Team Spirit, Sharing, Cooperation, Mutual Aid and Fellowship are the values associated with the EPICS Award, an initiative that FREZITE has promoted since 2014. The six winners in Group companies from different geographies were announced on 17 December. The highlight was the renewal of the award, for the second consecutive year, to the winning employees from Iberia and the United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico and the Czech Republic.

Two employees in 2021 received the Career Award, given to those who complete two decades of service to the company. In parallel, FREZITE also rewarded the best ideas submitted by employees throughout the year. For the seventh time a monetary prize was awarded to the best idea received in 2021 for organisational improvement. In this edition the winner was a programmer from the Metal Division of FREZITE who proposed automating the feeding of a robot for continuous sharpening in 24-hour shifts.

On the 14th of December the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and University Education, Manuel Heitor, accompanied by the president of Agência Nacional de Inovação (the Portuguese Innovation Agency) and other representatives from ANI and from the cluster Portugal Space visited the FREZITE Group. The visit to FHP, in Oporto, and to the Trofa facilities allowed the committee to learn about the projects in which FREZITE is involved and the technology and innovation that it develops daily in the areas of space and cutting tools.

On 9 December a group of mechanical engineering students from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) visited the facilities of the FREZITE Group, in Trofa. An initiative carried out under the corporate social responsibility policy, by which FREZITE promotes cooperation actions with educational institutions, keeping the reception of trainees from different organizations, both in Portugal and in its branches.

The European Roller Hockey Championship, which took place between 15 and 20 November in Paredes, Portugal, was supported by FREZITE. For some years now, FREZITE has been associated with international competitions in this sport with a strong tradition in Southern Europe.

To support the industry, FREZITE got together with its partners in events that have been presenting live demonstrations on woodworking technologies for wood and wood-based materials. The initiatives have been taking place since September, in Portugal and Spain. Besides equipping the machines, demonstrating the performance of the tools, FREZITE has taken advantage of these opportunities to better promote some of its star products, as the Serenus silent saw and the Suave cutter made of polycrystalline diamond.

Measurement and metrological control has a critical role, both in the control of production processes and in the final quality of the product. That is why FREZITE has been investing in training its employees in new dimensional control tactics to update the geometric focus. The use of 3D referential adjusted to the system, ensures standards to reliably reproduce the best results, always aiming for continuous improvement of people and processes.

As an industry innovation partner, FREZITE supports professionals in the manufacturing of efficient wooden frame windows, under the support programme "More Sustainable Buildings". It must be emphasised the characteristics of wood in terms of thermal and acoustic performance, as well as being a natural and sustainable material. Its underway the 2nd phase of Portuguese government incentives for changing windows to A+ class efficiency solutions, as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, which focuses on energy efficiency in buildings as a priority for economic recovery.
https://youtu.be/BumfmTWGTZI

Published monthly by AICEP - Investments and Foreign Trade Agency of Portugal, Portugal Global magazine informs about markets, companies, internationalization, and investment. With specialized information on current economic and business issues, in this month of June it presents the FREZITE Group. See HERE.

FREZITE has renewed its showroom, providing it with an area dedicated to technical training for customers - who can follow the entire testing process - as well as for its own employees. In this space the customer can also receive consultancy on engineering applications, perform tests and create simulation environments of its prototyping production.

This partnership began last year with FREZITE providing tools to the university project consisting of engineering students from the Portuguese Instituto Superior Técnico working on the development of a boat powered exclusively by solar energy. Besides promoting renewable energy, sustainability and electric mobility, Técnico Solar Boat also participates in international competitions. With the sponsorship renewed in 2021, the team has already completed the new prototype, the SR03, and is ready for the summer's competitions, after having won, last year, the Innovation Award at the Monaco Solar & Energy Boat Challenge. FREZITE continues promoting innovation and sustainability.

At the FREZITE Group, Sustainability and Innovation are integral parts of the same challenge. That is why the company has installed in the Trofa production units, In Portugal, more than 1500 photovoltaic panels in an area of over 2600 m2, which has already allowed it to produce more than 830 000 kWh. This energy saving would be enough to power about 170 houses/year. FREZITE making the difference.

Fast construction combined with unquestionable technical qualities, thermal insulation, sturdiness, and economy are reasons why the number of houses built of wood around the world is increasing. FREZITE also has a growing range of solutions in cutting tools for log houses. Under the motto "We Love Wood", FREZITE continues to value this construction process and all who seek a more sustainable lifestyle, this system has zero carbon impact (passive house).

The positive outlook was made by the Chairman of FREZITE in an interview to the Portuguese digital newspaper "ECO". Even with a fall in turnover between 5% and 6% a year during the pandemic, the FREZITE Group did not lay-off or reduce the workforce and took advantage of the Covid-19 crisis to leverage other new business niches. See here the interview under "Overcoming the Crisis”.

In ECO Sapo
https://eco.sapo.pt/2021/04/17/frezite-resiste-a-pandemia-com-aposta-em-novos-nichos-de-negocio/

In an increasingly digital world, FREZITE invested in a platform to facilitate its interaction with the customer. Through FREZITE@connect the customer can access the history of products already purchased, drawings, quality reports; request for new quotations and access to previous ones, manage orders, the current payments account and eventual complaints. Information at the reach of a click and that can be search on a PC or a mobile phone.

The company has supplied tools to two of Europe's leading manufacturers of high-density foam insulation panels (EPS and XPS). The special configuration of the tools developed by FREZITE for these materials promotes better chip flow, allowing working at high feed speeds. In addition to the excellent cutting quality, the customers highlighted the reduced noise levels, which improves the working environment, the operators' comfort and consequently their performance.

The PSEM - Mobile Energy Sustainability Project, formed by a group of Students from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST Lisbon - Portugal) develops highly efficient electric vehicles. This team participates and has been achieving recognition and awards in the Greenpower Challenge, an international competition created to challenge young students and some companies to invest in the development of sustainable vehicles for the future. The PSEM has the support of FREZITE in the execution of its prototypes.

Partner of innovation in the Footwear and Leather Industry, FREZITE identifies the need to innovate, reducing waste, as a driving factor to develop cutting tools that are increasingly productive, profitable and environmentally friendly.