From small craft business to high-tech sheet metal processor
Aussafer Due, an Italian family business, has grown from a small craft business to a high-tech sheet metal processing company. Its recipe: investment in advanced technologies. And a partnership with textile mogul Alessandro Benetton.
The Citossi family's small business once fit into a small shed. Today, Aussafer Due is the Italian market leader in sheet metal laser cutting: a total of over 400 employees produce components for more than 750 customers, including for air conditioning systems, agricultural and horticultural machinery, refrigeration and heating systems, furniture, household appliances and industrial machinery.
But the company also serves a niche market: for several years, Aussafer Due has been manufacturing high-precision laser-cut electro sheet lamellae for prototypes of rotors and stators in electric motors. The volume of these parts is increasing sharply year on year. “The business segment offers great potential for setting ourselves apart from our competitors,” says Giacomo Citossi, who is the third generation of his family to run the company.
Consistent further development of production
Investments in new technologies are a tradition at the company in San Giorgio di Nogaro: Over the decades, the company in the north-east of Italy has repeatedly modernized its laser machines. The CO2 cutting machines were replaced by fiber lasers and these in turn by the latest generation of lasers. Similarly, all the bending and punching machines were converted from hydraulic to electric.
“With each new generation, we have been able to reduce our energy consumption and increase our efficiency,”
says Citossi. Since 1992, Aussafer Due has relied on a single supplier for cutting and bending:
Bystronic always keeps pace with technological progress and only uses first-class, high-quality components
”In addition, the software is continuously being further developed. Our relationship with Bystronic is of crucial importance for the success of our company.”
On a growth path thanks to a prominent investor
Bystronic also provides support for the expansion of the automation. All of the lasers are automated, and the entire range of automation solutions is in use: ByTrans Extended, ByTrans Cross, ByTower, and BySort. They accelerate the loading and unloading of the cutting machines and reduce the manual workload. Production runs 24 hours a day. “Unmanned operation is very reliable, but you have to know which processes it makes sense to automate. Some work is better done by hand,” explains Citossi.
Progress has made Aussafer Due great – but not only: since 2020, the private equity fund of textile mogul Alessandro Benetton has been promoting the growth of the family business. The fund's resources enabled two major acquisitions on the Italian market in 2021 and 2022. But the young CEO Citossi has further plans: he also wants to make acquisitions north of the Alps and establish the Aussafer Group beyond Italy's borders. His goal: to become one of the leading European suppliers.
Profile of Aussafer Due
Business sector: Sheet metal processing industry
Active in: laser cutting, bending, punching, tube processing, welding, and fabrication
Founded: 1966
Employees: Aussafer Due 90, group >400
Turnover: > 100 million euros (group forecast for 2024)
