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| PAINT&PINTURA |Agosto2017
midwesternregionoftheStateofMinasGerais,currently
employing 120peopleandoperating twomines.
Now celebrating its 70 years of existence, Lamil was
founded by João Ribeiro Lage, who graduated as an
agricultural technicianat EscolaSuperiordeAgronomia
deViçosa,MinasGerais in 1940, andwhose lifewas de-
voted to the prospection for, and the exploitation and
beneficiationof, themineral agalmatolite. “Takingafter
hismaternalgrandfather,whowasaminer,heventured
into goldmining operation in a region known as Cas-
quilho, in theneighboringmunicipalityofPitangui. João
wasgoing tohaveahard time, ashenever really found
any actual gold. He then tried and prospected for rock
crystal at the Paivas grotto inPará deMinas, but again
tonoavail,”saysSérgioLage,co-ownerandchairmanof
theExecutiveBoard.
A restlessspirit, thecompany’s founderwould tryother
linesof businessbeforehis chancefindingof agalmato-
lite,accordingtoSérgio.“Onafarmadjacenttotheranch
ownedbyhis father, JoséCustódioMartinsLage,which
belonged toAntônioCândidodeAguiar, João Lage ran
intoastonethatwasgoingtoshapehisdestiny.Succeed-
inganagentthathadstarteduptheminingactivityafew
yearsearlier, João leased thedeposit for all of onehun-
dredcruzeirospermonth,asBrazil’scurrencywasnamed
back then, andeachmonthhewouldextractasmuchas
twenty tons of agalmatolite, as per the Public Deed of
AssignmentofMiningRightsfiledwith the2ndRegistry
for the Judicial District of ParádeMinas and registered
in the relevant Real Estate Registry. The reason why
we thing this is extremely relevant is because, until not
long ago, we thought that 1958was the establishment
year of Lamil. But, while organizing our files, we came
acrossdocumentation showing that thecreationof our
companyhadactuallytakenplace11yearsbefore.We’ve
kept abundant documentation from that time, such as
contracts, deeds, reportsandphotographicmaterial.”
Sérgio says that starting in 1958, the company was re-
namedLageMinériosLtda., goingbyLamil for short, as
twoof João Lage’s brothers joined it. “But during that
prior 11-year period, itwasmy father’s individual entre-
preneurial endeavor. In our view, it is befitting to that
hismemory behonoredby our counting that period as
we celebrate themilestones achievedbyour company,
which incidentally is attaining 70 years in business in
August 2017.”
In 1960 Joãobought himself both theproperty and the
mining rights. Up until 1969, the productionwas sold exclu-
sively in the rough, as ore blocks, and transported by open
railcar tobeneficiationplants located inSãoPauloandRiode
Janeiro. From that year on, several pieces of grindingequip-
ment were gradually purchased and installed in sheds that
housed thecompany’sproductionand storage, asSérgioex-
plains.“Inthe1980’s, investmentsweremade intonewdeposit
acquisitions,whileproduction reacheda leveloaround5,000
metric tonspermonth. In spiteof all of theproblems arising
out of the Collor administration back in the early 1990’s, on
thebrightsidewastheopeningofBrazil’seconomytoforeign
trade,whichforcedtheBrazilianmanufacturingsectortoseek
andsetparametersthatwouldallow ittobring itselfuptothe
standards of the international competition. That entailed in-
vesting intechnologywithaviewtoensuringcompetitiveness
andthenkeeping itupasthecompetitiongrew.Lamilwasno
exception. Investmentswerecontinuouslymadeduring that
period into improvingprocessresourcesandbringingthemup
to industrystandards,aprocess thatwould laterculminate in
the ISO9000certification.”
PACKAGINGMATERIALS - PERFORMANCECLOSURES
Tampaflexdesignsanddevelops the leadingclosure systems
forchemical,paintandcoatingspackagingmaterials,ensuring
total safety, strengthanddurability.
Formally Tampaflex Industrial, the company started out in
1999 in the city of Curitiba, Paraná (Brazil), as a producer
of retractable caps for the containers used by the chemical
industry.Over theyears, Tampaflexextended theirexpertise
to thepaint andcoatings industry.
Thecompanycurrentlycoversanareaof3,300squaremeters,
employs 55people, is certifiedunder ISO9001:2015, andhas
the installed capacity to turnout around 20millionunits for
the chemical market at large. “Tampaflex makes products
that have a very good reputation in this industry, among
them the57-MIXflow rate lid, for usewithmixingmachines,
and retractable caps for solvent and glue containers aswell
asapprovedcans. Inaddition, ourRel lids,whichareusedon
catalystcontainers,areproductsthatprovideassuredclosure
and safety for themarketplace,” says general manager Ad
emirForumLopes,thechiefexecutiveatTampaflex Industrial.
While thecompanysuppliescustomersdirectly in 16Brazilian
states,especiallytheStateofSãoPaulo, itsproducts reachall
other states throughmajor distributorswith brand recogni-
tion, according to Lopes. “Tampaflexwin a significant share
in thepaintandcoatingsmarketwith itsclosuresystems that
canplayanactiverole in improvingproductqualityandsafety