Soon rimsa would honour its name, making the valuation of its by-products the main engine of its growth. In this way, the by-product obtained from the bar processing became a value-added additive for the friction industry.

Likewise, the by-product obtained from the steel wool manufacturing process became a value-added by-product for the reinforcement of pavements, capable of replacing the welded mesh and making the application of the concrete reinforcement more sustainable and economic.

We open our market even more than before. The incorporation of the second generation in the family business drives the leap across the Atlantic. Our founder and his son -current CFO and Comercial director of rimsa- attended one of the most important friction fairs in the United States, SAE BRAKE, which was held in San Francisco, CA.

A successful tour that led us to designate a delegate in the United States to cover the North American market and to expand our sales team in our office in Spain, in order to begin our immersion in the Latin American market.

Thanks to our constant research, always supported by cutting edge technology and experimental tests, we launched our first r wave 50 steel fibre reinforced industrial flooring calculation software. This allowed us to drive our growth, offering our clients better-optimized solutions in costs and security terms.

Aiming to consolidate our international expansion, we acquired the goodwill and machinery of PBW, an English company which until then was one of our major competitors in the friction market.

Besides, this year we built a new laboratory to increase and improve our innovation capacity a core value for our company.

The automotive market boom in Asia was unstoppable during the second decade of the 21st century. Thus, one of our greater goals accomplished was to open up to the Asian market, which was possible after attending -for the first time as exhibitors to the China Friction & Sealing Material Association.

To respond to the Asian market needs, we incorporated into our team our first sales advisor based in Beijing.

During this year, we achieved a great impetus towards diversification, adding a wide range of abrasives to our friction catalogue.

Likewise, in our construction line, we improved our capabilities for applications that require a high dosage of fibres, with the addition of a new reference to our catalogue, the r glued 60/0,75, a glued fibre with shaped ends, that is applied in pavements with demanding technical requirements.

It was an important year for us, we also developed a more efficient software for steel fibres dosage calculations, in which we include all of our references, thus guaranteeing better quality for both fibres and its possible applications.

Always working to create innovative products, we expanded and improved our R&D and Quality departments facilities building a new laboratory with new characterization equipment. Also, we started our first industrial PhD within the company.

Besides, we continue to improve our calculation software by developing a new version which performs calculations for slabs without retraction joints made with CRC (Compensated Retraction Concrete).

Likewise, our reference r hook 20/0,75 begins to be used for maintenance and consolidation of slopes and tunnels in several state constructions all over Spain. Also, our references r glued 60/0,75 and r hook 50/0,80 were used in pavements of important logistics operator works, and our reference r hook 35/0,75 in the prefabrication of urban furniture.

We are very proud of these 35-years in which we have worked hard to develop innovative solutions, contributing to the development of industry and society.

This year, we have started our second industrial PhD and have increased our testing capacity of our friction customers' applications. And last but not least, we have been consolidating new strategic alliances to offer more and better solutions to our customers.