Discovering CMZ: in a garage
All great stories start in a garage. If you don't believe us, ask Jeff Bezos or Steve Jobs. The two giants that are Amazon and Apple started that way, in the hands of entrepreneurs ready to take on the world, and boy did they do that! Without wanting to sound pretentious, we think there are some similarities between their stories and ours, mainly in terms of the dream our projects began with.
From less to more
CMZ's beginnings date back to 1945. Back then, a very young Florencio Zumarraga, grandfather of the current directors, planted the seed the company grew from, on the ground floor of a building in the town of Zaldibar, in the Biscay province. Back then, we made all kinds of conventional machinery. We don't know what setbacks Amazon or Apple suffered, but CMZ has had to face several blows throughout its history. It experienced a deep-seated crisis that shaped the identity of the company and, if possible, gave it even more desire to keep going and defend tooth and nail a project they never stopped believing in.
Almost none of the current workforce knew that building. They carry out their day-to-day work in plants that are nothing like the old one. Today it's a very different story, since we have 40,000 square metres spread out over 9 manufacturing plants, one headquarters and 4 European subsidiaries. Everything has evolved, and it is the result of a lot of work and effort.
The short-term forecasts point to sustained growth in projects, and the resources to complete them. At first glance, the company doesn't seem to have anything in common with its origins anymore, however, the common denominator is the eagerness and enthusiasm. Despite delivering over 500 lathes per year to our customers, we still produce each one of them with the same care and enthusiasm as we did when we were getting much fewer orders.
The important thing about stories isn't how or where they start, but where they take you to. We can't wait to discover what the future holds for us.
