PRA June-July 2014 Corporate Profile-Piovan

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Corporate Profile

Looking beyond the golden years Capping its 50th year of business in the plastics industry this year, Italian auxiliary machine manufacturer Piovan looks towards reaching into more markets and broadening its client base with an ever-fresh dedication to innovative technology.

According to Giorgio Santella, Piovan's model of business is that of constant growth

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iovan’s roots are steeped in history, starting from 1934 when Costante Piovan & Figli was founded in Padua as a metalworking shop and took its name from its founder. It was among the many firms that shaped the modern world starting from the period of industrialisation in the 1950s. As it celebrates its 50 years of leadership in auxiliary machinery for the plastics industry, Piovan’s business strategy is far from being archaic. The firm has come a long way since 1964 when it launched its first equipment, a granulator and a material loader, in Italy. Founder Constante Piovan’s legacy of customer orientation has also filtered down to the three generations that have run the company since. Constante’s son, Luigi Piovan, joined the company in 1960. And in 2000, Nicola Piovan took the helm as Piovan’s President, and made a strong move into international markets. It is now a multinational company with five production facilities in Italy, Germany, Brazil, China and the US, 21 subsidiaries, agents in more than 70 countries and 900 employees, of which 140 are customer assistance engineers. “Piovan's model of business has one main prerogative, and that is of constant growth,” Giorgio Santella, Chief Marketing Officer of Piovan told PRA. This growth is hemmed in the firm’s continuous expansion, capacity build-ups and broad product offering, he said. It has also been on an acquisition trail and bought US-based Universal Dynamics (UNA-DYN) in 2008 and a majority stake in FDM, a German company specialising in extrusion technology, in 2010. “Structural expansions are already undergoing, with the just completed increase of production capacity of Piovan do Brasil in São Paulo (Brazil), the planned expansion for Universal Dynamics in Woodbridge (Washington) in the US, and FDM’s move to a larger facility in Cologne, Germany,” Santella added. Innovation a criteria Today, Piovan provides the plastics industry a complete range of products and services, including feeding, blending, drying and recycling systems. It also produces industrial chillers and temperature controllers. It integrates its wide array of equipment with proprietary production monitoring and control software. Hinging on its endurance to innovation, Piovan says it takes pride in its R&D capabilities, naming it as one of its “very strategic asset.”

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JUNE / JULY 2014


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