ULMA Group

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ULMA Group
Company type Cooperative
IndustryMultisectoral
Founded1961
FoundersPedro Ugarte, Isidro Mendiola, Ignacio Maiztegui, Julián Ayastuy, Esteban Lizarralde and Julián Lizarralde
Headquarters Oñati,
Spain
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Ibon Calvo (President)
ProductsGreenhouses, rollers-pulleys-garlands and idlers, automated warehouses, prefabricated polymer concrete for construction, formwork and scaffolding for construction, packaging equipment and systems, flanges-fittings, forklift trucks, engineering services
Number of employees
5,500 (2019)
Website www.ulma.com

The ULMA Group is a business group, made up of nine cooperatives. It group currently has a presence in 81 countries and is one of the largest business groups in northern Spain.

Contents

History

XXXI International Fair of Barcelona,1963 XXXI Feria Oficial e Internacional de Muestras de Barcelona de 1963.jpg
XXXI International Fair of Barcelona,1963

The origins of ULMA dates back to 1957. That year, six mechanics set up their first workshop to offer auxiliary services to the region's chocolate industry. When they established their first cooperative, on September 8, 1961, they used the first letter of each of their last names to give the company its name and thus Cooperativa Industrial Talleres ULMA S.C.I. Initially, the cooperative was dedicated to manufacturing wrapping machines for chocolates, today ULMA Packaging, and it entered the construction sector, another of its current pillars. It was in 1963, when those responsible for the cooperative patented the first prefabricated scaffolding made in Spain under the JJEIP brand.

At the same time and in the same region, four workers from the Forjas de Zubillaga company decided to acquire a locksmith and accessories workshop. Their names were Pedro and Enrique Guridi, Sebastian Ayastui, Ramón Irizar, Sabino Tellería and Juan Urcelay and they made balconies, metal doors and other forged and stamped products. In 1962, they too decided to become a cooperative and, as with ULMA, they chose a name based on the letters of their last names. During the first years, the company was called Gaitu S.C.I. In 1967, however, it was renamed as Enara. Its growth and consolidation gave rise to the manufacture of cable ties through the acquisition of a Drop Hammer that would transform the company and be the basis for its subsequent development.

The first rapprochement between ULMA and Enara took place in 1983. In 1987, the Oñalan group, the name with which the ULMA Group began its journey, grew with the integration of Oinakar, another cooperative. In 1989, the Group changed its name to ULMA Group.

At the end of 1989, the Group had 678 workers and a sales volume of 8,323 million pesetas (50 million euros).

Consolidation

In the 1990s all the Group's businesses decided to adopt a new and unique corporate image. For this, in 1990 and 1991, the cooperative ULMA S. Coop. changed its name to ULMA C y E, S. Coop. The rest of the businesses incorporated the ULMA brand and trade name. In 1996, ULMA Polymer Concrete (today ULMA Architectural Solutions) was established. In 1992, Oinakar became ULMA Manutención S.Coop. and Enara, at ULMA Forja S. Coop (today ULMA Forged Solutions). In 1994, the ULMA MANUTENCIÓN cooperative split the businesses of Forklift Trucks (today ULMA Servicios de Manutención) and Systems (today ULMA Handling Systems). In 2008, ULMA Conveyor Components joined the Group, coming from the Rochman cooperative. In 2019, ULMA Embedded Solutions was consolidated as the ninth business of the ULMA Group.

In 1993, as a result of the decision to have its own cooperative group, ULMA decided not to take part in the organisational restructuring proposed by the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC). [1] In 2002, however, its members approved the group joining the Industrial Division of Mondragon. In December 2022, in a plenary assembly of the ULMA Group cooperative, they decided to leave the Mondragon corporation. [2] [3]

Organization

As of 2023, about 6,000 people work in the ULMA Group, which currently has a business volume of more than 1,050 million euros, of which close to 70% were international sales. Although all its cooperatives/Businesses share general policies and joint management strategies, each of them manufactures and markets its own products.

Projects

These are some of the projects of the ULMA Group.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cooperative</span> Autonomous association of persons or organizations

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Packaging</span> Enclosure or protection of products for distribution, storage, and sale

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">ULMA Architectural Solutions</span>

ULMA Architectural Solutions is a cooperative in the construction sector that creates prefabricated products for drainage and architecture. In the field of architecture it offers: ventilated facades, industrialized enclosures, customized prefabricated products and urban furniture. It is one of the 9 cooperative companies that make up ULMA, one of the largest business groups in northern Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ULMA Handling Systems</span>

ULMA Handling Systems is a material handling and logistics automation company, supplier of automated storage and retrieval systems, based in Oñati, Spain. The company engineers design, produce, and install material handling systems in installations, from small warehouses to complex systems.

ULMA Construction is a Spanish company that produces and distributes industrialized formwork and scaffolding systems for building, civil works, and rehabilitation. Ulma is operating in 80 countries on five continents through the rental and sale of its services and products, technical project development, and on-site consultancy. 

References

  1. Cheney, George (2002). Values at work : employee participation meets market pressure at Mondragón (Updated ed.). Ithaca, N.Y. ISBN   978-1-5017-2111-3. OCLC   1046086338.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. "Proyecto Organizativo del Grupo ULMA". Grupo ULMA. 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  3. "Somos ULMA". Grupo ULMA. May 8, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  4. "ULMA Agrícola instala invernaderos en el desierto". Vulka. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  5. "La española Ulma Architectural Solutions suministra canales de drenaje en el mayor estadio de Polonia". Instituto de Comercio Exterior de España. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  6. "Energía para los peruanos". PetroPerú. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  7. "ULMA Conveyor suministra los componentes para la ampliación del puerto Gangavaram de India". TU Lankide. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  8. "El SAT on-line de Ulma Carretillas cumple 3 años". CDE Comunicación. March 21, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  9. "ULMA muestra en Compamed un envase que permite la esterilización de productos médicos". ULMA Packaging. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  10. "Las firmas textiles Brandili e Indutop apuestan por el sistema logístico diseñado por ULMA Handling Systems". SPRI. Retrieved September 7, 2016.