Plaginsa, our first 40 years

An important anniversary that confirms Plaginsa’s commitment to choices guided by quality and innovation for sustainable development

It is the 40th anniversary for Plaginsa, headquartered in Alicante, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of rubber and EVA sheets for the manufacture of soles for footwear and more. At Lineapelle, the CEO Javier Navarro, son of the founder Gaspar Navarro Mora, points out the stages of success achieved with professionalism and passion and handed down by two generations.
Javier Navarro, how did the company come about?
“2023 celebrates the prestigious milestone of the first 40 years since the foundation of Plaginsa. At that time there were not many rubber sheet manufacturers. My father, who was already working in the footwear industry, saw a truckload of rubber plates arriving from northern Spain every week for the Alicante footwear district. From here he had the idea of creating a specialized company in the area capable of serving local manufacturing. And in 1983 the adventure began.”
The issues of the environment and sustainability are on everyone’s lips today. How are you committed to a sustainable development path?
“Sustainability is a need, but also a trend, and there is still a long way to go. We introduced the sheet made of recycled material 40 years ago, when nobody was talking about it yet. Thoughout the years, we have evolved a lot, keeping quality our main goal. Our product is not among the cheapest, but it is durable, innovative, sustainable, made with cutting-edge production methods and technologies. Since there are still few rubber sheet factories in the world, we often find ourselves in the position of having to study machines tailored to our production needs in-house. Nowadays, we are investing in obtaining certifications and the recovery of production waste to meet with the new customer demands.”
What are your reference markets, other than footwear?
“For about twenty years we have been operating in several sectors beyond that of footwear, which however remains our core business. For example, that of gym flooring accounts for 20% of turnover. We work in the agricultural sector, that represents 5% of our turnover (rubber mattresses for cows) and in the acoustic insulation sector. In addition to the footwear fairs, we participate in Rimini Wellness, FIBO in Germany and IHRSA, California (rubber flooring for gyms).”
How was the recovery after the pandemic?
“We have felt a reduction in our business in Asia, mainly in China, however we are not affected by a decline in production overall. Due to the skyrocketing costs of energy and raw materials we had to raise prices, just like all the other manufacturing companies. With the pandemic there has been an increase in the demand for comfortable and sporty footwear, and therefore for EVA, now there is a greater demand for elegant shoes, consequently we are more focused on the production of rubber for heeled shoes. In conclusion, as of today Plaginsa offers a very versatile production to satisfy the demand of each type of customer. This fact along with the quality of our rubber sheets, is what really makes us different and strong against our competitors. Meanwhile we are thinking about how to celebrate the anniversary, also to pay homage to our 180 workers, many of whom started collaborating with my father 40 years ago.”