For Comestero Sistemi, reference enterprise for the production and distribution of electrical and electromechanical components for several industrial sectors, the integration of products and services has represented the way to gain a protagonist role on the European market.
Roberto Papeschi
In a market context like that of the production, distribution and supply of electromechanical and electronic components for the manufacturing industry, referring in particular to the household appliance industry that today is affected by various troubles owing to the shrinkage of sales in whole Europe and the descent into the field of new aggressive competitors coming from rising markets, there are some enterprises that not only maintain their positions but even consolidate them on a world scale, demonstrating that they have been able to define a winning long-term strategy.
Among these enterprises stands out Comestero Sistemi spa, a company whose history starts in 1976 upon initiative of Giuseppe Laboccetta, founder and president in charge of a constantly rising Group that today includes, besides Comestero Sistemi SpA, the enterprises Penta Group Srl, NSF Controls Ltd and 3LB Srl. At the base of the success of Comestero Sistemi there is mainly the constant capability of reacting to the market changes.
The attention paid to customers, to their requirements and demands has led this company “to make the difference” if compared to competitors, thanks not only to the product quality, which nowadays is taken for granted by the market from many points of view, but especially thanks to its supply flexibility and the added value conferred by the technical, logistic and commercial division that Comestero Sistemi Group can provide.
Attention to customers
As Matteo Laboccetta, marketing and sale manager of the company, explained us, already at the time of its establishment, in 1976, it was clear the target that Comestero Sistemi intended to pursue and that would have allowed it to gain an outstanding position among the companies that already in those years operated in Italy in the sector of the supply of components for the electromechanical and electronic industry. In the opinion of Giuseppe Laboccetta, founder and president in charge of the Group, Comestero Sistemi was in fact expected to aim at “being acknowledged by the market as reference model for the qualified and innovative offer of products and services, as well as for the high competence of all collaborators”.
Through its high added value supplies and services that it was able to provide, Comestero Sistemi succeeded in anticipating the trend to partnership, which in the following years proved to be an essential competitive boost in the customer-supplier relationship.
The care for details, professionalism, dynamism, reliability, integrity and the commitment of the collaborators to the pursuit of as success to be shared with customers have been the elements that have contributed in qualifying Comestero Sistemi as one of the most appreciated enterprises on the market. The strict relationship established with customers has therefore addressed the progressive organizational evolution of the enterprise towards an increasingly complex and integrated activity. An activity that today cannot be defined anymore as simple provisioning and distribution of products as it had been at the beginning, but also production, advice, customization and services, with a business model oriented to the whole European market.
Professional expertise
In an economic context where the manufacturing companies in the various electromechanical sectors felt the need of knocking down their fixed costs and of simplifying the business structures, while the complexity of design choices concerning products was growing, Comestero Sistemi understood before and better than others the importance of relying not only on a valid sale structure but also on a high-profile technical office, also equipped with a state-of-the-art laboratory for tests and component qualification. It is especially thanks to this type of organization that today Comestero Sistemi can provide its customers with qualified systemic, regulatory and technological advice, extended to all the aspects of the product life cycle.
All that was not sufficient for Comestero Sistemi, yet. Other requirements of customers have been in fact highlighted by the business management, including the need of relying on suppliers for specific production activities for the implementation of prototypes and for the provisioning of special components, also in small batches and with fast delivery times. To meet these needs, Comestero Sistemi has created, with the establishment of Penta Group SrL, a productive structure characterized by great flexibility, efficiency and prompt response, in addition to a high service level.
At the same time, Comestero Sistemi has acquired cutting-edge logistic skills, able to support customers in the various geographical areas where today, due to the more and more frequent choices of delocalization and coverage of new market, it may be requested to operate. Today Comestero Sistemi can offer and advanced supply service that allows customer companies, even purchasing in Italy, to receive products directly from the supplier in their production sites and in the various countries in the world, with timely delivery according to JIT modalities and in compliance with what established in contract agreements. For customers, this results in a notable advantage in terms of simplicity and flexibility of both purchase and logistic procedures, as well as in saving of stocking and shipment times and costs.
Innovative business structure
Consistently with its strategy aimed at being considered a global partner and a “provider of solutions” by its customers, rather than a mere supplier of components, Comestero Sistemi has constantly worked at widening the range of offered products, including: fans, power cables, industrial fans, electromagnets, anti-disturbance filters, switches, selectors and thermal protections.
Some solutions, directly developed by the Technical Department of Comestero Sistemi, are characterized by high innovation content, such as the intrinsic safety IDF320 connectors (exclusive Comestero patent). This meets an approach that proved to be winning, with a specialized but at the same time global and integrated offer, which allows Comestero to operate on the market as a “global integrator of supply processes” at customers’ service.
At the same time, especially over the last few years, Comestero Sistemi Group has been protagonist of several successive transformations, which have seen the creation in its inside of enterprises directly involved in specific development, production and service activities, while new branches were set up in Italy, referring in particular to Veneto (Cittadella) and to Emilia-Romagna (Ozzano dell’Emilia), for a better coverage of the area and a more effective presence at customers’ side.
In this course, the birth of Penta Group in 1999 was particularly relevant, being a firm specialized in the customization of electrical and electromechanical components, as well as in the assembly and customization of electrical and electromechanical components, in the manufacturing of precision harnesses and in the assembly of electrical plugs and sockets on cables according to the customer’s specification. The capability of autonomously executing a range of safety and regulatory tests, from Glow Wire tests to electrical safety tests, complete the activities that Penta Group makes available for customers, availing itself not only of its specialized personnel but also of expert professionals of the Technical Division of Comestero Sistemi.
With the same goal of extending the range of products and services offered to customers, in a technological field where until that time Comestero Group had operated marginally but whose importance had progressively grown in the market, in 2009 the Electronic Division was created inside Comestero Sistemi. Thanks to this new division, the range of offered products has been further widened and the capability of offering global advice to customers has improved. At the same time we have defined the preliminary conditions for a business opened to the transversal integration of various technologies: electrical, electromechanical and electronic.
THE RECENT STEPS OF EVOLUTION
Pursuing precise targets of company transformation into a global partner of its customers, over the last few years, Comestero Sistemi has taken several important steps forward:
– in 1997 the take over of NSF Controls LTD took place, English company specialized in the development and production of linear and rotary magnets
– in 1999 Penta Group SrL was created, production company headquartered at Vimercate (Milan – Italy), specialized in the customization of electrical and electromechanical components
– in 2000 the new Comestero offices at Vimercate (Milan – Italy) were inaugurated
– in 2001 Comestero Sistemi obtains the UNI ENI ISO-2001 certification
– in 2004 Comestero Sistemi SRL becomes Comestero Sistemi SPA
– in 2007 the Technical Office is setup at Comestero Sistemi, together with the establishment of the Ufficio Regionale Triveneto (Triveneto Regional Office) (Italy)
– in 2009 the Electronic Division is inaugurated inside Comestero Sistemi
– in 2011 the Comestero Sistemi branch in Emilia Romagna (Italy) is opened
– in 2012 the CS Production Division, which follows the whole production process, is opened
– in 2013 the CS Group International Division, dedicated to foreign markets, is established