ADIRA are an innovative engineering company that lead the Iberian Peninsula in the manufacture of hydraulic bending and cutting machines for sheet metal work. They are the only Iberia-wide company that design, manufacture and sell laser cutting machines, as technological demonstrators in that area of business. Founded in 1956, they started exporting in 1967 to Holland and Switzerland and in 1968 attended, for the first time, an international fair, in Germany. Their exports increased rapidly and consistently and, in 1994, ADIRA became the first European manufacturers to gain an ISO 9000 certificate, and the first in the world to gain EC certification for their whole range of products. ADIRA solutions are used in such varied areas of business as the automotive and aeronautical industries, naval shipyards, telecommunications, computers, renewable energies, metal and office furniture, design articles, metal constructions, cutlery, lifts and domestic electrical appliances. ADIRA are present throughout the world and business partners of institutions and companies such as NASA, Boeing, Lockheed, Bombardier, OGMA, TAP Portugal, Air France, Vulcano, Salvador Caetano, Metalogalva, Galucho, Martifer, Leci-Trailer, Zamarbu, Siemens, Motorola, Efacec, Alfa Laval, Thyssen, Carrier, the US Navy and Casa Branca, and a large number of other smaller and larger companies. More than 70 per cent of ADIRA machines are destined for the international market, being exported to Europe, the United States, Latin America, Asia and Oceania.

ISQ – Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade – is a technical and scientific institute, whose main mission is to contribute to the continuing improvement of Portuguese industry and services with international visibility. ISQ was set up in 1965.  It currently has 750 people in its books, a Head Office in Oeiras and 7 Delegations/Offices throughout the country (most prominently its Northern Delegation), as well as 21 permanent laboratories and a mobile one. Its range is very diverse, covering areas such as Research and Development, Technical Inspections, Training, the Environment, Energy and Safety, Structural Integrity and Maintenance, Production Technologies, and Materials Flow and Logistics. With the aim of improving Portuguese performance in both services and industry, the Institute has so far sponsored more than 3,300 staff training courses in the areas listed above. The mission of ISQ is to contribute towards the continuing improvement in the quality of Portuguese industry and services with international visibility. It gives technical and scientific support to both state and private concerns in the areas of technology development and transfers, product innovation, re-structuring of quality control and management processes, hygiene and safety, environmental controls and upgrading of human resources.