The results of the 2015-2016 financial year, presented during a press conference on 10 May, contain very positive signs for SMC Italia. The company, a manufacturer of pneumatic and electronic components for industrial automation, recorded a turnover in excess of 111 million euros, which represents a 9% increase in sales in Italy compared to the 2014-2015 financial year. Net profit was also up on the previous financial year, by +17%.

One of the cornerstones of the development strategy of this Japanese multinational is its extremely wide and diversified product range which, for the plastics and rubber industries, includes pick-and-place systems for injection moulding machines, temperature controllers, fluid control devices, and temperature and pressure control sensors. The renovation of the product range, completed in 2015, has resulted in a major restyling of 35 different product series, according to precise guidelines: weight and size reductions, optimisation of process steps, and reductions in air consumption and power absorption, without affecting, other than in a positive sense, the product performance and the interchangeability of the cylinders and pneumatic actuators.

On completion of this renewal process, the R&D centers turned their attention back to the release of new products and the expansion of the range, to ensure that the company continues to stand out from competitors. In this regard, it is now several years since SMC began marketing various “no pneumatics” product lines, aimed at the traditional fields of pneumatics and related segments, expanding the range both for “factory automation” and for “process automation”. These lines include the new comprehensive ranges of electric actuators (LE series), fluid control valves (VX and LV series), pressure/flow sensors (PF and LF series), temperature controllers (HRS series), and dryers (IDF series), as well as various other devices that are today driving this company’s constantly increasing turnover.

Since 2103 SMC Italia has been actively engaged in efforts to strengthen its sales force. The specific aim of this strategy, born of the Japanese parent company’s desire to strengthen its technical and commercial structure globally, is to gain and consolidate an increasing number of market shares worldwide, and in the past three years it has resulted in the hiring of over 90 new staff members. The company sets particular store by young people, new graduates and school leavers, wanting to harness their potential, freshness, smartness and desire for professional growth. The candidates, once selected, undergo a six-month training programme, which combines training and instruction on technical and marketing aspects with opportunities to work and learn directly in the field, flanking experienced staff.

This process has also led to a strengthening of the sales offices in Turin, Vicenza, Modena and Florence and the reorganization of the production facility in Carsoli (near L'Aquila), which is devoted mainly dedicated to the production of special products for the Italian market. Finally, there are already plans to move the company to a new headquarters, which will be built in accordance with the principles of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.