It’s safe to say Paolo achieved his goal. Today, the Cavagna Group has a global footprint of more than 1,000 employees at 18 different locations in five continents.
The Italian corporation delivers approximately 50 million valves and regulators each year in more than 145 countries via a worldwide network of 27 fully-owned distribution and manufacturing companies.
Now under the leadership of the family’s third generation, the Cavagna Group has emerged as a true world benchmark for the major gas players.
This year, the Cavagna Group is celebrating 70 years of history and 70 years of business as a family run company.
To mark this milestone anniversary, gasworld spoke exclusively with Miriam Cavagna, Head of Marketing and Communication, to find out more about the company’s history, evolution and future plans.
In the first half of the interview released last week (available here), we learnt the Cavagna Group has embarked upon a global path of development as a producer of valves and regulators for the gases business.
Progression has been swift, considering the group only started the production of valves for the industrial and medical gases market in the late 1970s.
With its base in Brescia, we also learnt the Cavagna Group is at the heart of the production of brass related products and processes – a distinct advantage for a company whose core business is the manufacture of valves and regulators used in the gases industry and beyond.
Compared to some of its competitors, the Cavagna Group is a vertically integrated manufacturer of gas control equipment, providing the group with the advantage of direct access to raw materials and greater control over its supply chain quality.
Product evolution
Whilst the company started by addressing its production towards three macro areas (LPG valves and tank accessories, LPG regulators, and valves and regulators for compressed gases), its organisational structure has undergone a progressive enlargement and is today divided into six principal focus areas: LPG, compressed gases, natural gas, alternative fuels, gas metering solutions and other solutions.
“We are a key industrial partner for gas companies, utilities and OEM’s, supplying them with technology for the regulation, control and metering of gases – gas for energy; industrial, medical, specialty gases, alternative fuels,” Miriam explained.
“Looking specifically at the compressed gases area, we manufacture and distribute a wide range of valves and regulators for different types of high-pressure gas applications: from ultra-high purity and medical care, to industrial, welding applications, as well as alternative energy vehicles, fire extinguishing and cryogenics.”
Source: The Cavagna Group
Miriam said new technologies and the modern approach to the packaged gas utilisation is currently driving the company’s growth.
“In the modern world, the most effective way to perform well, profiting from the challenges, is to invest in technology and streamline the organisational processes.”
“In the industrial and medical gas business, the first thing the Cavagna Group needed to do was be recognised as a reliable partner in the industry.”
“This industry is particularly conservative, therefore this challenge has been successfully overcome thanks to the great dedication of the family and the staff in adapting to this industry and implementing best practice.”
Digitisation focus
The Cavagna Group has also invested a lot in bringing high quality products and services to the market in recent years, specifically digitisation and the Internet of Things (IoT).
“In the past few years, we have created a dedicated development team building in house skills and collaborating with top global companies to bring products to the market,” Miriam continued.
“Our new cloud platform for managing data of all IoT devices is running and can now receive information from all the devices that have been integrated with data transmission.”
“For each specific device, there is a dedicated user experience since the information that needs to be provided to our customers varies a lot by market and by each country specification.”
“The Cavagna Group aims to be one of the key drivers of the gas business modernisation and will cooperate with partners to turn this prospective into reality.”
“In addition, in January of this year, the Cavagna Group became a member of LoRa Alliance, the fastest growing technology alliance that consists of over 500 members including companies such as Google, Alibaba, Tata, SoftBank, etc. We expect this to be a very proactive partnership.”
“It has been a challenge to find a way to stay competitive in this globalised world. The innovation and technology investment has been the key to succeed.”
Future plans
The Cavagna Group’s evolution from a small company in Lumezzane to the international industrial group it is today is a testament to the Cavagna family’s involvement and “family-run” principles.
The company’s global acquisition trail, coupled with its evidently strong position as a vertically integrated producer, has ensured the group is a leading manufacturer of valves and regulators for the compressed and liquefied gas business.”
But where is the group heading next on its journey?
“We aim to integrate the user experience with new services, making the life of gas usage easier and friendlier for the final user,” highlighted Miriam.
“At the same time, technology is allowing us to work on productivity and performance level to maximise on investments in a streamlined way.”
“The Cavagna Group aims to be one of the key drivers of the gas business modernisation and will cooperate with partners to turn this prospective into reality.”
With the course of the company’s future set, the Cavagna Group sets sail for the next 70 years.