Insight

Established in 1990, SARIV has quickly reached a leading position within the international market for blind rivets and blind rivet nuts – with product quality a founding pillar of the business.

Originally a manufacturer of standard products, in 2008 there was a change of management, which coincided with the crisis of 2008/09. This sparked a change in SARIV’s business model to focus on bespoke parts and to become a problem solver and competence centre for product design.

“We look to partner with customers and provide the ideal solution for every application,” states Nicola Sartore, CEO of SARIV. “In addition to creating the product, we are able to design the equipment for production and process engineering, which is carried out by our own technical department. Also, all production steps, including zinc plating, are carried out internally and comply with the requirements of the quality system according to the standard UNI EN ISO 9001:2008.”

The change of business model required SARIV to invest significantly in new technology, which has since put it in a strong position regarding the recent focus on Industry 4.0. “Investing in the technology back in 2008 meant that we have been developing the MES software for several years, which helps us control all the processes in the value chain – from raw material to the final product,” points out Nicola. “This continuous investment in new technology has led to us becoming a leading example of best practice regarding digitalisation.”

Nicola continues: “We’ve always invested in resources to create solutions that satisfy even the most demanding customer requirements. Our ambition is to exceed customer expectations and we do this by going beyond existing industry standards – proposing the best fastening solution for every application and ensuring customers benefit from the highest levels of quality, process security and flexibility.”

A fundamental pillar for SARIV is the quality control of its products and processes, which starts from the monitoring of every single production step. “Our internal technical laboratory allows the control of all dimensional and mechanical characteristics of the products, using equipment such as traction machines, electronic optical measuring instruments and hardness testers,” mentions Nicola. “We also have a sorting department that provides quality checks of 50ppm and we can provide all the documents required for product certification – IMDS to PPAP and VDA.”

All of SARIV’s quality system is integrated onto the same IT platform as its MES system, where all the data for production is stored. “Every measurement tool, from a simple micrometer to a tensile machine, is connected to the company network,” points out Nicola. “This enables us to record every measurement, both in production and in the laboratory, and means we can provide all measurement data such as quality tests, and quantity produced, in real time. Our aim for the future is to create even better system integration, as well as continually improving the integration into the supply chain both towards suppliers and clients.”

The automotive market has become a focal point for SARIV with overall sales share increasing from 20% to 50% in the last four years. “The automotive sector is consistently looking at how to use composite materials and lighter metals, which is a challenge for suppliers,” says Nicola. “We need to find solutions that are more and more geared towards mass customisation, but still offer the high-quality that we are known for within the market.”

Another key factor is the high service and quality level required to supply the automotive industry, which includes ISO and IATF standards, as well as an increasingly focused approach to risk management. “In products such as fasteners, it will become more and more important to support the product with as much data as possible because the availability of information means control, and control limits risk,” states Nicola. “In terms of strategic positioning, it is very difficult for a manufacturer to be cost-effective in the face of Far-Eastern producers, therefore the drivers of choice for our clients are know-how, the efficiency of the proposed solutions and speed of supply. The challenge is to maintain these characteristics of flexibility together with the growth that has seen the company practically double in size over the past 3 years.”

Nicola concludes: “One crucial KPI for us, which did not exist years ago, is the number of new fastener projects that we bring to completion with ad-hoc developed products for client applications. We are constantly asking ourselves whether the client considered our proposal effective in solving its problem, as this is the real indicator of whether the company is effective and pioneering. By doing this we can ensure we are providing the best possible solutions.”

Find Sariv at Fastener Fair Italy on Stand 600.

www.sariv.it