About us

Uchiyama Portugal - Vedantes, Unipessoal Lda., was founded in October 1996, started manufacturing bearing seals in September 1997 and hired its first employees in May 1997. The founding partners were Uchiyama Manufacturing Corp. (UMC) with 90% of the capital and Uchiyama America, Inc. with 10%. In 2015, Uchiyama Manufacturing Corp. took over 100% of the capital, becoming the majority shareholder.

The company is part of the UMC group, founded in 1898. UMC's journey began with the manufacture of cork stoppers at Uchiyama - Cork Stopper and Cork Factory, in Sayo (Japan), which also used cork imported from Portugal. In the 1930s, the factory moved to Okayama and began producing insulating coverings made from granulated cork. In the 1950s, it began manufacturing synthetic rubber products, along with polystyrene products for food industry packaging. In the 1960s, the company changed its name to the one it currently holds - Uchiyama Manufacturing Corp. and in the 1970s, the computer system was introduced at the Okayama plants. At the same time, the production of bottle caps with a "Polimode" polyethylene coating for beer and soft drinks began. Also in this decade, the production of glue joints at Okayama Plant 1 using a rubber injection machine began.

UPV's main historical milestones:

• 1997 – Start of production of general-purpose seals with diameters of Ø30 ~ Ø60 using a compression machine.
• 1998 – Installation of new equipment that has enabled the production of general-purpose seals for diameters up to Ø120.
• 2000 – Quality Certification by Standard QS9000.
• 2002 – Start of production of Hub Seal seals using the injection process.
• 2003 – Start of production of rubber and metal gaskets for car engines.
• 2004 – Environmental Certification, by Standard ISO 14001.
• 2005 – Start of in-house production of metal washers for the manufacture of seals.
• 2007 – Start of in-house rubber production.
• 2007 – Celebration of the 10th anniversary of Uchiyama Portugal - Vedantes, Unipessoal Lda.
• 2009 – Transition of the Standard QS9000 for the Standard ISO/TS 16949.
• 2010 – Start of production of HubSeal compression seals.
• 2011 – Start of production of magnetic seals.
• 2012 – 1st expansion of the factory, with Nave II being built and inaugurated.
• Celebration of the 15th anniversary of Uchiyama Portugal - Vedantes, Unipessoal Lda.
• 2015 - Change of name to Uchiyama Portugal - Vedantes, Unipessoal Lda.
• 2016 – 2nd expansion of the factory, with Nave III and Nave IV being built and inaugurated.
• 2017 - Transition of the Standard ISO/TS 16949 for the Standard IATF 16949.
• 2017 – Celebration of the 20th anniversary of Uchiyama Portugal - Vedantes, Unipessoal Lda.
• 2020 – Pandemic: development of the contingency plan for the Covid 19.
• 2023 – Normalization of the organization's activities after the end of the pandemic period.

This is due to the continuous dedication and commitment of the entire UPV team, the contribution of all our partners and suppliers and the trust of our customers.