Insight

Before the coronavirus was impacting world markets, Deputy Editor Claire Aldridge, visited Inoxdadi Srl to see first-hand the Italian company’s newest production machinery. Situated just outside Bergamo – the hardest hit region in Italy for coronavirus cases – Claire caught up again with Andrea Togni, export manager, to see how the manufacturer was able to reopen and adapt to the ‘new normal’.

Andrea Togni explains: “Just four weeks after you left us, in accordance with the Italian Government’s guidelines, we were required to close for several weeks despite not having any positive Covid-19 cases within our company. Luckily we are located in a pretty agricultural area where the low density of population helped with containing the infection.”

Six months on and Inoxdadi is now fully operational again. “After two complete disinfections of the factory, warehouses and offices, in both March and April, we opened the warehouse,” mentions Andrea. “We also adopted new Covid-19 rules about wearing masks and gloves in all departments of the company. Initially there were issues with supplying personal protection equipment in such a short amount of time, however that problem has finally been solved.”

For the past couple of years, Inoxdadi has been focusing on Industry 4.0 and this has undoubtedly helped during the pandemic. “Our Industry 4.0 industrialisation plan is now fully up and running and allowed us to keep all production aspects under control during this difficult time,” points out Andrea. “The fastener sector, and in particular the fastener manufacturing segment, is pretty well automatised so that will definitely help us meet new social distancing requirements, perhaps a little easier than other markets.”

The actual starting point of Inoxdadi’s industrialisation plan was the delivery of a new cold forming machine back in 2018. “To answer existing demand we needed to perfect our production processes and advance as a company to be able to cold form bigger sizes. This new machine gave us an advantage over others in the market – enabling us to reach M27 sized nuts and enter niche markets others may not have even considered. This new machine and our threading machine are connected, with the threading machine threading the inside of the nut.”

The cold forming machine is a six station machine, which helps to ensure high-quality and precision. “Previously the nuts were manufactured on a three station machine, so we have doubled the process in steps to get a much higher quality product. With this six station machine, we are in keeping with the top companies in terms of machine development in the European and Italian market,” proudly states Andrea.

Concentrating on product quality and the flexibility of its manufacturing operations, as well as supplementary services associated with sales, are key factors for Inoxdadi in its plans for future growth. The company has an in-house quality department, which includes a spectometre. “Besides quality, service is key. Our customers come to us not for the price, but for the quality of our production, the high-quality of our products, and the added services we offer,” says Andrea.

This includes quick deliveries, medium and small deliveries, as well as flexibility. “In the 1990s we switched to these performance machines, which have quick change capabilities. The Far East were supplying in big numbers and had the possibility of producing them. Therefore, we had to concentrate on the performance, quality, and smaller batches, etc. We had to offer what the others in this market weren’t – and that’s how we stood out.”

Initially established in 1973 to produce stainless steel nuts, Inoxdadi embraced turning production. “This was very successful for us until Asian manufacturers entered the market, which resulted in the prices lowering to a level that was impossible for European producers to match. That is when we decided to shift our production capabilities to focus on niche products in special steels and nickel alloys – with small batch sizes. By using cold forming we were able to begin producing niche products such as left thread nuts with fine pitches, in metric and imperial sizes.”

The decision to change its product focus enabled the company to continue to grow into the business it is today – reaching significant production levels for a wide variety of products in stainless steel, as well as high strength nickel, titanium, aluminium, brass, copper and bronze alloys.

“Working with these other materials means we are open to the flexibility and fluctuations of the market. Unlike many Italian manufacturers we are not just focusing on automotive and are spreading our production into different markets, which means market fluctuations don’t impact us as harshly. This also means we can adapt well to different market needs and supply our customers accordingly. Currently chlorine resistance is a strong topic on the market due to the fasteners being used in tunnel construction. This is an example of how we’re constantly innovating, and the niche markets we can operate in,” comments Andrea.

Through distributors, Inoxdadi reaches a number of industries such as petrochemical and automotive. The company is also focused on specific industries where the impact of water is an important factor such as the sea, chlorine, water recycling, energy, and offshore industries.

“As well as niche markets, the innovation of our machinery and processes is also very important, which is why every year we reserve a considerable part of our profits to invest in future innovations and developments – including the newest cold forming machine,” mentions Andrea “The new machine enabled us to innovate and offer the market something that hadn’t been done before. We were suddenly able to offer big dimension cold formed parts, in place of these turned parts common in the marketplace. Mechanically our product is stronger – 40% stronger than turned parts. We can also maintain a geometrically good aspect when cold forming to the international standard. Compared with the traditional turned parts in the market, we can also offer a competitive price.”

Andrea adds: “The benefits we can achieve through cold forming include being able to answer unique customer demand that require unusual strengths or tensile strength classes. We can reach Class 100 and 1,000Nm when requested, and that’s down to our production process, which would be simply unachievable through the turning process.”

“As a business we must continue to research new materials to meet the demands of an industry that is becoming increasingly specialised. We do this by participating in events and by communicating effectively with our customers. We also need to recognise the opportunities available in a market that is continuously progressing – so that we can supply a timely, high precision service of the highest quality products.”

It’s Inoxdadi’s close communication and relationships with its customers, and the market, that help it to understand when a new material has arrived on the market. “We make it our mission to understand what the end user is looking for, as the end user is who will be coming up the chain. It does seem to take time for the enquiries to come to us, but it’s imperative we try our best to be prepared for this and be the front runner in the market.”

“We have the mentality at Inoxdadi of constantly achieving – we want to be a trendsetter. This means we face problems that no one has come across before and we’re constantly testing our technical expertise. However, within our production team, who have been working with us for over 40 years, we have the best problem solvers, who strive for the best possible solutions.”

www.inoxdadi.com