The company, which specialises in the manufacture of high-quality packaging for the food and pharmaceutical sectors, is tripling the area of the current factory and will exceed 15,000m2. To carry out the investment in the new warehouse, GMP has had the support of the Catalan Government through ACCIÓ and the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF), which has provided financing worth 8 million euros. With the opening of the new plant, the company expects to double its turnover to 30 million euros.
The Catalan company GMP (General de Manipulados Plásticos SA), which specialises in the manufacture and marketing of high-quality packaging for the food and pharmaceutical sectors, will create 60 new jobs with the construction of a new industrial plant in Castellar del Vallès (Vallès Occidental), which will be fully operational by the end of the year. The project, which involves an investment of 12 million euros and is based on the circular economy, allows the company to triple the surface area of the current factory and exceed 15,000m2.
To carry out this investment, the company has had the support of ACCIÓ, the agency for business competitiveness of the Department of Business and Labour, and the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) of the Department of Economy, which has provided long-term financing to make this investment possible. From the public development bank, 8 million euros have been contributed for the construction of the company's new facilities and for the purchase of machinery. This investment in GMP is an example of the reindustrialization and sustainability projects as strategic lines of investment of the ICF.
With the change of plant, GMP completes a process of reindustrialization and modernization of the production process, based on the digitization and automation of the different stages of polyethylene film manufacturing. The company expects to go from a production volume of 6,500 tons per year to 15,000 tons when the new warehouse is already fully operational.
GMP's CEO, Josep Anton López, explains that "we are not at the culmination of any project but at the beginning of a great challenge where sustainability, digitization and automation will be very present." In this sense, "without a doubt, the main asset is the people who will make it possible in the day-to-day running of the company". The GMP executive adds that "we must thank ACCIÓ and the ICF for the facilities they have made for us so that the company continues to grow, transform and be competitive in the market".
In 2024, GMP will reach 110 workers, double the workforce it had when the construction project for the new plant began. The profiles that will join the company will be qualified personnel in the use and maintenance of highly complex industrial machinery.
The new warehouse is also a project based on the circular economy and sustainability. Once used in packaging, the plastics manufactured by GMP are 100% recyclable. In addition, a saving of 400 tons of CO2 per year is expected for the installation of solar panels, and rainwater will be reused to complete industrial processes.
GMP is a Catalan company founded in 1982, 100% owned since 2011 by the Belgian company Pattyn. It works with high-precision machinery to manufacture plastics that are used in the packaging of food and pharmaceutical products. It has a turnover of 15 million euros per year, and with the new industrial warehouse the goal is to double the figure to 30 million euros. GMP exports half of its production, with a presence in most European Union member states, China, the United States, South America and Africa.