1. What's your role?
I am the Sales Manager of ELFIT, and I take care of the coordination of the sales of the domestic market and of the growing international context, both for what concerns the standard product such as electrical fitting, cable glands and assembly accessories for electrical systems, and for the foundry department specializing in casting for third parties in various sectors.

2. For how many years have you been working for Elfit?
I have been working in Cortem Group for more than thirty years during which I have held increasingly important, stimulating, and ambitious roles. For more than two years I have been working on the repositioning project of ELFIT and its brand on the market, thanks to the experience I had in recent years in Cortem.

3. What is the goal of your work?
Check daily, together with the sales team, all the best opportunities and sales strategies that can be implemented in the short to medium term, aimed at expanding the market and achieving the objectives set by the company. The transversal involvement with the other departments and the technical/commercial support to the Cortem Group sales force complete my work objective.

4. What can you do for the customer?
My in-depth knowledge of the sector gives me the opportunity to provide customers with a long technical/commercial experience gained in all these years, which translates into daily support in the search for the best technical solutions for specific applications. The goal is to better serve the customer and forge profitable long-term partnerships.

5. Have you always done the same job in Elfit?
Direct responsibility at Elfit began over two years ago. Previously, I held various roles in Cortem both as Sales Management and as Product Manager. The cultural background acquired in the two departments allows me to have a broad vision of the business and its general dynamics, both commercial and product.

6. How did you see the industry change from your point of view?
In recent years, the sector has evolved at different speeds from a regulatory and technical point of view: the reference standards have been refined while remaining fairly stable in the general system, while there has been great development in terms of processing and use of construction materials of products and machinery, with particular attention to quality aspects.Many competing companies, during my work experience, have merged with international realities. Cortem Group, on the contrary, has managed to expand geographically by relying only on its own resources and skills, through the opening of some branches in strategic markets, and it has remained a 100% Italian company. In fact, there are very few companies born in the 1970s in our country that have managed not only to keep their original ownership and roots but also to be constantly growing over the years.

7. Do you remember your first day in Elfit?
I proudly remember being selected directly by one of the two founders of the nascent group, Cavaliere Marco Rossi who immediately made me passionate about the Oil & Gas sector and explosion-proof products built with great meticulousness. I remember the preparation of the first commercial estimates, the incessant study of catalogs, products, and Standards, as well as the archaic and poorly computerized means available in those years that supported us in the relationship with the customer. Already at that time I found a group of prepared and ambitious people who quickly welcomed me into the nascent Cortem Group family.

8. What is the most complex request or project you have worked on?
The complex and ambitious projects in all these years have been many. In the 2000s, with great determination and fervor, we tried to achieve the best framework agreements with leading companies in the Oil & Gas sector, as well as the penetration into the major national and international EPC companies.Among the more complex projects on which I worked, I recall the strategic ones related to the creation of new, innovative products specifically requested by the market, during my five-year responsibility as Product Manager, carried out in collaboration with the R&D department.

9. How do you know you did a good job?
The roles I have held in the Group have often forced me to deal with numbers and results that are by their nature objective and cannot be interpreted. Fortunately for me, I am very familiar with numbers that have often become my source of concern, shared, and managed together with my collaborators. Over the years I have had many responses even after some time, when for example unexpectedly customers and colleagues contact me for opinions and advice both on the sector in general and on the best equipment and technologies.

10. What is special about Elfit?
Elfit is for sure a new corporate love affair for me, a project to devote myself completely to.In the last twenty years, the Group has favored the national and international growth of Cortem, carving out the resources necessary for Elfit only to maintain the national business.In the 90s it was considered the leading company in the field of electrical fittings for explosion-proof and watertight electrical systems and today we pride ourselves on calling it an industrial "tailoring", always managing to satisfy the most demanding customers. Starting from these assumptions, the whole team and I firmly believe we can give it greater visibility and the importance that customers continue to recognize, through the most innovative technologies and the best supply services to the market.

1. What's your role?

Foundry manager

2. For how many years have you been working for Elfit?

April 1991

3. What is the goal of your work?

First, I manage the foundry team in order to ensure the efficiency of the different plants in the department, verifying that production times are respected and, at the same time, guaranteeing the quality of the product. Furthermore, I elaborate and keep up to date the processing procedures, I verify the correct functioning of the machineries and their maintenance, I also coordinate the stocks of alloys and of various consumables in the warehouse.

Lastly, I take care of the insertion and the training of new employees in the foundry department.

4. What can you do for the customer?

Making a perfect fusion for a product of the best possible quality; support the customer from a technical point of view in the event of any special requests, as happens for example for third-party customers for whom we create customized castings. This allows me to support the organization and to enter a relationship with the customer.

