New production facilities for Inquimica

In order to satisfy the increasing demand and to provide a better service, Spanish leather chemical producers, Inquimica, have relocated their premises to a new production plant in Rubi, 25km from Barcelona. The new location will also be the administrative and commercial headquarters as well as the customer technical service. The new €6 million plant covers an area of 10,500m² and the layout consists of five separate work areas. This includes a two-storey building of 860m² which houses the offices, technical application laboratory and research and development lab. The production plant covers an area of 690m². The annual production capacity of the new site is 10,000 tons working at three shifts per day, five days a week. The new facilities include the following manufacturing units: * Sterification unit * Oxidation unit * Sulfitation unit * Sulfonation unit * Three units for blending * Storage parks for shipment * Quality control laboratory The units are highly automated and include equipment for the processing of emissions and discharges in compliance with environmental regulations. These include wastewater treatment, steam generation, compressed air, electrical systems and maintenance workshops etc. Inquimica have also included a general warehouse for raw materials and finished goods in movable containers in a covered area of 1,400m². Additionally, there is a storage park covering an area of 550m² for bulk raw materials and finished goods. This incorporates an automated system of loading and unloading of trucks with a weight control system. There is also an area of 60m² for storing, in movable containers, of flammable and hazardous products. Technical centre In order to provide the best technical service for customers, Inquimica have included a new technical centre on the new site in Rubi. The centre is equipped with 6 drums of different capacities and 2 paddles, making it possible to work with small skins as well as with larger hides. Three leather technicians specialised in small skins and hides are employed at the technical centre to develop new products and processes for Inquimica. Furthermore, there is also a regional technical centre located in the tanning area of Lorca in Murcia. This centre has been equipped to make it possible to carry out trials tailor-made for customers. Two leather technicians are responsible for providing the customers with technical assistance in the region. Background Inquimica were founded in Barcelona in 1959 with a view to manufacturing chemical products for the Spanish leather tanning industry, particularly for the wet-end. In 1974, the company began manufacturing sulfated and sulfited oils and blends at their previous production site in Montcada y Reixach, near Barcelona. Since they began the first exports to Chile in 1985, Inquimica leather chemicals have gradually penetrated 26 countries. Today, the company have a workforce of 31 people centrally located at the new plant in Rubi as well as the regional technical centre in Lorca. Inquimica are currently involved in two European Union funded projects 'Life' and 'Craft' with the aim of finding a new generation of environmentally-sound raw materials for the tanning industry.