During this financial year the Azkoyen Group will invest
a thousand million pesetas in R&D&I, a large proportion
of which will be used for the development and application
of solutions to adapt methods of payment and vending machines
to the euro. The Group has cooperation agreements with
various Spanish and European technological centres and
universities.
The figure is slightly higher than in 1999 when the
Azkoyen Group used 5% of its turnover for research and
development. A further 1,800 million pesetas in tangible
fixed assets will be added to these investments directed
at increasing the productive capacity of its industrial
plants in Peralta, Navarre. A total of 72 people currently
work in the research and development department.
Vending and catering, which were the lines of business
with the most growth during the 1999 financial year,
represent 70% of the Azkoyen Group's sales, and all
of its machines are already prepared for the new demands
of methods of payment, including adaptation to the euro.
"The permanent technological adaptation of all
products to the characteristics and requirements of
the various markets and countries is a constant factor
for the Azkoyen Group", according to statements
made by its Chairman, Ignacio Orbaiceta, at the General
Shareholders Meeting held recently. At the same meeting,
the entry into circulation of the euro was described
as "upcoming extraordinary demand".
"We are optimistic about the future. The market
forecasts point to sustained and continuous growth in
our turnover and in the coming years our markets and
products will expand", the same sources said to
this newspaper. He maintained that the forthcoming entry
into force of the euro is forcing the Group to allocate
considerable resources to making the necessary technical
and production adaptations so that it can be in the
front line of competition.
The Azkoyen Group, with more than 300 registered patents
registered and a presence in 40 countries, bases its
growth on innovation and currently its sales on the
international markets represent 33.9% of the total turnover.
Azkoyen is the leading Spanish manufacturer of automatic
vending machines (hot and cold drinks, tobacco and food),
mechanisms for the selection and monitoring of methods
of payment, catering and coffee machinery and other
complementary products (sugar, teas, etc.).
COMMANDS AT THE MACHINE
"The Azkoyen selectors will have no problem distinguishing
between coins, even in machines installed years ago",
confirmed official sources in the Group.
The new automatic vending machines, and the current
ones, will not be one hundred percent operational until
the European currency enters into circulation in January
2002, when the current national currencies and the euro
will be operating side by side. The new generations
of coin mechanisms, which are currently being developed,
already take into account the characteristics of the
euro and the technical specifications.
The machines that the Azkoyen Group currently sells
only need a single command in their programming in order
to begin to accept euros from the appropriate date.
These commands will be given to the more modern machines
without them having to be moved or transported at all.
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