Meccanotecnica Umbra was founded in 1966 and in October 1992 took the legal form of a joint stock company. Since its conception, its production has been based almost exclusively on the manufacture of mechanical face seals for electropumps, initially for home appliances and for diverse and light industrial appliances. A few years later, MTU entered into the automotive field, manufacturing seals for pumps for the circulation of the anti-freeze liquid in combustion motors. The development of the company over time has been characterized by the continuous growth of its production and exports. For several years, exports have been around 40% of total revenues, distributed throughout 50 countries, where high-level competitive recognition was attained for the products in an increasingly global market. In 1980, research activity focused on technological innovation was initiated, investing an average of 4% of annual revenues in it. Today, thanks to the considerable experience gained and technical capabilities reached, the R&D department performs research and development on sliding face materials and particularly, on hard carbon - graphite material. This material, on the cutting edge of the market, is produced in-house and constitutes an element of competitive advantage for the company, together with the capacity for advanced design and experimentation of the fluid dynamic performance of the pump system. The production departments currently use highly automated production and inspection lines. The personnel numbers about 200 and is mainly constituted of graduates, with a high percentage of university degree holders. The average age of the personnel is under 40 years old. Training is continuously performed for an average of 15,000 hours a year. In January 2000, the affiliate MTU do Brasil was founded, whose production is essentially directed at countries belonging to MERCOSUR and the North American market. Over the course of 2001, Meccanotecnica also initiated intense commercial activities in areas of Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, where it intends to locate production facilities, through intermediate stages, including, respectively, technical and commercial representation agreements and centers for work on account of manufacture, with the goal of improved protection of those markets. The current Quality System, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, is adapted to the needs of the target markets and certified by an institute on the European level. It also includes the integrated management of Environment and Safety, natural elements for a company located in the region of Italy defined as its green heart, Umbria.