Driven by electronic innovation Meta System

DRIVEN BY While remaining true to its Italian roots, electronic security system specialist Meta System SpA continues to expand in European and international markets, thanks to its high-quality products, innovative solutions and excellent service. Barbara Rossi speaks to the company’s ELECTRONIC CEO, Giuseppe Simonazzi. INNOVATION

Established in Reggio Emilia in 1973, today Meta System SpA has five sites (plus head office) in Reggio Emilia and one in Mornago, Varese, from which it carries out its electronics focused activity, developing innovative ideas from product design to customer service. The company develops and produces a wide range of products and active/passive electronic security systems, as well as next-generation comfort solutions, including both hardware and software. Products are supplied with all necessary certifications and homologations.

The northern Italian company, which overall employs 656 people, holds various certifications, namely quality-focused ISO 9001, environmentally focused ISO 14001, data management ISO 27001, AVSQ94 for OEM Auto Product division (ANFIA specifications), ISO/TS 16949, and automotive SPICE (ISO/IEC 15504) for the development of software in the OEM domain.

In 2012, Meta System SpA achieved a €130 million turnover, €120 million of which derived from accessories and equipment for the OEM, OES and telematic automotive market segments. The range offered to OEMs is mainly centred round safety and security products, with the former being products for the cockpit and the vehicle, and the latter regarding parking system models and accessories for comfort. In particular, in the last couple of years, the company has developed power modules, which are inverters for electric cars, having supplied and currently being involved in manufacturing battery chargers, as well as electric engine controls, for large German and French automotive manufacturers. The range offered to the OES sector partly overlaps with that supplied to OEMs, while the telematics solutions are mainly linked to the Italian and European insurance world, as Meta System produces black boxes sold to final users, who thanks to this equipment have the advantage of paying lower insurance premiums. These products are thus indirectly funded by the insurance sector and to date, out of the 4 million vehicles fitted with this equipment which are circulating in Europe, 3 million have installed Meta System’s boxes. The telematics range also includes products for home security, still linked to the insurance sector.

As mentioned, in Reggio Emilia there are five sites, located close to each other, plus the head offices. One of these sites is

dedicated to logistics, one is focused on R&Dt, and the remainder deal with general production. In Mornago, on the other hand, where originally the site was opened in 2006 (and then expanded in 2012) production is exclusively focused on equipment for OEMs, accompanied by R&D activities. Furthermore, there is a production plant in Shenzhen, China, which is currently manufacturing for the Italian company, but which in future, probably in 2014, will initiate production for the Chinese automotive OEM market, in particular for European automotive manufacturers based there. While Meta System invested significantly before 2008, before the beginning of the economic downturn, since then investments have been mainly channelled into the expansion of the Mornago site, thanks to which the productive potential of the company has increased by one-third, effectively making it ready for the increase in production volumes expected for the 2014–2020 period, thanks to contracts already signed with automotive manufacturers. Here automation has been implemented, allowing the company to greatly widen its activity in terms of design and of the number of units produced.

Riding on electrics

As previously discussed, development of new products has been linked to the electric car and scooter world, for which the company has produced battery chargers for new vehicles.