by Laura Reggiani |
In seventy years of market presence Omega Fuses has become a group with more than 130 employees, a turnover of around 56 million euros and is one of the top Italian companies in the sector. With offices in Italy, France and Spain, the company is led today by Roberto Ciboldi, president and general manager.
What are the main steps that led you from producer to distributor?
The history of Omega can be summarised as "a continuous path on the road to success" and ideally divided into three eras managed by three entrepreneurs: the origins, in 1947, with the foundation by Alessandro Molinari, my father's uncle, and the first production and commercial organisation; the transition from producers to distributors, led by my father Mario Ciboldi, from 1969, who renewed the company's policies by increasing a new vision based on logistics and improving the commercial proposition; the transition from distributor to group, managed by me. My father was the first to understand, at the beginning of the 1980s, that the production and sale of fuses could be flanked by other items. It was at that time, and especially with the relationship with the Bulgin company of which Omega became the representative, that the transformation from manufacturer to distributor began; for the first time Omega started to deal with components other than fuses and to work alongside other representatives such as Eaton and EDK. In the 80's Omega is by now an established company at national level, with an extended and diversified catalogue including prestigious companies such as Apem and Thermodisc.
As a distributor, you then became a Group...
I joined the company in the 1990s, when I joined my father in following the company philosophy, outlining what are now four of the six product lines (electronic, connection, professional and power). An important milestone came in 1995, when we made several real estate and logistics investments to prepare for the new millennium with a distribution and stock-oriented vision. The evolution from distributor to group was then completed at the beginning of the new millennium. In 2001, with the idea of trying to leave the Italian borders to address other markets, but remaining specialised, we made our first international experience by founding the Lyon office in France. But it was in 2005 that the philosophy of going from a company to a group took shape. With a dynamic and far-sighted entrepreneurial vision, the purchase of the company Italweber, until then a competitor in the power sector, was finalised. The need to complete the fuse proposal leads us to acquire Fusimport in 2008. In 2009 we move to the new plant in Assago and in 2010, to continue the organic growth, we open the new division Air Moving, specialized in the sale of industrial fans, while in 2011, through Italweber, we acquire three companies producing transformers and merge them into a single entity called Italweber Elettra, today the second largest producer of low voltage transformers in Italy. In 2014 we acquired Fusit, our competitor in electronic protection, which brought us the leadership in the electronic fuse market but above all new and interesting companies represented. In 2018 we acquired Fancos, a historic Milanese company operating in the automation sector, which allowed us to further expand our already wide range of products.
What other projects have you been working on in recent years?
2019 was a very important year. We acquired the company Ocmei, specialised in electrical safety, then 100% integrated into Italweber, which brought us an interesting increase in turnover, and the company Ermec, based in Barcelona, active for more than 25 years in distribution on the Spanish and Portuguese markets, with the aim of pursuing our international vision. In the same year, we carried out a further expansion of our warehouse, doubling our logistics capacity. Other investments were made in assembly. We have built very high level automation, which gives us the possibility to sell components already assembled, offering a service that allows customers to save on labour costs. A project that allows us to counter competition from importers of fuses from China and ensure customer loyalty.
During 2020 you have concluded important distribution agreements. Is it possible to expand your already extensive catalogue?
We have always chosen to work with the best suppliers who guarantee our customers the highest standards of quality and performance. Together we have built strategic relationships that allow us to offer the market the widest range of products at the best
range of products at the best commercial conditions. Our suppliers are all international leaders in their fields: from Eaton to Thermodisc, from Apem to Bulgin, from Littelfuse to Adels, from Duracell to Erni. We have a full range of solutions from industry leaders in our catalogue on which we can still grow. So at the moment we are not interested in adding new product lines and prefer to focus our efforts on what we have.
One cannot avoid talking about Covid and its repercussions. What initiatives have you taken? How has it impacted on your business?
In the first months of the epidemic we took several Covid-related initiatives involving employees and customers, to whom we donated over 10,000 masks. We took immediate action by making ourselves available to anticipate shipments and reschedule payments, and all requests to defer payments and orders we received were accepted. Covid has had a definite impact on Omega's operations, but as a solid company we are confident that we can hold on, even without having to make redundancies. The second wave of Covid has obviously worsened the situation and led us to revise our forecasts and assume a 15% drop for the end of the year.
Your father Mario Ciboldi made Omega successful. What did he inherit and maintain from the running of the company?
I am proud to have grown up in a solid and healthy company, and this is the driving force that leads me to always plan new expansions. From my father I have certainly inherited the philosophy and entrepreneurial mentality, which I profess completely and which can be summed up in the phrase: "The best reward for hard work is not what you get but what you become through it". From my father, I have also inherited the important link with the staff, which I consider the primary value of my company. I believe that the way we interface with, talk to and consider our employees is one of the most important values of the company.
The full article is published in Issue 5 of Elettronica AV
