Regional minister of the economy and industry visits Pontevedresa Group

09-17-2015

Today the regional minister of the economy and industry, Francisco Conde, visited the glass manufacturing plant of the Pontevedresa Group, a family SME and an Industry 4.0 company, which implements new technologies and has great international projection.

In 1959, Francisco Barbeito Castro set up Cristalería Pontevedresa S.A., laying the foundations for a family-run industrial project that would triumph, thanks to a remarkable ability to face the unknown.

A commitment to pioneering technologies would become decisive for the future of glass over the years. In 1960, a silver nitrate solution was patented and used to manufacture mirrors; in 1989, the first line of flat tempered glass was produced in northern Spain; and in 2015, after investing more than 1.5 million euros, the most cutting-edge technologies for glass transformation were introduced, along with a line of curved tempered glass for ultra-thin thicknesses, the second furnace of its kind in Spain.

The Xunta regional government of Galicia, through programmes delivered by IGAPE (Galician institute of economic promotion), has provided backing and support for the internationalization and industrial innovation of the company on industrial missions, assistance for participation in European trade fairs, such as BATIMAT 2015 (international construction trade fair, in Paris, November 2015), and programmes for investment in state-of-the-art machinery to grow the company.

Sustainability is as important as innovation. For this reason, our company is continuously developing plans to reduce our environmental footprint. We have equipped our production centres with energy-efficiency and water-saving technologies, which has resulted in a 30% reduction in energy and water consumption, by optimizing the use of natural resources in all our processes.

Although it continues to be a family concern, Pontevedresa has become a leader in the glass sector, in Galicia and Spain, with great international projection through projects in France, the UK, Italy and the Maghreb.