Face to face with 1960 Seravesi: a specialist in plate rolling machine and presses for dished ends

expometals.net welcomes 1960 Seravesi among its online exhibitors. The Italy-based company is renowned globally for its range of plate rolling machines with variable axes and presses for forming dished ends. In this interview with sales manager Mr. Paolo Bertolotti, we gain a better understanding of the company's history, current market trends, and future prospects.

Let's delve into the company's history. How has it evolved from the 1960s to the present day?

The company, formerly known as BSB, was founded by Mr. Seravesi Tommaso and a partner. A few years later, Mr. Seravesi ventured into the global market by himself, and established Sertom, a name derived from the initials of his last name and first name. In the 1970s, the company began exporting large machines to the United States and then expanded to the Far East in the 1980s, providing its plate-rollers to industry giants like Hyundai and Daewoo. The company's reference markets continued to grow, and thus Sertom started to export to most countries worldwide. Sertom specialized in building medium-thick plate-rollers from the outset, and later started manufacturing high-tonnage presses for shipbuilding, presses with manipulators, and flanging machines for forming dished ends. In 2001, Tommaso's son, Paolo, joined the company, bringing new momentum to it. The company changed its name to 1960 Seravesi in 2015, continuing to produce quality machines for medium-thickness plates, as well as lines for manufacturing dished ends, customized lines for producing corrugated sheet metal and curved profiles, as well as offering revamping and reconditioning services.



What are your flagship products? Which machines/lines are in the highest demand?

1960 Seravesi focuses on manufacturing high-quality products. For us, the number of machines built each year is not important, but their quality is, and we do not compromise on it. Our flagship is the variable-axis plate rolling machine, and has been so since Mr. Seravesi Tommaso designed and launched it with a revolutionary geometry in 1978. Besides this machine, we specialize in constructing lines for producing dished ends, as well as lines for manufacturing and rolling corrugated sheet metal for civil uses.

Which geographical areas are you currently focusing on, and which ones do you think are the most promising for the future?

Our primary reference markets are North America and Italy. Secondary markets, not for their importance but for sales numbers, include Spain, Eastern Europe, and Brazil.

From your perspective, what is the current state of the sheet metal industry?

We see that the North American market is active, receptive, and has strong demand. Unfortunately, Italy has slowed down a bit due to the expiration of incentives provided by the Italian Government for the Industry 4.0 transition program." Germany is not very receptive, at least for our business.

How do you position yourself compared to your competitors? Where do they come from, and what are your relationships with these companies?

Our main competitors are Italian, but they differ from us in that they focus on mass production, while we prefer to remain a "boutique" where we build machines on customers' requests with high-quality standards. American and Asian sheet metal manufacturers turn to Turkish competitors for machines for small-thickness sheet metal, because they offer lower prices than us.



With other machine manufacturers in the industry now offering used machinery and equipment, how does 1960 Seravesi respond?

We also sell used machinery and equipment that we buy and recondition ourselves. We resell them completely overhauled, with new PLC, electrical and hydraulic components. After our treatment, you can hardly tell it's a used machine.

How is your company dealing with the issue of the shortage of electronic components for machine manufacturing, and what strategies have you adopted?

We are affected like everyone else, but our long-term procurement strategy has paid off: the agreements with long-term suppliers have been key in ensuring that we never run out of critical components.

Have you experienced difficulties in finding skilled labor, as many others in the industry have?

Yes, this is a very thorny issue, and we also struggle to find skilled labor and young people willing to learn. We have opened searches with numerous agencies, schools, and universities, but it's hard to find suitable personnel.

What about the future? What are your forecasts and goals for 2023?

We expect to see a significant increase in turnover this year compared to 2022, and we plan to maintain and consolidate these results in 2024.

To learn more about 1960 Seravesi’s hydraulic presses and bending machines, please visit the company’s online stand on expometals.