At the end of the 1950s, the embryo of the current ULMA Group was created when six young mechanics began their business career in an old shop in Oñati with the intention of dedicating themselves to maintenance and support work for the then-prosperous local chocolate industry. A few years later, in 1961, after several meetings with José Mª Arizmendiarrieta, who inspired the Mondragon cooperative experience, these young people decided to create the industrial cooperative Talleres ULMA S.C.I., dedicated to the manufacturing of wrapping machines. In 1963, the hard work of its founders was validated by the introduction to the Spanish market of the first JJEIP prefabricated scaffolding. At the same time, it focused on the production of fences and grandstands, which premiered at the World Cycling Championships in Lasarte in 1965.

During the same period, four workers from Forjas de Zubillaga acquired a locksmith’s workshop and accessories and set about manufacturing balconies, metal doors and other forged products. In 1962, the cooperative GAITU S.C.I. was officially founded, later becoming ENARA. Its growth and consolidation led to the manufacture of flanges after the acquisition of a drop hammer that would transform the company and be the basis for its further development.

In 1986, the Oñati-based OÑALAN Regional Group was formed by ENARA, ULMA and OINAKAR, the latter sponsored in 1984 by the cooperative bank Caja Laboral Popular and dedicated to the marketing of forklift trucks. In 1986 OÑALAN was renamed the ULMA Group, and 3 years later the brand and corporate logo were created.

These were the beginnings of the ULMA Group, a business story that highlights the enthusiasm and entrepreneurial nature of its founders and of the thousands of cooperative members and workers who have taken up the baton since then. They carry on with the commitment to the cooperative model whose wealth is passed on to society as a whole.

The brands created to market the first products and companies, the base and origin of the current ULMA Group, attest to the entrepreneurial character, knowledge and determination of its founders.

ULMA Group

We are ULMA, a business group committed to our people and the environment. Our enterprise is designed by and for people, and is open to an increasingly globalized world. We form one of the largest business groups in northern Spain, with more than 53 years of experience in the market. Our clear commitment to innovation, employment and added value has been our most outstanding characteristic from the outset.

Linked from the beginning to the Mondragon Cooperatives, we still form part of this great family today. We are now fully immersed in Mondragon’s environment of cutting-edge education, finance, research and social welfare organizations. Throughout all these years, we have been building our path with a culture based on strong corporate values. This makes the ULMA Group a project for the future as well as the present, placing us on the cutting edge of technology and of the advanced and optimised work processes of the future.

All in all, the ULMA Group is a solid group with a marked personality. This is thanks to the effort and future vision of the people who made this corporate family possible, and to the many influences that they felt: Their feeling of belonging to a community of solidarity, their participation and involvement in a common project, and their confidence in their ability to move the project forward. The appreciation and pride in the people who are part of ULMA Group’s history and the transmission of this positive and enterprising outlook to future generations are the essence of the ULMA Brand.

Manufacturers of high-performance flanges and forged products since 1962

Our headquarters are located in the Basque town of Oñati, in the north of Spain, an area with a long industrial tradition. Our state-of-the-art facilities together with our highly qualified professional staff allow us to offer an extremely wide range of flanges and high-performance forged products. Our line of products meets the highest standards of quality, productivity and reliability. Adding the latest technology to our experience and tradition of excellence, we have developed an unquestionable reputation for quality and service. The strict quality standards behind ULMA’s management systems allow us to develop products and services that satisfy the needs of all our clients.

Our high-performance flanges and forged products are made from a variety of top-quality materials such as carbon steel, stainless steel, duplex – super duplex, inconel, titanium, and other special alloys. ULMA’s high-performance flanges and forged products are designed and manufactured to withstand the most adverse conditions with durability assured even in specialized industries such as oil and gas, petrochemical, energy and mineral refining.

In 2010, ULMA Forja S.Coop. acquired Forjas de Lazcano/SFP, a world leader in the production of special forging pieces founded in 1969 in the town of Lazcano or Lazkao, just 30 minutes from ULMA’s headquarters in Oñati.

This merger has not only reinforced our leadership in the industrial piping sector, but will also facilitate the expansion of our services and products in industries such as:

• Oil and gas
• Shipbuilding
• Food processing
• Nuclear energy
• Power generation
• Railway transport
• Defense
• Aerospace
• Mining
• Pharmaceuticals