supplier that works with vacuum transfer.

Luis Ozcariz, director of engineering said, "We are constantly looking to improve what we offer because we want the customer to think of technology and then think of Tecasa."

Customer-Focused Feedback Open house attendees had a chance to see just how well Tecasa's technology worked in operation at two of its customers' plants. The group visited Cartonajes Erabil, a sheet plant, and Cartonajes Limousin, the aforementioned corrugator.

Cartonajes Erabil has both Tecasa's CS and Starprint lines in operation. The plant's CS-1500 is a casemaker with bottom printing and top folding. It's designed to manufacture glued boxes at 12,000 boxes/hr. or stitched boxes at 8,500 boxes/hr. and includes a central computer for operation control. The feeding system is by suction plates, and the development rate is 1,500 mm, which allows for the manufacture of bigger boxes than the CS-1300. The machine, installed three years ago, prints two colors and has an inline stitcher.

The CS helps Cartonajes Erabil target customers who need small orders (in the neighborhood of 1,500 boxes) because it allows for extremely quick changeovers. Such orders require between 40 and 50 changeovers in two shifts, totalling 16 hours, and it takes the independent sheet plant only 48 hours from the time it takes the order to delivery. The company serves a variety of end-use markets with these short runs, 40% of which is in the bakery business, 30% in small appliances, 20% hardware and 10% miscellaneous.

The plant has found big success in these small runs. Founded by 11 people, the operation has grown to comprise four companies. Such success has afforded the company's purchase of Tecasa's new Starprint, also a two-color machine, which was installed in the beginning of September. The flexo folder-gluer is fully automatic with automatic board caliper adjustment and automatic zero positioning of the modules. It also has a fully automatic cleaning system whereby one station can clean while the other is running, saving time and increasing efficiency. Boasting a central computer with touchscreen controls, Cartonajes Erabil's machine is diagnostically linked via modem to Tecasa headquarters, which is a little more than an hour away. If there is a problem, this link-up allows Tecasa to see firsthand what's wrong. A digital camera takes a picture of the problem area, which is then modemed to Tecasa headquarters. Tecasa currently has 15 customers around the world linked by modem to Spain.

Unlike Cartonajes Erabil, a modem link is not necessary at the second customer's plant that the group visited. Cartonajes Limousin is a corrugator located just minutes away from Tecasa headquarters. An old company, once owned by a traditional Spanish family, Cartonajes Limousin fell on hard times about 10 or 15 years ago and was sold to the workers, who own it today. Over the past decade, the plant has fared well using older equipment, however a competitive market is demanding a change. Seeing the need for investing in new equipment, it bought Tecasa's RDC 66, a fully automatic rotary diecutter designed for heavy-duty jobs, nearly a year ago, and has since placed an order for a new flexo folder-gluer. The plant's new machine prints two colors and is equipped with a stacker.

It is with customers such as Cartonajes Erabil and Cartonajes Limousin that Tecasa's success lies. In its new facility and expanding global presence, open house attendees saw a supplier seeking to ensure that success by continually improving, changing and growing. Whether it be through better service, new product development or training and education, among the peaks and valleys of Spain there is a company reaching for great heights.