The
company was founded in Anzola dell’Emilia thirty years ago and has become a
global leader in the production of linear actuators and mechanical screw jacks.
These innovative products are still the base for solutions that give birth to a
series of industrial activities in various sectors. Today, Servomech boasts a
team of a hundred people and a turnover of €16 million. For FARE INSIEME
Giampaolo Colletti interviewed Servomech founder Vito Cataldo and his two
children Valentina and Federico, the second generation working in the company.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
There are ideas that anticipate the times and, over time, are capable of making a difference. Ideas destined to break the status-quo. Ideas that help redesign the markets and create a business from scratch that gives birth to new businesses. This is what happened a little over thirty years ago in Anzola dell’Emilia, a town of thirteen thousand inhabitants in the northern Bologna metropolitan area, almost in the Modena province. Vito Cataldo, engineer and entrepreneur who we would now define as a start-upper, has a pioneering intuition with regards to what is now commonly known as green philosophy i.e. producing electro-mechanical linear actuators that consume energy only while they are running and that can also operate in very cold or very hot environments. And always completely safe. That is how Servomech was born, now a global leader in the production of these actuators and of screw jacks. The devices convert the rotatory motion of an electric motor into a linear push and pull motion. It may sound complex but, even though difficult to grasp, it generates an infinite range of industrial applications. Anzola dell’Emilia, as we said, but, from this town, things soon went very far. The name anticipated this international dimension, as it derives from the English “servomechanism” and implies a product that can also work with servomotors. The logo also appears as a clear reference to the intrinsic nature of the product. The letter phi in Greek encompasses the essence itself of electromechanical linear actuators: turning the rotatory movement of an electric motor into a linear movement.
The winning key solution. Everything started in 1989 in the production facility in Anzola, a short distance away from the Bologna motorway junction and the airport. Operations are now carried out in a covered area of 11,500 sq m - almost ten football fields - by one hundred employees, seventy of whom dealing directly with production. “We do everything, from developing new products to internal production. We turn raw materials into high-quality finished products by using modern machinery manufactured in Italy or Germany, the place of origin of the most modern technologies,” reports Federico Cataldo, design and development manager. The company now boasts a warehouse covering 1,000 square meters destined to the storage of raw materials as well as five vertical automatic warehouses. The 2022 turnover was just under €16 million, with a 55% export share. The market of reference is Italy, followed by all the main European countries: Germany, France, Denmark, Belgium and Sweden. China also has a certain relevance as an export market for the product, but not for the procurement of materials or to de-localise production.Productivity, research and innovation combined with savings and a short chain have become extremely relevant throughout the mechanical and manufacturing sector. Vito Cataldo is convinced of this. “The clientèle we work with is made up of machine manufacturers from the most varied of sectors,” reports Cataldo. According to him, the company evolved with state-of-the-art technical ideas when it comes to performance and efficiency, with a growing industrial approach yet always remaining craftsmen of excellence. A high-quality internal production with overall constant checks throughout all the processing and productive flexibility phases. This is the DNA of the company. But, to do this, people are needed - skilled technicians and operators trained in the specific technology of linear motion. “Many of our employees have been with us for over twenty years,” stresses Cataldo.
The centrality of research. Every year, Servomech invests at least 10% of its turnover in advanced machinery and technologies. This enables the development and modernisation of products. The organisational philosophy that has characterised it since the beginning translates into internal production, constant quality checks, customised designs, technical support and state-of-the-art solutions. The outcome is a unique competitive advantage especially in this specific moment in history, in contrast with de-localisation logics and preferring a glocal approach. “We invest in the interaction with designers via the web not to have barriers, but we strongly believe in the relationship with clients and in the importance of providing them with technical support of the highest quality. All our catalogues and manuals are available online via a QR Code that can be scanned directly on the products, making it possible to gain immediate access to the user and maintenance manuals via smartphone. From our website, it is possible to customise products and download 3D models thanks to a practical configurator,” points out Valentina Cataldo, marketing and sales manager. This is also a way for leading companies to show their proximity to clients who are now increasingly connected.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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