Employees

"We have always worked hard and well in Cachapuz. The whole market was already ours, since 1950. We produced weighbridges for the railways, for the Traffic Police and all major national companies. We got to do 60 weighbridges per year and all mechanical! In the 60s we had many business connections in Africa, especially in Mozambique and Tunisia. I remember we had an immense order to Cuba, after the 25th April. Thirty 6 meters weighbridges to weigh the sugar cane production, two 20 x 3,5mt weighbridges to the Havana Customs and four more with 18 meters..."

Joaquim Ferreira, former production responsible.

"I joined Cachapuz in 1947: when I left, I was lacking two months to complete 50 years of service in this company. It's half a century of my life... Besides me, five children of mine have worked (and still work) here. This company is like a family. But in our days we worked harder and everyone did everything: we welded, we cut iron.When we travelled (to assemble weighbridges), we got to be more than one month away from home, as it happened when we flew to the Azores." 

José Agostinho, former assembler.

"I have joined Cachapuz five times, I have emigrated and I worked in several competitors companies. What distinguishes Cachapuz is that... it is the "mother", that is, it is the pioneer and the rest were just the followers of its ideas. For example, the CPFs (antifraud scales manufactured in the 70s) which we designed and were only manufactured by us!"

António Miranda, former production technician.

"Cachapuz had the monopoly of everything. I got to go abroad: to Mozambique, two or three times and Angola after I had already been there in the army. In Tunisia we faced some difficulties because of the cultural differences but we are Portuguese and we adapted ourselves and it never pinched the commercial contacts, on the contrary! I left Cachapuz not even a year ago. It was the best thing I had in life, these 48 years in Cachapuz. I have not a single bad memory."

Joaquim Silva, former assembler.