Garita Automotive was founded in 1961 in Zaldibar, Bizkaia (Spain) as a mechanical workshop focused on die manufacturing. After a decade the company moved to his current location in Berriz, Bizkaia, where its current activity of metal stamping begins.

Garita Automotive specializes in metal stamping and welding for the automotive industry. The 12,000 square meter facility includes production, warehouse  and office facilities. In addition, Garita has a sales office in Germany.

GARITA AUTOMOTIVE, International presence and highly engineered product.

One of the keys that could summarise Garita Automotive’s success in the world is based on its strong commitment to the development and technological know-how of its activity, focusing its efforts on accompanying and advising its customers in all phases of engineering and product development. Ultimately, the pursuit of satisfying the customers’ needs.

And this key to success has led to the company’s 60-year history of Garita moving from a mechanical workshop to a stamped parts supplier for the world’s leading automotive players.

Garita serves customers on four continents, producing more than 40 million parts per year in more than 15 countries.

Daimler, Nissan, Benteler, Faurecia, Adient, Voestalpine, Magna (among others) are on the top customer list. These world-renowned OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers rely on Garita Automotive as a strategic partner. Thanks to the very high level of engineering and the type of product Garita Automotive offers, it is possible to maintain such a demanding customer base.

A highly engineered product as added value

Garita Automotive offers an extensive portfolio of stamped products and welded sub-assemblies in both steel and aluminium, covering key automotive parts such as seat systems, chassis, frame, steering column, including suspension, transmission, dashboard, brake or airbag.

They produce parts from 0.02 to 8 kg and plates from 0.50 to 7 mm nominal thickness are used. The above mentioned parts are conceived by a co-engineering between Garita Automotive and its customers.

Garita specializes in the production of technically challenging parts for differentiation within the automotive industry due to their dimensionality and functionality. In recent years, the company has put a great deal of effort into capturing more complex parts and developing new technologies to make the most of its manufacturing processes.

Taking these kinds of risks, through the manufacture of highly complex parts, makes Garita, in relation to its customers, a world-class business-tech partner. This drive for engineering and new developments, coupled with flexible service and responsiveness consolidate Garita Automotive as a strong player in the Automotive supply chain.

Garita Automotive and Nidec ARISA, half a century working together.

The relationship between Garita Automotive and Nidec Arisa dates back to 1975. Half a century of joint work and engineering developments that started with a mechanical press for metal stamping, and now 50 years later, this relationship seeks, through the incorporation of Industry 4.0, to make current presses more autonomous and support maintenance efforts.

Both companies share values and principles that make them very similar. Ultimately, too, a way of doing things and engineering-based business development as positioning and added value for your customers. Both have the same way to conceive the future and the development of their companies. That’s why Arisa was contracted in 2003 to automate processes and the first press with 1,250-ton capacity and transfer technology was acquired.

“ARISA is one of Garita Automotive’s key strategic partners. This has historically been due to the undoubted evolution of the relationship and we are confident that the relationship will continue in a future partnership,” said Miren Irastorza, Chief Executive Officer at Garita Automotive. 

Nidec Arisa is a leading technology provider with a broad portfolio of products and services to meet the needs of their demanding stamping processes. Mechanical presses, progressive transfer and working technology and their automation solutions convinced Garita from the beginning. After-sales service, technical staff advice and the ability to respond to any unexpected situation are aspects that Garita Automotive highlights and values Arisa as a strategic supplier.

Two factors are key to Garita’s success in the automotive industry. The first is its ability to deliver on the just-in-time deliveries imposed by the industry and the second is to maintain its competitive position by continuing to offer economic proposals of interest. And within this equation, the flexibility and adaptability that Nidec Arisa offers its customers contributes in to generating that success in their respective sectors.

Garita Automotive’s future: the digitalization of its processes

OEMs are the drivers of market trends, and Garita is seeing the increasingly demanding future. Addressing this and defining the value proposition to be presented to the market is crucial.

Garita Automotive aims to increase productivity and reduce costs, thus increasing competitiveness. This strategic line joins the Digitalization of Manufacturing Processes and is where Garita Automotive has Nidec Arisa and developments in Industry 4.0 to achieve these goals together.

Press Intelligence, the Industry 4.0 software developed by Nidec Arisa, is now working to facilitate, especially maintenance, at Garita Automotive. The possibility of sensorisation of the press and dies supports the development of preventive maintenance. In addition, Press Intelligence’s functionalities such as applied force data capture, vibrations or press working speeds, result in reduced time and therefore costs for maintenance of both presses and dies. This makes it easier to implement improvements that help increase the efficiency and quality of the end product that Garita manufactures.

LIGHTEN PROJECT:

Garita Automotive put its spotlight on its Arindu project that it has been working on since 2014, when the European Union’s Euro6 directives announced measures to reduce fuel consumption and reduce pollutant emissions to the environment.

Garita Automotive’s work is focusing on being an active part of the automotive value chain and studying the manufacture of lightweight parts so that OEMs can comply with European directives for light vehicles.

Five years of research into the behavior of lightweight materials, in both steels and aluminums, is giving Garita a knowledge and know-how about these materials that are providing the industry with great support. Garita Automotive’s main objective is to be a pioneer in the manufacture of metal parts through lightweight materials and to achieve that goal, Nidec Arisa is a partner of choice.

The last installation that Nidec Arisa has developed for Garita Automotive has just been completed. It is an 800-ton link drive press for transfer or progressive dies.

The press is equipped with the latest generation Arisa tri-axis electronic transfer, with High-Dynamic servo motors to optimize the movement.

The installation is completed by a compact feeding line, with a decoiler, straightener with trimming shear and microfeeder with end of band support. In addition, it is possible to perform automatic die change, thanks to two front-to-back moving bolsters. The software from Industry 4.0, Press Intelligence, developed by Nidec Arisa will be implemented in this equipment. This technology offers Garita Automotive a great potential on optimization, including technologies such as artificial intelligence for predictive maintenance, accurate monitoring of machine status and quality improvement in production.