Technology meets tradition LOVATO Electric

TECHNOLOGY MEETS TRADITION

For nearly a century, LOVATO Electric has been designing and manufacturing low-voltage electrical devices for industrial applications. The last four decades have been a period of persistent international expansion, which even a global pandemic has not hindered. In 2020, LOVATO expanded its family of companies with LOVATO Electric in Switzerland. Romana Moares reports.

Founded in 1922 in Bergamo, Italy, LOVATO Electric is a privatelyowned company, and has been managed by the same family of entrepreneurs for four generations.

LOVATO Electric was amongst the first Italian companies to achieve ISO 9001 certification in 1992. Today, the company offers a range of more than 20,000 products complying with the strictest requirements of international standards. Motor protection circuit breakers, contactors, pushbuttons, switch disconnectors, limit switches, digital multi-meters, energy meters, soft starters, AC motor drives, automatic power factor controllers and engine and generator controllers are just a few of the products designed and built by LOVATO Electric.

The company’s mission is to provide competitive products and services in industrial automation and energy management and being close to its customers is part of this mission. LOVATO opened its first factory outside Italy in 1979 and international expansion has continued until the present day. The company’s 15 international subsidiaries and a network of over 90 importers ensure the availability of LOVATO Electric products in more than 100 countries across all continents.

New offering

A focus on continuously innovating the product range has helped pushed the company’s growth and expansion. LOVATO’s R&D laboratory, specialised in R&D testing, was born of the need to expand the company’s testing capabilities for the development of new highperformance products, ensuring the highest standards of safety and reliability while reducing time to market.

The laboratory, which is accredited by LOVAG, allows LOVATO to carry out tests independently of third parties, and thus to have the quality of its products under direct control. The state-of-the-art laboratory makes LOVATO Electric one of the elite manufacturers of low-voltage switchgear in the world.

Unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the company has launched a number of new products in recent months. In May, a new solution was introduced for power generation applications - an alternative to the UPS solution. This is the PMVFUPS01, a modular backup power supply for DIN rail installation, powered at 230V AC, which ensures continuous operation thanks to its use of capacitor technology.

This accumulator device is also completely maintenance-free in comparison to battery-powered UPS systems, the operation of which must be constantly checked, thus incurring costs in terms both of time and money.

In April, LOVATO Electric’s offering of modular solutions was expanded with a new range of 1 to 4 pole switch disconnectors. The new P1MS units are the ideal solution for all applications requiring the disconnection and isolation of electrical lines. They are primarily used in distribution enclosures, but are also often installed on board the machine itself.

Designed with the typical form of lever-actuated modular switches, this new product family solves the critical requirement to disconnect power so that operators and service technicians can work on a machine in complete safety. They are fully compatible with products mounted in electrical enclosures with modular windows like miniature circuit breakers, residual current-operated circuit breakers with overload protection and residual current-operated circuit breakers.

Expanded reach

These innovations, together with many others, including the AC3 contactors for 160A to 230A, the compact and easily configurable ADXN series soft starters, and the new series of pushbuttons and selector switches are included in the new comprehensive but easyto-use 2021-2022 general catalogue, just published.

With over 20,000 articles grouped into 31 product families, the catalogue showcases the wide range of the company’s offering and its latest solutions for industrial automation and energy management. The cover celebrates the company’s 100th anniversary, featuring the skyline of Città Alta in the city of Bergamo, where LOVATO Electric was born and still has its headquarters.

But it is not just the product range that has been expanded. Last year, LOVATO Electric announced the opening in Switzerland of its 15th subsidiary, LOVATO Electric AG. The new subsidiary is located close to Zurich and has both sales offices and a warehouse. The staff are well-trained and boast lengthy and broad experience in the Swiss electrotechnical market.

The aim of this operation is to reinforce the LOVATO Electric brand in the Swiss market while offering even better service to its clients in terms of technical sales support and speedy deliveries. This is in line with the company’s philosophy, which has remained unchanged throughout its history, as confirmed by Managing Director Massimiliano Cacciavillani: “Making reliable, innovative products and offering services to meet customer expectations has been our company’s mission for four generations.” n