Amtrol-Alfa began by manufacturing petrol pumps, but within a few years the company specialised in gas cylinders. Today it produces more than 800 models in six factories, most of which are exported to more than 60 countries.
Over the past 50 years, Amtrol-Alfa has consolidated its position as the largest European manufacturer of gas cylinders, a journey marked by different priorities and milestones over the decades. "In the seventies, we focused on productivity. In the eighties, we added quality to the productivity we had already mastered. In the nineties, we began to realise that these two components were no longer enough, and we entered the era of innovation as a differentiating factor," explains Tiago Oliveira, the company's director.
The first step was to invest in incremental innovation, but later the company ventured into more disruptive innovation. "I think the Portuguese remember the PLUMA bottle. That was our first radical innovation project," recalls Tiago Oliveira. And they will undoubtedly remember it, especially those who often transported gas bottles and saw them drastically reduced in weight.
