Founded in 2016 as a cooperative driven by a group of professionals from two companies with extensive experience in the machine tool sector, Berkoa Machine Tools has reached its tenth anniversary demonstrating its ability to adapt to each customer’s needs, tackle complex projects and offer tailored solutions.

Looking ahead, the company, based in Elgoibar (Gipuzkoa), a town that is one of Europe’s leading machine tool hubs, aims to “continue growing sustainably, consolidating our business lines and strengthening our technological capabilities,” says Andoni García-Abad, Managing Director of Berkoa.

“We want to continue developing high value-added projects, expand our international presence and keep investing in innovation, while maintaining the close relationship with our customers and the flexibility that characterise a cooperative like ours,” explains the head of a company that has achieved several milestones throughout its history, including its collaboration with technology partner Lortek, which has resulted in “the SoldAvanza test bench and the registered BLSC 4.0 controller.” Thanks to this joint development, “at Berkoa we have promoted advanced solutions in the field of rotary friction welding, consolidating a technology that is unique in the State. The inauguration of the test bench by the then Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, also represented important recognition of our commitment to innovation and collaboration between industry and technology centres,” says García-Abad.

Another particularly significant project for Berkoa has been the manufacture of more than a dozen IkasMak 5.1 machines for vocational training centres in the Basque Country. “It is a unique machine capable of integrating different machining technologies into a single unit, contributing to the practical training of professionals at vocational training centres,” he explains.

Berkoa Machine Tools develops tailor-made special-purpose machine tool projects, multibrand industrial machinery retrofitting, rotary friction welding solutions and technical assistance services. “We work for companies that need specific solutions for their production processes,” García-Abad explains, stressing that “our capabilities are not measured by the size of each project or by the number of people on our team, but by our ability to adapt to each customer’s needs, tackle complex projects and provide tailored solutions. At Berkoa, we sum it up very simply with our motto: ‘You name it, we make it!’”

Multiple sectors

As for the sectors we work in, Berkoa operates across a wide range of industries. “When it comes to machine manufacturing, our customers are usually multinational companies or leaders in their sectors, with a high degree of loyalty to Berkoa,” says García-Abad.

In the case of our retrofitting business line, “SMEs are also part of our customer base,” adds the Managing Director. In any case, the cooperative works for a wide variety of sectors, including automotive, aerospace, petrochemical and capital goods, among others.

Internationalisation is another key characteristic of the Gipuzkoa-based cooperative. Although “the level of exports varies radically from year to year; we have had years in which more than 50% of our products were shipped abroad, while in others the local market accounted for most of our turnover,” our products have reached a “wide range of markets, with Romania and France standing out in Europe. In Asia, India has been one of our destinations. In North America, the United States and Canada have received several of our machines,” says García-Abad.

Applied research

Berkoa develops tailor-made special-purpose machine tool projects, multibrand machinery retrofitting, rotary friction welding solutions, and technical assistance services.

“We are committed to applied research and the development of solutions that can be transferred to real industrial environments, with a clear objective: to provide practical value to our customers,” says García-Abad.

One example of this approach is the development of the registered BLSC 4.0 controller, co-designed together with our technology partner Lortek, which enables the traceability and storage of key process parameters. “It also enables multiprocess capabilities and multimaterial manufacturing of materials such as forged steel and steel for the automotive sector, F114 and HSS for tools, and aluminium and copper for electrical conductors.”

This system forms the technological basis on which the SoldAvanza machine was developed, “our rotary friction welding solution, a machine available for subcontracting at our facilities, designed for the production of short series and prototypes, making it particularly versatile. Its development has enabled us to advance multiprocess control and multimaterial manufacturing capabilities in demanding industrial environments,” he explains.

In addition, together with Lortek and the spin-off Vors Control, “we worked on the evolution of the system towards a digital twin of the welding process. This development makes it possible to model system behaviour, simulate real-world scenarios and optimise process control, strengthening precision and reliability in demanding industrial environments,” he adds. “These types of projects reflect our approach to R&D: collaboration between industry and technology centres, direct application to real machinery and the development of solutions that can be used by the end customer,” he says.

Berkoa team members and attendees at the company’s first ‘Live Rotary Friction Welding Day’. > Berkoa Machine Tools

Being a cooperative defines the company’s day-to-day operations. “This way of understanding the company defines how we work,” says García-Abad, adding that “at Berkoa, the combination of accumulated experience in the sector and the incorporation of new people allows us to maintain a balance between industrial knowledge and the ability to adapt to today’s challenges.”

From our facilities in Elgoibar, we carry out design, manufacturing, assembly and commissioning activities, as well as retrofitting, subcontracting through our advanced welding test bench, and technical assistance and maintenance services for both our own equipment and machines from other manufacturers. Looking ahead, the company aims to continue growing sustainably, consolidate its business lines and strengthen its technological capabilities.

Source: Estrategia Empresarial.