When roots are deep there is no reason to fear the wind
Talking about GAI MACCHINE IMBOTTIGLIATRICI SPA means talking about the Granda Province, this place in the North-West part of Italy, in the Piemonte region, that has become a milestone in the development of new technologies: just think that Piemonte is currently, with its 9.3%, the fourth largest Italian exporter after Lombardia, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. The history of GAI MACCHINE IMBOTTIGLIATRICI SPA of Ceresole D’Alba is the same as that of many companies in the area: founded in 1946 by Mr. Giacomo, today it has reached its third generation with his nephews Guglielmo, Giovanni and Giacomo, always under the supervision of their father, Eng. Carlo. The company’s core business is the design and delivery of systems for the bottling and packaging of alcoholic beverages such as wines, beer and spirits.
The company’s turning point occurred in 1979 with the birth of the monobloc, an “all inclusive” solution for rinsing, isobaric filling and capping of bottles. Today, to further increase its production process, the company purchases a leveling machine. Often the metal sheet is not completely smooth, but with deformities and defects that create problems during the processing cycle. The leveler or straightener is a machine with a work area made up of two sets of rollers, a lower one, which acts as a sliding base for the material, and an upper one. The pressure, with the coordination of the rotation of all the rollers exerted on all points, makes the sheet metal flat and ready for use, above all it manages to deform and lengthen the fibers of the material itself, thus making it less stiff and more suitable for processing. The leveler is a model entirely designed and built by MG SRL of Fossano. The SP 31.40 S model has a useful working distance of 3200 mm and is capable of flattening stainless steel sheets with a thickness of 40 mm. The strong point of the machine is an anti-deflection system on both rows of rollers. Thanks to the anti-deflection system, the rollers can have smaller diameters and, consequently, a reduced distance between centers, with a better result on a thickness range from 10 to 40 mm. The straightening machine is equipped with two motorized roller conveyors, i.e. tables equipped with rollers, the first one makes the sheet slide until it enters the machine, the other one receives it once the levelling process is finished. MG and GAI Macchine know each other well, this is the third machine proudly delivered by MG to Gai in a few years, they have the type of relationship that does not stop at the sale, but it’ s made of trust, exchange of ideas, esteem and mutual respect. What is striking about GAI Macchine is the slogan «Manufacturers, not assemblers»: similar is MG . Being manufacturers today, in a world that is rapidly advancing with a technological progress that seems limitless, is a constant commitment, because it is no longer just the finished product, but the underlying service, you must always be at the customer’s side, let him know you’re there. And this means years of study, work, processes aimed at continuous improvement.
GAI itself shares with MG not only the historical roots, but the same methodological approach to work: two companies that still maintain ownership in the family, the beating heart of the whole mechanism, with the generations that have succeeded the founders, third generation for GAI Macchine, third for MG s.r.l. Often one’s roots are forgotten for various reasons, because one moves elsewhere or because one tries to make a leap in quality, but it is precisely the roots that lets you move forward. MG, with its customized leveler, and GAI Macchine, with its specific bottling lines, represent the innovation that the world of commerce needs to carry forward the idea of a future that Latins would define as “in fieri”, or in progress.
Alessio Maiocco
