Manufacturing Technology

For ‘Chapter Four’ of our series highlighting ‘Carlo Salvi Stories’ – a series of articles celebrating business collaborations, successes and shared goals – we have an article focusing on how Carlo Salvi has helped Italian-based Viti Srl develop an increasingly ‘verticalised’ production process aimed at meeting the needs of every industry sector.

Viti is a producer of self-tapping screws and fastening systems that was founded in 1974 by Mr Adriano Ferrario. Today, under the guidance of his two sons Angelo and Stefano, the company has 45 employees and a total annual production that fluctuates around one billion pieces.

The company’s products are used by European and Italian businesses operating in a variety of industries – from the classic hinges for furniture, to components for coffee machines, the white goods industry, cars and ovens. Over the years, Viti has developed an internal department for the design and, in part, for the autonomous construction of tools. It has also made investments for secondary operations to complete the production cycle – such as rolling, galvanising, heat treatments – in order to carefully control quality before packing the parts. The materials that are mainly treated range from C4C, C35 steel, A2, A4 stainless steel and brass.

For daily production Viti has only used Carlo Salvi headers – with the first arriving in 1976. Despite having produced billions of parts annually, the machine has never needed extraordinary interventions and maintenance. Viti now has 30 Carlo Salvi header models, with the 31^st on its way.

“We use Carlo Salvi’s whole range of header models, from the smallest to the largest machines in regards to the double strokes. In the last three years an additional investment has also been made in the shape of the two die and four blow models CS 243 and CS 246 E,” comments Stefano Ferrario, production technical director at Viti. “The goal is to open our doors to unexplored markets, enriching our production range with special, fully customised parts. Carlo Salvi machines enable us to do that with their simple and quick settings, as well as the quick-change kit, the consistency of the performance, durability and reliability.”

From the beginning the two companies have established a deep bond, strengthened by the territoriality that unites them and the corporate values they share. “Viti is founded on solid cornerstones well familiar to the modus operandi of Carlo Salvi, where qualitative flawlessness, promptness of response and 360 degree customer care guide is the daily activity. This professional consistency and affinity of thought were immediately perceived from our company, which was readily available to establish a working collaboration with great expectations,” says Germano Pandiani, COO at Carlo Salvi SpA.

In turn, Angelo Ferrario, purchasing sales manager and president of Viti, together with his brother Stefano, recalls the beginning of the story with the Garlate company: “The motivation that prompted us to collaborate with Carlo Salvi is the proven historicity and corporate solidity, as well as the awareness that we would have to deal with the best world leaders in the field of double stroke headers. Over the years, we have increasingly realised how much what binds us to the company is a tangible result due to professionalism, safety, quality of service, reliability and technical excellence. We can affirm that ours is not a mere professional relationship, but a bond of friendship built over the years and supported by continuous trust as well as by high-quality and long-lasting outputs.”

This constant investment in machinery has also enabled Viti to reorganise its production process. Industry 4.0 has been implemented on the latest Carlo Salvi headers in order to interconnect processes and products using the latest digital technologies. The reorganisation of the production process means there will be a direct connection between the office and the machines with a view to a bilateral relationship and an ever faster exchange of data. This technology can be applied to all internal programming and maintenance activities in order to contain costs, as well as guarantee constant compliance with delivery times.

Coordinated training has also been organised both internally and by Carlo Salvi’s technicians, aimed at educating new hires and guaranteeing a constant level of quality within the production process.