An international outlook Amisco Group

AN INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK

Manufacturing coils, solenoids and pilot valves, the Italy-based Amisco Group is an international supplier to the pneumatics, hydraulics, fluid control and automotive sectors, amongst others. At this year’s Hannover Messe show it will be presenting new products for the refrigeration industry, as Daniele Garavaglia discovers.

Amisco’s history goes back to 1936 when Alessandro Novellone set up a company manufacturing transceivers and, later, television sets. This company was renamed ‘Amisco’ in 1974 and since then it has grown to be a world leader in the manufacture of coils, solenoids and pilot valves. “Our products are used in several industries: pneumatics, hydraulics, fluid control and automotive. This latter has been experiencing an upward trend in the past three years,” explains Cesare Novellone, president and general manager of the group and son of the founder. Today he runs the company alongside his sisters Donata and Alessandra.

Four branches

The Amisco Group is composed of four separate branches, as Mr Novellone explains: “Production is concentrated in our headquarters in Paderno Dugnano (Milan). This facility, covering an area of 8000 square metres, is home to various strategic functions such as design, QA, process documentation and laboratory testing. Its Italian affiliates are Sali (based in Castelleone, near Cremona), responsible for medium-volume production; and Sacem (Arcore, near Monza), which takes care of the assembly and final testing of pneumatic components for solenoids. In 2006, Amisco Acsc was established in Shenzhen to manufacture coils for the Far Eastern market.”

The group has an aggregated turnover of more than €50 million and 370 employees, who systematically attend training and motivational courses. Broadly speaking, its products fall into two categories: standard products and customised products. In the past few years, the group has been widening its standard product range with the aim of phasing out customised products as they require higher investments in moulds and equipment for customers.

“We’ve been thoroughly revising our 10mm, 15mm, and 22mm valve ranges,” says Mr Novellone. “One of our ongoing projects is a solenoid we have developed for the refrigeration industry named EVI3 PS16. Coils for the automotive sector are another field of potential development: we are enhancing this kind of items in our Chinese site and plan to expand on the European market.”

A selected range of suppliers

All Amisco products come with a strict quality guarantee and are fully tested throughout every stage of production. Its design and development staff supports customers in launching new models by sharing project files, supplying moulds and equipment and performing extensive preliminary testing. In fact, the group was one of the first Italian companies to be certified according to the ISO 9000 standard. Furthermore, in the year 2000 it implemented lean production in its factories, splitting manufacturing into machining centres dedicated to a single product or product family.

Amisco’s relationship with its suppliers is key to its success. It works with some of the leading players in several industry sectors, including Casarollo Piero, Almet, Mca, and

Gi.fe for metal shearing, and Spema and Ghidini Elettromeccanica for assembling processes. The companies Irce, Elektrisola Atesina and Essex Italy are its copper suppliers for coils. When it comes to plastics, major suppliers are Du Pont de Nemours, Domo Engeneering Plastics Italy and Mito Polimeri for raw materials, and Marca, Arte Plast and Mec-plast for moulding. Turnings are taken care of by Viglienghi, Torneria Colombo and Record, while Vmc is in charge of various treatments. Increasing market presence

Building on its long-term experience, over the years Amisco has been steadily conquering the global markets. According to Mr Novellone: “Today Amisco Group exports 80 per cent of its production, whilst its coils and solenoids are sold in more than 30 countries on five continents. Whilst its primary market remains Europe (50 per cent), Amisco has recently invested heavily in the Americas (the US and Brazil) and the Far East (India, Taiwan and China). This expansion to the East and West has been implemented both by localising the production and by creating a global network of sales and distribution agents. Our goal is to strengthen our penetration into the main markets. This is why we have chosen to confirm our presence in Hannover Messe year after year. We also participate in PTC China and visit exhibitions in Russia, Turkey, Brazil and Argentina.”

New production sites

Considerable investments are being laid out in the company’s 2013–2015 plan. Projects in development include the creation of a production site in the Czech Republic

Since 1949 GI-FE srl has specialised in the production of small and medium-sized sheared metal parts with hight speed presses Bruderer and Haulick&Roos, and of assembled metal+plastic and metal+metal pieces.

We produce over 120 million sheared pieces and we produce more than 20 million assembled pieces per year.

Our parts are used by Italian, European, American and Chinese customers active in the automotive, aerospace, electrical and electromechanical fi elds, fuel cells, medical equipment, defence and telecommunications.

Via Trieste 4 20096 Piotello (MI) Tel: +39.02.9267087 / 02.9267141 management@gi-fe.com www.gi-fe.com

ITALY Fax: +39.02.9266603 marketing@gi-fe.com High precision parts for the pneumatic and hydraulic industry applications is Gervasoni’s core business since its founding. Gervasoni’s extensive machining experience together with dedicated production cells makes Gervasoni a world leader for the supply of finished complex precision machined parts for all applications in the pneumatic and hydraulic markets.

GERVASONI SPA • Via Caberardi, 7A, 24012 Val Brembilla - IT T: +39034559911 • F: +39034559970 • E: info@gervasoni.com • www.gervasoni.com

MEC-PL AST is a company specialised in mould making and ther moplastic materials moulding.

Its site covers a 1000sqm area, where the company designs and manufactures moulds, as well as carrying out moulding and assembling work. Moreover, the technical department can avail itself of the most advanced CAD/CAM/CAE software and the best machines available on the market. Contact us - Tel: +39 0290965880, E-mail: info@mec-plast.it

to handle labour-intensive manufacturing in eastern Europe. “By opening a factory in the Czech Republic, we’ll be able to follow our customers to eastern Europe and to maximise a reserve of cheaper production capacity and better logistics when compared to Italy.”

The US is a target too. “Over the past 15 years, the US market has experienced a considerable reduction in local production. Today our US customers are once again buying from local suppliers, but have problems finding reliable and technically qualified vendors – possibly because of a lack of investment from North American manufacturers during the recession. Considering the ongoing market recovery, a US affiliate would complete our international profile and allow us to cover the South American markets – thus avoiding high import costs.” n