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Homage to Metalogenia - Catalan foundry claims its bucket teeth technology is world beater
00:00 21 May 1997
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The Costa Brava usually brings to mind sun, sea, sand and sangria.
From this it is a quantum leap to bucket teeth.
Yet just outside Barcelona at Premia de Mar is the home of Spain's most successful foundry operation, Metalogenia.
It is actually just over the road from one of the Costa Brava's longest and cleanest beaches.
Metalogenia has established a turnover of around œ14 millions per year from a simple premise "get the product/price mix right and the business will follow."
Founded just 40 years ago by the Triginer family, it is still very much a family concern, although growth has been explosive these past couple of years.
And it is about to become more so as Metalogenia launches its latest product, the MTG range of bucket teeth.
MTG is designed to take the fight to the enemy as it offers high-quality replacement bucket teeth for the world's most popular excavators and wheeled loaders.
There is no doubting the expertise in foundry technology and metallurgy although Metalogena's management is low-key rather than hyperactive.
"We source our steel from known factory waste material" says director Jorge Triginer Boixeda. "That way we know its metallurgy before we start the melting process. From there it's a simple matter to adjust the balance to get the composition we need.
"Since we melt up to seven times per night using a 5,000kg electric arc furnace we can adjust the mix as and when we need it. An electric arc furnace is ideally-suited to blowing out any possible impurities by using oxygen. That gives us great flexibility and precise control."
It also gave them the expertise to be a licensee of ESCO for Spain; Metalogenia actually makes products and brands them for ESCO. Metalogenia is also an OEM supplier to Poclain (since 1974) as well as to FIAT.
Jordi Camprubi is the sales manager. He says "Earthmoving machines have developed faster than the teeth essential to their performance.
"MTG is designed to right this trend by giving users teeth which actually stay productive right up till the time they are changed. We have had situations where our teeth have outlasted the originals by up to three times. Of course teeth can last for a matter of hours or for years depending on the application."
Managing director Francisco Triginer is positive: "We will introduce 150 new products per year over the next three years covering our entire range for the world's earthmovers. That will ensure our global market success. You cannot improvise the future."
Yet just outside Barcelona at Premia de Mar is the home of Spain's most successful foundry operation, Metalogenia.
It is actually just over the road from one of the Costa Brava's longest and cleanest beaches.
Metalogenia has established a turnover of around œ14 millions per year from a simple premise "get the product/price mix right and the business will follow."
Founded just 40 years ago by the Triginer family, it is still very much a family concern, although growth has been explosive these past couple of years.
And it is about to become more so as Metalogenia launches its latest product, the MTG range of bucket teeth.
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MTG is designed to take the fight to the enemy as it offers high-quality replacement bucket teeth for the world's most popular excavators and wheeled loaders.
There is no doubting the expertise in foundry technology and metallurgy although Metalogena's management is low-key rather than hyperactive.
"We source our steel from known factory waste material" says director Jorge Triginer Boixeda. "That way we know its metallurgy before we start the melting process. From there it's a simple matter to adjust the balance to get the composition we need.
"Since we melt up to seven times per night using a 5,000kg electric arc furnace we can adjust the mix as and when we need it. An electric arc furnace is ideally-suited to blowing out any possible impurities by using oxygen. That gives us great flexibility and precise control."
It also gave them the expertise to be a licensee of ESCO for Spain; Metalogenia actually makes products and brands them for ESCO. Metalogenia is also an OEM supplier to Poclain (since 1974) as well as to FIAT.
Jordi Camprubi is the sales manager. He says "Earthmoving machines have developed faster than the teeth essential to their performance.
"MTG is designed to right this trend by giving users teeth which actually stay productive right up till the time they are changed. We have had situations where our teeth have outlasted the originals by up to three times. Of course teeth can last for a matter of hours or for years depending on the application."
Managing director Francisco Triginer is positive: "We will introduce 150 new products per year over the next three years covering our entire range for the world's earthmovers. That will ensure our global market success. You cannot improvise the future."
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