Wire & Cable Technology International - January/February 2008 - (Page 64)

Transforming Our Ideas Into Your Success by: Andrea Camparada, Sales Director SAMP – Division Sampsistemi Via Calzoni, 2 40128 Bologna, Italy www.sampsistemi.com Adapted from “Wire Up”, the wire and cable technology magazine of During the years of post-war reconstruction in the aftermath of the World War II, an insatiable market demand for industrial goods was unsatisfied by the run-down industrial base of the time. In response, a group of enterprising youngsters from Romagna, Italy, founded IRCE in Imola, just a few kilometers away from Bologna, Italy. Right from the outset, IRCE specialized in the production of enamelled copper wire for electric machine windings, products chiefly used in electric motors, transformers and electromechanical components. IRCE has been a long-standing user of Sampsistemi wire drawing equipment. At the time, the market was firmly in the hands of several large industrial groups from Milan and Turin in Italy, and IRCE was therefore the first competitor to arrive on the scene from ‘afar’. Well managed over the ensuing years, the company took advantage of the favorable post-war market to grow rapidly, and it was not long before it began exporting products abroad. though more difficult to produce, were far more profitable. At the start of the 1960s, IRCE utilized the know-how of one of its founders and shareholders, and expanded its manufacturing program to include PVC insulated electric cables. International trade was booming at the time and to keep pace, IRCE had to expand its manufacturing sites. In fact, the company soon outgrew its original headquarters in Via Selice, Imola, and it moved a second time before finally settling in its present day headquarters, an impressive facility of 50,000 m2, located in Via Lasie. The first IRCE distribution company was also founded in Switzerland, followed shortly after by companies in Germany, France and Spain—strategic steps which were taken to support sales more efficiently. Over the years, practically all Sampsistemi drawing lines have been supplied and installed at IRCE, one of the most noteworthy being the MS 400 rod breakdown line, supplied in the 1970s. After more than 30 years, it is still used with satisfaction by customers all over the world. Interestingly, one of the single-wire MS 400 rod breakdown lines originally supplied was later transformed into a two-wire solution by IRCE engineers. Production capacity was doubled instantaneously without compromising line reliability in any way. Exploiting know-how and resources to the fullest to engineer accessory lines and systems in-house has always been a particular forte of IRCE. To this day, IRCE has always represented a challenge for Sampsistemi in terms of technological solutions. When it comes to wire drawing, wire enamelling and cable manufacturing, IRCE is in fact one of the most renowned names in the world. The commercial growth of IRCE later led it to acquire a whole series of manufacturing sites, both in Italy and abroad. These included the Italian companies Guglionesi, a specialist in low and medium tension electric cables, and Umbertine, a producer of enamelled copper and aluminum wire as well as the Dutch Smit Draad, a producer of enamelled transposed cables, and the British enamelled wire maker, F.D. Sims. A new facility in Brazil is the most recent foreign investment made by IRCE, and the production of enamelled copper wire is now underway. In 1996, IRCE began listing on the Milan Stock Exchange. In terms of Sampsistemi equipment, the most recent machinery supplied to IRCE ranges from an intermediate draw- The Need for High-Technology Equipment Interestingly, while business flourished in Imola for IRCE, Sampsistemi was also pursuing a similar process of development back in Bologna, so it was only natural that the two companies would soon collaborate. In fact, the wire drawing technology used by IRCE is primarily comprised of Sampsistemi equipment, starting with the very first MM3A and MM3B machines, manufactured by Sampsistemi after the war under Herborn license, and followed over the years by a wide range of models, including the MM5 capillary wire drawing machine—a real pièce de résistance in the IRCE factory. Right from the start, the IRCE manufacturing program featured only high-level technology, and the company specialized in the manufacture of small diameter conductors, which 64 Wire & Cable Technology International/January 2008 Copper wire made with SAMP equipment at IRCE. http://www.sampsistemi.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Wire & Cable Technology International - January/February 2008

Wire & Cable Technology International - January/February 2008 Editorial Wire & Cable Events Industry News Global Economy Drives Specialty Cable Demand Corporate News Change is Tough! Top Products of 2007 New Magnesium Hydroxides Enabling Low-Smoke Cable Compounds Straight From the Show - IWCS Conference™ A History of Long-Term Thinking Ensures a Pioneering Spirit Expediency of Roller Dies Application in Wire Drawing - Part 1 WireDrawing 101 Strain Rate Transforming Our Ideas Into Your Success Straight From The Show - Wire Southeast ASIA 2007 Capstans, Dancers, Accumulators Roundup Spotlight On Quality Control Pioneering Virtual Technology for Extrusion Electrically Heated Furnace Cuts Energy Costs/Reduces Carbon Footprint Machinery Accessories Materials Polymer Developments in the Cables Industry Wire & Connector Top Products of 2007 Just Load, Click and Print Superior Flame Resistance for Minimal Smoke, CO & Acid Gas High-Flex Round Cable Added to On-Line Design Tools Failed Bridge Cables Replaced With Smaller, Stronger Ones Advertisers Index Classified Advertising Internet Spotlight Editorial Index

Wire & Cable Technology International - January/February 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.