For La Celsia S.a.s. the closing year has been intense, with its many projects, initiatives and important results. A year that is defined by a number: 50. The company has in fact celebrated half a century of activity, and it’s now preparing to face new, ambitious challenges with the pragmatism-oriented approach that has always characterized it, and that has allowed La Celsia S.a.s. to grow through the years. We’ve talked about this with Elisa Bacchetta, Sole Director of the company, headquartered at Ornavasso in Piedmont, which was founded by her father and some business partners in 1974. «We are specialized in powder metallurgy, that is to say sintered products for special applications – the manager said – we are proud of our solid know-how of the field: the peculiarity of this company is the sintering by means of a powder metallurgy process for infiltrated and mixing sinters and for metallic oxide-based mixed sinters. We are also able to conduct research on new metal alloys for electromechanical equipment, which can then be manufactured at our customer’s request».
«We are capable of producing a wide range of finished contacts, accessories and spare parts, made unique by its variety in terms of models, alloys and available working processes. Our products are aimed at various production sectors: from the metallurgical field to the railway, naval, medical and energy ones, specifically for medium and high tension. Furthermore, we are monitoring other fields for new possible production campaigns».
Which are your reference markets? And in which ones you envision expansion possibilities for your business?
«We are present with a structured and solid commercial network in Italy. Abroad we are active throughout Europe, mainly in Spain, France and Germany, and in northern Africa, specifically in Egypt and Morocco. Moreover we are evaluating a possible expansion across the ocean, in both North and South America. We have also considered other locations, like China and Iran, where we are yet to start our operations due to the complex geopolitical situation ».How do you support your customers in choosing the correct solution for their needs?
«We can start from an idea or a project brought to us by the customer, analyse their needs and propose ad hoc solutions. Our technical office is capable of evaluating the customer’s problems and requests, operating, if necessary, in synergy with other companies to reach the optimal solution. With us being a small reality, we make use of established collaboration relationship with other enterprises in order to be reactive in an entrepreneurial world which is becoming ever so competitive ».
One of the distinctive traits and strong points of your strategy is the choice to maintain the totality of your production in Italy. This choice allows a complete monitoring of processes and products. How are you organized?
«All of our projects are developed internally, and one hundred percent of our production is managed in our factory in Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. If necessary, we can also make use of a network of synergic companies. We employ advanced technologies: work centres, milling machines, both manual and CNC, ovens, sintering systems and a control and measurement lab that can be used to conduct structural analysis and experiments on advances metallurgy. We are also able to realize and test prototypes, using the results to evaluate if they can be moved to the production phase».
How is quality control managed?
«La Celsia guarantees the quality of the provided solutions and of the production processes, whose safety and reliability are ensured thanks to random checks on products and to modern plants and equipment. Our management system is certified in conformity to the norm ISO 9001:2015. This regulation guarantees the quality of the production parameters, and the unified standards help the company in the optimization, simplification and valorisation of production activities and organization. The regulations are therefore a safeguard for both the customer and the company».
Looking at the future, which projects are you focusing on?
«We are working with some big players to expand our business in other markets, we are particularly interested in North and South America, primarily Mexico and Canada. There are, however, many aspects we still need to evaluate: currency, logistics, the uncertainties in the international landscape. All these elements must be accounted for to understand in which countries we can be competitive».
To what extent is sustainability included in your corporate strategies and development and investment policies?
«We are very sensitive to the topics of environmental and corporate sustainability. To be more specific we are working on the recycling of materials and the employment of alternative energy sources, and thus on the progressive reduction of CO2 emissions in the production of sintered components. In the future this trend will play an important role in attracting new customers and job orders».