D.G.V. Ltd., how to manage 60 thousand different types of sheet metal.

From large batches to flexibility thrust. It is the successfully road taken by D.G.V. Ltd. of Arluno, looks to 2011 with orders planned for the entire year but cannot find technical staff to include in the production department.
“Our vocation is the sheet metal processing for third parties, based on the costumer’s design. We started in 1963 as a small metal carpentry company. Then we have developed it in several areas, always at the service of customers that build other machines, systems, components, and capital goods. At first large batches for large enterprises were built.
Today the word is flexibility. In a nutshell John D’Argento, technical manager and son of the founder Vito, tells us how the market has changed for D.G.V., which today exports almost 40% of its turnover.

What are the strong points of your production?

“For us, quality is the key. One of ours strong points to offer our customers the highest quality and precision in every sector and field, whether it is about a prototype or a mass-production. We have machinery and people who can offer the best in terms of quality to the customer, delivering the product as perfect as possible. Furthermore, I consider our ability to collaborate with clients, meeting his needs, a further strength of our company.
We have operators, tools, and offices able to meet various needs, from prototype for the shipbuilding industry to prototype in large series for food industries. We always try to optimize our work from the early stages, trying to produce it with the utmost speed and the highest quality in precision, these are two factors inseparable for us”.

What areas of your machinery inventory and company will be changed or renovated?

“About the machinery inventory we will work short-term on the aspect of finish and logistics, introducing, for example, more automated processes and machinery for the finish. Then we will be able to provide greater precision and quality product to the customer in order to satisfy the most demanding requirements of the market. We are also updating and taking care of the commercial side of the company, introducing new website and brochures”.

How important is the foreign market?

“For us, the foreign market is exclusively concentrated in Europe, especially in Switzerland and Germany, but there is no doubt that, within few years, the foreign market will cover a large part of the production. Today, in fact, the foreign market covers about 40% of our production”.

How behaves the internal market hit by the recent economic crisis?

“Unfortunately, the internal market is dismayed by a common uncertainty on the part of all. If in the past the internal market required a mass production today it requires more and more specialized high quality products and prototypes. However, we trust in an overall recovery of the internal market, where qualities never fall short”.

What was your reaction to the crisis? How did you faced it?

“The crisis was a defining moment for us but we believe that it has been a moment for everyone in which it was necessary maintain the costs and take full advantage of each single quality and potential in the attempt to provide our customers the same strengths that we have always guaranteed and that has always set us apart.
The workforce and the timings have been maintained. This is a reason for pride. Today we notice some signs of recovery and we are ready to restart stronger and more competitive than ever”.