Albertone Serramenti has recently expanded its production line with a new system using TWT tools. We asked Mario Albertone, who runs the company together with his brother Daniele, to tell us about this development project.
In 2024 Albertone Serramenti will celebrate its 50th anniversary: to what do you attribute this longevity?
To clarity of purpose, I think. The company was founded in 1974 by my father Michele, who unfortunately left us in 2016. Right from the start he focused mainly on the production of doors and windows.
In the 1974-1980 period he also acquired a series of certifications to access the public procurement sector. Albertone Serramenti, therefore, immediately entered this market in which it currently operates.
Public contracts are sometimes frowned upon but for us they have been and remain very important because they have always guaranteed us a solid base of business.
The company is currently run by my brother Daniele and myself. I am an accountant and so I take care of the commercial aspects, while my brother, a land surveyor, oversees production.
Do you have a showroom?
We have two showrooms, both here in Chivasso, where we present our product range. We also had aseparate showroom but we closed it because I realised that people like to know that we are the manufacturers and that behind the showroom there is a company that produces the products and they like to come and see how we make them.
How large is your staff and what are your target markets?
We have 15 employees plus about ten craftsmen who collaborate with us, making a total of 25 people. Our main market is the North-West of Italy: Piedmont, Lombardy, some clients in Liguria and Valle d’Aosta. We have also done some work in Veneto. Occasionally we also get a job order from Rome, Naples, etc., but these are sporadic jobs.
We work a lot in the public procurement sector, and we also produce for several dealers and companies. In recent years, we have also developed a private clientele, which is why we have invested in a new production centre in cooperation with TWT and Working Process, to create dedicated products that meet the tastes of the end customer.
Can you tell us briefly about the project for expanding your production?
We have reorganised production into two workshops, except for painting for which we rely on external companies. Finishing and assembly operations are carried out in a new 2,000 square metre facility.
As I said before, we have expanded our production line with an innovative system that enables us to produce new products in less time and speed up deliveries while guaranteeing consistently high product quality.
A system that increases your productivity, right?
Without a doubt. The new machining centre is equipped with an IMML unit, i.e., an intelligent magazine onto which we can load the workpieces for all kinds of orders.
This magazine then feeds the processing machine that is equipped with five motors, ten independent clamps and can work unmanned for up to three continuous shifts. After machining, the parts are unloaded into a separate multi-level magazine.
I believe you mentioned new products.
Thanks to the synergy between the machine and the router bits, we have developed products that reflect the Piedmontese baroque style: an old-style window frame but with modern hardware.
It is a very popular solution in Turin, where we work a lot, because it solves various problems.
Many people don’t change their window frames, in fact, because they have frames that are restricted by the Municipal Superintendence, or because the frames have small rails or other special elements.
With the new system, we are able to re-propose this style and realise those sophisticated details.
Did you choose TWT’s Esperia Rima design?
Yes, we chose Rima, which we call the ‘eternal’ window frame for the fact that it is made up of these two wooden elements, one on the outer side and one on the inner side joined together by specially designed clips, whichallows to solve many problems concerning maintenance.
Ordinary and extraordinary maintenance can be carried out even without dismantling the entire window. We believed in this solution right from the start.
Do you also produce wood/aluminium windows?
We strongly believe in wood/aluminium, and in fact the new system is equipped with the Esperia Innova series of dedicated tools from TWT.
Esperia Innova allows us a more efficient management of aluminium. With bars ready in stock, we are able to streamline and facilitate orders without having to wait for other suppliers.
I would also like to mention the Esperia 8.45 and 8.59 solutions, thanks to which we can produce minimalist design wooden windows and satisfy those customers who love essential lines and want to naturally improve their interiors.
Have you already secured customers for these new products?
We already have agreements under way for the Rima. It is a product that is giving us some satisfaction because we are bringing home some good jobs.
The 8.59 is also a product that we have already tested, produced and budgeted for: customers like it and new orders are coming in for it as well.
What do you think of TWT’s support?
We had been a customer of Rekord for some 30 years already. The merger into TWT was positive because it created a good synergy regarding products and projects. And when there are problems, they are addressed and solved.
This is a very important quality. A problem can arise with any job, and the skill of a company emerges when it intervenes to solve it and propose alternative solutions.
We are satisfied with everything that has been done and with what we are doing with TWT. We feel covered and well supported by the people in the company.
So we hope to continue like this. After all, the market is there, you just have to work at it. As our slogan says: ‘That’s all we know how to do’, namely making windows.