5. Have you always done the same job in Elfit?

I was lucky enough to experience the main production departments of Elfit. My work experience began in the workshop, at first on automatic lathes and then on multi-spindle. After a few years, I moved to the tooling department which is essential for the quality of the final product. Given my experience on machine tools, I subsequently worked in the foundry to build parts of mould spare parts such as cores and pins; the impact with this new job was not the happiest, but with the passage of time I became passionate about the foundry activity which is the "heart of the company".

Immediately afterwards I also started to follow the preparation of die castings and shells. I was the first in the company to participate in the training course for the use of the servo robots that we had installed on the die-casting operating in that period. In 2000, I then followed the installation of the first low pressure island and, in 2005, I was asked to manage the foundry department together with the plastic moulding and electro-polishing department, active at the time.

Among the biggest and professionally interesting challenges, I can certainly mention some projects for special castings made by Elfit for some selected third-party clients.

Although thirty years have already passed, I realize that I have been lucky along my professional path and I find myself still passionate about my work every day, full of challenges for the future.

6. How did you see the industry change from your point of view?

For the type of role I play, I don't have a direct view of the sector in which the company operates, but I have seen the evolution of the products that Elfit has created for its customers. Throughout my experience, I have learned that it is necessary to always be ready to respond to market demands and to be proactive to anticipate the technological developments to affirm the skills and the abilities of the company in which I work.

7. Do you remember your first day in Elfit?

I remember my first day in Elfit very well: I was assigned to run three automatic lathes with manual bar loading.

8. What is the most complex request or project you have worked on?

I was lucky enough to follow a project for one of our customers in the industrial automation sector that was a real challenge: a stainless-steel case with a coil integrated into the low-pressure casting.

9. How do you know you did a good job?

The most important feedback comes from our customers who, remaining loyal to the company, testify to the goodness and quality of the final product.

10. What is special about Elfit?

The group of colleagues who, like me, have always shown dedication and passion for their work.

1. What's your role?

Area Manager Italy

2. For how many years have you been working for Elfit?

I was hired by Elfit in September 2007.

3. What is the goal of your work?

To contribute to the achievement of company sales objectives.

4. What can you do for the customer?

Follow the customer ensuring a supply that fully satisfies his needs with quality products and support him in case of any problems.

5. Have you always done the same job in Elfit?

Yes. Initially I dealt with all Elfit customers ad interim, both for standard catalog products and for customized foundry products. From 2018 the working group began to expand: I was first joined by a new resource for the development of customized castings and, from 2020, by another collaborator who, in addition to dealing with foundry products, supports me in managing Italy customers.

6. How did you see the industry change from your point of view?

The industry has changed dramatically. During my first years in Elfit, I witnessed a boom in important jobs both in the Oil & Gas sector and in the Energy sector, designed in Italy, but with construction in foreign countries. Right now, the Italian market no longer gives us the same opportunities and we are forced to go directly to EPCs and international market. I am convinced that this change will allow us to proudly demonstrate our capabilities in new markets as well.

7. Do you remember your first day in Elfit?

Yes, very well: a colleague who still works in the parent company let me visit the production plant. From day one I appreciated the completeness of the production departments present in Elfit which still allow us to be an excellence in our sector. I remember being fascinated, in particular, by the production process which begins with the aluminum loaves stacked in the deposit destined for the melting furnaces to obtain the liquid aluminum which, poured into the foundry presses, is transformed into the raw castings which, once processed in the mechanical workshop and passed through the finishing departments for washing and painting, become the finished products that we can still find in the catalog today.

8. What is the most complex request or project you have worked on?

The most challenging project for customized castings was certainly the proposal and supply of an aluminum casting with co-cast coil made for an Italian company in the engine sector which is now part of a large Japanese group.

For the standard products in the catalogue, I recall the proposal and supply of fittings and junction boxes for a large electro-instrumental installation project at an Algerian steel mill; the success of the project was achieved thanks to careful supervision of the progress of production which guaranteed the compliance with the production and delivery times requested by the customer.

9. How do you know you did a good job?

Thanks to the positive feedback from customers and collaborators who appreciate my availability and with whom a relationship of trust has now been established.

10. What is special about Elfit?

Elfit is synonymous with flexibility, dynamism and coherence. In 2007 I was offered to join the manufacturing company of Cortem Group and I accepted the challenge. Even today I am proud to represent the beating heart of the Group, always ready to churn out the best solutions required by the market.

1. What's your role?

Domestic Sales account of Elfit. I take care of the management of acquired orders, as well as relationships with customers, for whom I play a role of assistance during commercial negotiations and after-sales. In my duties, in addition to order management, there is also the estimating and processing of commercial offers, technical product information and commercial reporting.I collaborate daily with the Sales Team as a back-office in relation to the verification, control, and management of some company processes.

