As the sun rose over the bustling streets of Barcelona, a sense of anticipation filled the air, at odds with the unease so typical of its manufacturing scene in recent years.
It was February 2023, and for the group programme director at Emtez and his counterparts in Spain, the months ahead would be transformative. Theirs was a mission driven by that unease and the pressing need for innovation to support their customers in difficult times.
For the global manufacturing industry, 2022 had been another challenging year, and the Spanish market was no exception. The supply price for gas had grown by 99% compared to 2021, testing the financial resilience of manufacturers across the country, while supply chain disruption was impacting many Spanish manufacturers’ abilities to recover post-pandemic.
Looking forward, the director recognised the impact Emtez Iberica could have on the market and local communities by expanding and upgrading its operations. Little did he know the challenges they would face, what that impact would look like, or how the journey would end.
In Spain, a strategic shift
Emtez Iberica served Spanish businesses every day, so it was quick to recognise when their requirements began changing. Delivery timing was becoming more critical. As well as speed and supply chain resilience, its customers needed greater cost-efficiency. They were also reconsidering the environmental impact of their logistics for improvements that would keep them compliant and align more generally with their corporate social responsibilities.
“The kinds of products and services they required were also evolving,” explained the group programme director. “Notably, the widespread adoption of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries across industries was creating new business challenges for businesses in both the public and private sectors around their safe handling, storage, and transportation.”
Emtez had developed steel containment solutions capable of solving these challenges. But without the ability to manufacture steel products of its own, its Spanish business was reliant on Emtez France, to source these offerings. Reviewing its setup, Emtez Iberica concluded that only by expanding and upgrading its in-house manufacturing facilities could it significantly improve its ability to serve its local customers. 
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Learning from France
For the comprehensive understanding required to replicate Emtez France's (previously known as Delahaye Industries) success in Spain, the group programme director visited its site in Nantes. There he immersed himself in the production process, spending weeks studying every detail from the factory layouts and equipment used to the workflow, a process he meticulously broke down into six key sections: steel preparation, frame fabrication, assembly, painting, finishing, and inspection.
With his team back in Spain, he then embarked on the task of adapting Emtez France's processes to fit their space. By looking to France's leadership for guidance and support, he was able to learn from their experiences and identify opportunities for areas on which he could not just replicate but actually improve as he designed and built the new facilities, one such insight being the need for larger machinery to handle certain tasks more efficiently.
“There was a great deal we needed to understand from France’s documentation to achieve success: costs. Labour times. Labour rates. Unlocking that door was the number one key to success.” Group Programme Director, Emtez
Every week presented new challenges. Towards the beginning of the project, the building chosen for development required extensive renovation work before it could be properly fitted. Additionally, the language barriers and the complexity of the enterprise resource planning system in which much of the data was stored made unlocking the technical information provided by France an ongoing hurdle. Through collaborative efforts and unwavering support from our French site, the team overcame these obstacles to access key information, for example, its methodology and engineering documentation, and pave the way for success.
Creating a cleaner, safer future for Spanish manufacturing
The group programme director spent four weeks on site in December preparing for its first test run. Despite initial apprehension, the manufacturing of the first units — twin 120-minute fire-rated walk-in stores — progressed smoothly. This success set the tone for subsequent phases as his team continued to implement quality controls and work towards accreditation.
Read more about our new steel capabilities and expanded manufacturing capacity.
From start to finish, the project took one year. Its advanced steel capabilities have opened up the market to Spanish-made solutions, such as innovative Li-ion storage containers as well as top-of-the-range fire-safe units and other steel-based products, while its expanded operations unlock critical new capacity, now and in the future. Reunited under one roof, the Emtez Iberica team anticipates greater collaboration moving forward and gains in lead times, cost savings, and efficiency, all of which will be passed on to the end customer. 
The project has ended but from the perspective of the group programme director and his Spanish counterparts, the journey is only just beginning, marking the start of a cleaner, safer future for Spain manufacturers as they explore new opportunities for growth in the region.
“Our journey from learning in France to establishing a productive manufacturing hub in Spain has been a testament to the power of collaboration, foresight, and strategic planning. As we look ahead, we’re confident that our efforts will not only benefit our business but also contribute to the economic prosperity of the communities we serve and the Spanish people.” Group Programme Director, Emtez
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