HISTORY

FABRICA ARGENTINA DE PORCELANAS ARMANINO S.A.

65 years of an Argentine company, pioneer in the energetic development.

Since 65 years ago, Fabrica Argentina de Porcelanas Armanino S.A. has been manufacturer of porcelain insulators and overvoltage arresters, elements which carry out an important role, taking part in the transmission and distribution of low, medial and high tension power lines.

Its founders were Professor Leopoldo Armanino and his brother Aquiles who began the task of building this factory with a huge spirit of job and research. Factory that at the very beginning, in 1938 got its bearings on hotel dishes.

So it is that the first Argentine company of white porcelain was born.

With the event of that time, the Second World War mainly, a braket in the imports which catered for the necessities – till that moment they were agribusiness mainly- was opened.

These events made the brothers think about replacing the manufacture of dishes by the porcelain with electrical purpose. For this reason they modified the installations for a serial production of insulators and with the fix purpose of making a high quality product which could achieve to set itself and eliminate the abroad dependence.

It was achieved widely and today, with an experience of 65 years, FAPA makes of the constant technological development its foundations of permanent overcoming.

In 1954 FAPA built the first and biggest laboratory of High Tension in Latin America with a capacity of 1.100.000 volts. It became FAPA in the unique Argentine and Latin American company, in that epoch, that developed the manufacture of insulators for High Tension lines (132 and 220 Kv).

Then a period of great growth would come, enclosing the development of the 60's and 70's with the vigorous strength of a national industrial bourgeoisie which was the engine of the Argentine development. During this period FAPA was present in most of the big Power Transmission works such as the first Nihuil I and II; Atucha; lines of 132 and 220 Kv; and the large majority of the country's water and power grid.

In the 70's and facing the technological requirement for the new 500 kv. lines, FAPA hired the assistance of a prestigious Japanese firm. The application of new manufacture and control techniques and an own staff of technicians and engineers highly capable who give to the company a grading competency that ended up some years later in two very important development:

First, the porcelain insulators with high quantity of Alumina Ceralum (in suspension Insulators as well as in insulators like support type), and second a whole line of OZN over-voltage arresters.

This overcoming goes on valid, updating with the incorporation of new products whose reliability is guaranteed no only by tests in its own laboratories but also in national and international others of well known prestige.

The plant is placed at present in a lot of 27.000 m2 in Monte Grande. With its production it satisfies the requirements of the industry.

The high tension insulators demand severe conditions which must fulfill national norms like IRAM and international norms like IEC, ANSI, etc. and exhaustive programs of quality such as ISO 9001/2000 which has been certified in 2003.

All the manufacture steps becomes in a singular relevance in order to achieve an optimal quality of the element that copies itself in an effective service in the definite installation.

In its production, the manufacture of suspension and retention insulators, fix bolt insulators, support insulators for transformer stations and interrupters and a wide rage of technical products for other applications stands out. Suspension insulators with high Alumina Ceralum porcelain chain, first and unique in their sort of 16 tons in Latin America, glass insulators, the over-voltage arresters for protection of substations in two versions: silicon carbide and oxide of zinc.

Also at the beginning of the 90 decade it was started the research and development of polymeric insulators which were launched to the market in 1995. These insulators in spite of no being substitute of the porcelain one because of their characteristics, they are having great demand and FAPA occupies an important place in the national market.

Being FAPA leader in the market and useful for all country's power companies, in direct way or through firms of public works contractors, its aims are not limited to the national segment but it is defined as an export feature that projects itself to Latin America, covering necessities of multiple companies, suppliers of energy generation, transmission and distribution services.

Thanks to its Directors' determination and the common job of specialized professionals, technicians and hard-workers, FAPA produces results which are pride of an industry of vital importance in the national energetic development.