There is at least one thing that unites MOSE in Venice with small household appliances such as coffee machines and it relates to the ‘know-how’ of a small industry in Varese. For Impreglon Italia in Origgio, the Italian branch of the Impreglon group, what economists call ‘know-how’ refers to a combination of experience, research and development, staff training and knowledge. In the plant on the border between Varese and northwest Milan, workers are not unfamiliar with impossible challenges. Impreglon deals with industrial coatings applied to surfaces such as metals, carbon fibre, plastics and much more. Within the factory, processes with different, customized features are carried out based on customer needs. In recent years, Origgio has seen not only the sliding plates necessary to install the bulkheads of the MOSE in Venice, to which a special coating was added to provide resistance and protection from wear and corrosive sea water, but also packaging for the food sector, injectors for gas and petrol engines, and seals for car doors.
‘Our company,’ explains managing director Luca Garone, ‘targets the Italian market by offering high-quality service. We work in a niche sector. We purchase special raw materials and apply them following requests from suppliers and research and development centres that support the whole group. Our processes are made to measure, based on customer requests and the performance that the treated material must maintain.’
Six office workers and just under twenty operators are employed at the Origgio plant and their professional growth and training takes place directly within the company. In addition to the skills of its staff, however, the company is very attentive to efficiency in all areas. Being efficient from the view of production costs, environmental impact and resource management is essential for remaining competitive today. ‘We are a small industry,’ continues Garone, ‘but our particular activities involve significant fixed costs. Such is the case with energy, which represents one of the weightiest items. In recent months we commissioned Spi Srl, a company serving the Province of Varese Union of Industrialists, with performing an energy assessment. A team of experts from Spi Power, the energy division of Spi, studied our business, production cycle and supply needs and developed a series of energy-saving solutions. With an investment that will pay for itself in three years, we will be able to halve the cost of our energy consumption, which is currently estimated at around €200,000.’