Regional Operational Program of the Center – Productive Innovation
Project title | NewCELL – Expansion, Growth and Innovation
Project code | CENTRO-02-0853-FEDER-044999
Main objective | To strengthen the competitiveness of PMEs
Type of intervention | Qualification and innovation of PMEs
Intervention region | Center
Beneficiary | CELLWATER – Produtos Químicos para a Industria, Unipessoal Lda.
Approval date | 12-08-2019
Start date | 01-05-2019
Conclusion date | 05-11-2021
Total eligible cost | 1.204.597,12€
European Union financial support | FEDER – 361.379,14€
Objectives, activities and results |
The investment project outlined by CELLWATER demonstrates a strategy to reinforce and diversify its activity and increase the Company’s competitiveness, through the implementation of new technological processes leading to the acquisition of new products, complemented by significant organizational and marketing innovations
The investment plan in question aims to respond dynamically to market demands, by introducing new skills, associated with cutting-edge technologies for the sector, as well as the principles of Industry 4.0, which will allow the creation of a new production unit, modern, automated, energy sustainable and efficient. They will be fundamental factors that will enhance the activity and growth of the Company’s notoriety, especially at the international level, directing products to the sectors it already knows, but surprising current and future customers with innovative proposals in the field of water treatment solutions, namely, the new antifoams recently developed by the Company.
In effect, the present investment project was prepared with an underlying logic of progression in the value chain and continuous improvement, translating into a productive innovation project capable of bringing important and decisive sales gains to a company, and at the same time contributed to the qualification of the Portuguese business fabric.
As the main objectives to be achieved with making an investment, we can highlight the fact of allowing CELLWATER:
- Creation of a new establishment, with the execution of construction works for an industrial building from scratch, inserted in a land of approximately 6.000 m2. It will be a unit with 1.600 m2, with the best technology available for the sector. The equipment will enable the Company to qualify for the production of chemical treatment solutions, with superior quality, less loss of resources and energy (data or superior control and efficiency of the production process). In another way, from the Company’s global point of view, this investment also translates into an increase in the productive capacity of innovative goods and the replacement of direct imports of raw materials of chemical origin by CELLWATER;
- Through the technological capacity to be installed, guarantee synergies for productivity gains, inherent to a contemporary and automated production process, from the entry and treatment of raw materials to the packaging of the final product. This will be one of the competitive advantages, where through the implementation of the latest technology, the Company will leverage its competitive indexes in all areas of its production cycle;
- Produce a new range of products for chemical water treatments, innovative and differentiated, with high added value, capable of guaranteeing an efficient and safe use in various applications, meeting the evolution of the market and the sophistication of customer preferences, as well as the requirements of modern industry, which increasingly value innovative solutions at competitive prices;
- Promote the offer of environmentally friendly products, through the development of products for the treatment of boilers and heat exchange circuits for application in customer systems that allow for better thermal and consequently energy performance, thus contributing to the preservation of natural resources and contributing to environmental sustainability itself
- Operate destructive changes in the business model, where all the resources used in the production process will be maximized, either by reducing waste or by using energy resources, partially making the new establishment to be implemented, through the adoption of sources of renewable energy. Innovative organizational practices will emerge, resulting from I4.0, capable of guaranteeing new working methods that will translate into innovative ways with regard to the relationship with workers, partners and customers;
- Streamlining the Company’s presence and performance in terms of its internationalization process, through the promotion of its products and increasing capacity to penetrate new markets through an inbound and outbound communication strategy.
In short, the implementation of the proposed investment project turns out to be fundamental to the strategy outlined by CELLWATER, which is geared towards differentiation, diversification, innovation and energy efficiency as instruments for attracting new customers and generating value, unequivocally reinforcing the Company’s productive capacity and competitiveness in the global market.