2. For how many years have you been working for Elfit?

Since December 1985.

3. What is the goal of your work?

The objective of my job is to collaborate with the Sales Team to increase the turnover through the acquisition of new customers and the loyalty of existing ones. Ours is a teamwork, we interact with different departments through continuous discussion, to understand how best to proceed to make the entire process more productive and effective. Two of the work and personal goals are: building positive relationships within the company and, above all, communicating effectively with customers. I believe that having a collaborative spirit helps to improve company results and contributes to creating a positive and constructive climate in the workplace.

4. What can you do for the customer?

I am available to the customer to provide precise and timely answers regarding prices, availability, and technical product information. I try to give the most appropriate advice among the various products and materials available and assist the customer in post-sales with information regarding shipping and invoicing or directing him to other colleagues who can provide more timely answers. I also receive any complaints or suggestions from customers that can help improve our performance.

5. Have you always done the same job in Elfit?

I have always worked in the commercial sector although over the years I have also held other roles in addition to the current one.

6. How did you see the industry change from your point of view?

Elfit was born as a company specializing in electrical fittings and the production of explosion-proof and waterproof enclosures, as well as a foundry to produce customized aluminum castings for different sectors. The product range has increasingly expanded from the point of view of the availability of models, materials, sizes, and threads with a very high-quality level. Nowadays, the Cortem Group boasts a highly qualified R&D laboratory attentive to the processes of adapting the products to international regulations, a new even more efficient operating system, an increasingly widespread national and international distribution network, a very dynamic management of production processes and a very competent and organized technical-commercial team. If I think that, when I joined Elfit, we only had 39 workers and employees, while now the group numbers over 250 people, it seems like a century has passed! There have been many changes: we went from the old telex to the most advanced information technologies; from the continuous form printer to the possibility of managing everything online without wasting paper and time; from old-concept parallel lathes and other traditional manual machine tools to new generation ones that are much more performing and safer for operators.

7. Do you remember your first day in Elfit?

It was December 1, 1985, and I was happy to have found a job that could guarantee me a financial independence. I immediately found a familiar environment, I felt at home!

8. What is the most complex request or project you have worked on?

Personally, I have not worked on particularly complex projects, but I have always given my availability and expertise for all types of requests, from the smallest to the largest and most complex because they all contribute to customer satisfaction and, consequently, to the positive conclusion of the negotiation.

9. How do you know you did a good job?

Customer satisfaction when you can adequately respond to their requests and knowing that the colleagues who come after me in the process have all the information they need to do their job in the best feasible way.

10. What is special about Elfit?

Elfit is like a second family to me. It has always been a place where I felt at home, even if there were more complicated periods. It was born as a company where people were at the center of the organization and, even if there have been important transformations over the years, in my opinion it still maintains this important characteristic.

1. What's your role?

I’m a Mechanical Designer in the Research and Development Dept.

2. For how many years have you been working for Elfit?

I was hired in 2007.

3. What is the goal of your work?

Based on company and market requests, I aim to design and bring to certification new products that are able to satisfy all the expectations of the end customer. They must be functional and, at the same time, easy to install, always keeping an eye on to environmental protection.

4. What can you do for the customer?

Create a product that responds to safety and functionality requests by taking advantage of any suggestion and advice to constantly make improvements to the existing product or to start a new project.

5. Have you always done the same job in Elfit?

Yes, since 2007.

6. How did you see the industry change from your point of view?

Compared to when I started my collaboration with Cortem Group, the sector has certainly become much more competitive with the ever-increasing need to develop new and innovative products. This was a challenge for me to always work better. The product range has increasingly expanded in terms of availability of models, materials, sizes, and threads with a very high level of quality.

7. Do you remember your first day in Elfit?

Yes, even if many years have passed. I immediately had the impression of having joined a solid, structured company, but capable of maintaining a family atmosphere which often helps to work more serenely, without being considered "a number".

8. What is the most complex request or project you have worked on?

I mainly remember two. The first was the design of a new family of cable glands, a product that I knew little about, but which I came to understand in detail thanks to this project. When you tackle a project of this type for the first time, you immediately understand that you are dealing with many unknowns. Furthermore, all the tests necessary for product certification were quite long and failing just one test would have meant delaying the project completion date by several months. The second challenge was the design of a new family of interlocked explosion-proof sockets and plugs, mechanically rather complex components.

9. How do you know you did a good job?

From the positive feedback from the technical management and customers. In this case I can say that I have designed a good product.

10. What is special about Elfit?

The ability to maintain a familiar working atmosphere, despite the passing of the years, and the peculiarity of producing special parts, even if in short runs, to satisfy customer requests. It is also very flexible, a feature certainly appreciated by the market.