An excellence established in Carpi over forty years ago which works for
markets all over the world. “People have just started talking about industry
4.0, but we have been dealing with it for years.” For FARE Insieme, Giampaolo
Colletti interviews Alice Marchini, Sales & Marketing Manager at CATE
di Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
To do
things well, you need to try and try again, maybe make a mistake, try once more
and finally make it, focusing on excellence. There is an Emilian company that
has decided to become a “beacon” of products and services, operating in the
difficult world of testing which, in Europe and in the world, is considered the
first step when it comes to production and mechanics. A whole world actually
opens up when talking about tests: testing means trying out all kinds of everyday
objects - fabrics, cars, appliances, packaging and much more. That is what CATE
has been doing for over forty years - a company founded in Carpi in 1978 and
which currently boasts a team of seven people with a turnover of between €1 and
1.5 million. The destination markets go beyond the domestic perimeter as
testing solutions are exported to countries such as China, Russia, Egypt,
Brazil and the US.
Industry 4.0 already around twenty years ago. CATE, an
acronym originally known as Centro Assistenza Tecno Elettrica, deals with the
design and manufacturing of testing benches. But not only. It develops data
acquisition software for static, dynamic and fatigue tests and performs
hydraulic and component tests as well as tightness tests. For example, it
operates in the hydraulic sector with tests on pumps and high-pressure
components, but also in the air sector assessing compressors. Then there are
also testing systems for biomedical companies, the tests on components for
automotive means of transport and also experiments in the aerospace sector. “A test is the first step to start to
developing a product, that is why we think that our work is useful and
fascinating. Let us start from something simple like a mouse: who invented it
necessarily asked themselves what its purpose was, how it would function, for
how long it could operate, if it was safe and the best packaging to place it
in. In this case, the answer to these simple questions involves a feasibility
study. People have just started talking about industry 4.0, but we have been
dealing with it for twenty years. Change has involved technologies, but people
have always been at the centre,” explains Alice Marchini, Sales & Marketing
Manager at CATE. Everything started with her parents and a small laboratory set
up with a lot of enthusiasm. Initially, Alice’s
father provided assistance mainly for wood cutting equipment, while her mother
started training for administration but even wired cabinets if needed. An
entrepreneurial fairy-tale that, for Alice, also includes memories of long car
trips with her father and his toolbox. Then there were the first collaborators,
who later became partners, the first laptops, the purchase of the warehouse and
the passage to a limited liability company. “Little things that, for us, have meant huge effort, courage and
constance,” reminisces Marchini.
Hi-tech tests. Their clients need
personalized solutions not available on the testing market: companies that
require a partner to work with them to set up a testing system. CATE thus
manufactures 4.0 models with data acquisition software and highly-engineered
systems. Sometimes a solution must be invented from scratch, with machines that
did not exist on the market and which have become essential to measure
performance. The work has greatly evolved with sensors: a rapid growth that
enables the working of data that could not be objectified before. “Compared with the first automatic
tests, the evolution of sensors has enabled us to acquire information on site
that could not be obtained when it comes to precision, size and type. This is
to say that technology is highly present in our work and modifies it quickly,
so much so that we take courses and exams on what is new. And we look to the
future: we have carried out a fascinating complex study on noise frequencies
emitted by fan blades in air movement,” explains Marchini. The difference is
made by coming up with made-to-measure solutions. “We work in all sectors. The hi-tech offer is extensive, thanks to
the current technologies. Mechanics, just like all other sectors, has the
possibility to evolve and is evolving - from renewable energies to
robotics. Advanced research is essential
and always has been and, with the change in technology, we will all have to get
used to this in the next decades, when it will be even more essential. But
today, what is just as useful is resilience and the capability of adapting to
ongoing change,” stresses Marchini. Among the many elements that form the DNA
of this family-run business, there is that courage to invest manufacturing
prototypes. “We take a risk every
time, as you can calculate and hypothesise prototypes, but you will never be
certain of where it will take you. You must not risk, but you must dare. When
we set up a test bench, it is treated as an innovation with a technology yet to
be experimented, we learn all the time,” concludes Marchini. Once again, the
key is trying and trying again, maybe even making mistakes, but trying yet
again and finally making it. Putting yourself out there is the only way to
build a better future.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
Leggi le altre interviste
