The production plants of companies such as Grifols, Damm, Cobega or Nutrexpa bear the seal of Indus, a family engineering firm with more than 70 years of history in Barcelona.
The trust it has gained from large industrial companies is the result of its pioneering vision at the time, but also of the commitment of three family generations. Josep Pedrerol founded the business in 1952, when there were hardly any engineering firms in the city. “Historically, architects despised industrial projects and we went looking for them”, comment today the partners Ramon and Jordi Pedrerol, members of the second generation, together with Àgata, Gaspar and David Pedrerol, members of the third generation who are in charge of the address.
The company gained prestige when it opened a structural calculation center in its offices on Via Augusta in Barcelona in 1971. “We made a significant investment to buy a calculation computer, it was the first one in the city. It provided services to external professionals, especially to the group of quantity surveyors”, they remember. But in the 1990s, the service began to decline as the desktop computer gained popularity. So over time, Indus ended up limiting its activity to the development of comprehensive projects for large companies.
“We have become strong in food, beverages, pharmacy and cosmetics. We operate in Spain, we have a delegation in Madrid, and we punctually accompany local companies abroad”.
The family assures that it withstood the 2008 crisis well – without applying drastic layoffs – because of its historical link with large companies that withstood the bursting of the bubble. Witness to the changes, Indus has also been updating its operations to digital advances. Just as he opened the data center in the 1970s, he is now working on migrating his designs from 2D plans to 3D. “It is a hard process because it requires a lot of technological effort from personnel who have been with the company for many years,” acknowledges the family, which employs 80 people directly.
Despite the efforts, the business is in good health. With an ebitda (gross profit) that fluctuates between 5% and 10%, Indus invoiced 7.1 million euros in 2021, a figure that registered a record and that grew by 24% compared to 2020. This year, the company expects to record a similar figure. “The arrival of European funds is promoting many projects, there is a desire to do things in the industry”, they celebrate.
4
