Settimi: “I am a firm believer of Made in Italy”
Interview with the President of Plinoxotar Luigi Settimi
With its three plants in Lazio and more than 100 employees the company has manufactured more than 300.000 LPG tanks. Plinoxotar is a major company in this sector domestically and internationally.
Founded in Italy in 1964, initially dedicated to production of heating equipment and fuel storage tanks, it expanded its activities to other products, with focus on environmental and energy sectors. Slowly but surely it moved into stainless steel tanks for transport of food, dangerous goods and inks and the LPG sector, consolidating its position as one of the main manufacturers of tanks and accessories. It is now specialised in the design and manufacture, according to European and International standards, of pressure equipment for storage and transportation of all types of gases. This means our company is a benchmark both in Italy and abroad. “I am a firm believer of “Made in Italy” and of keeping industrial engineering in Italy – says Luigi Settimi. Almost 79 years old he goes to work daily at 7.30 am and knows all his employees as a good father figure. Workers have been with us for 35 years and I have always paid attention to technology developments in the market; my business vision has enabled me to make Plinoxotar a leader and open to embrace demands of the various market areas”.
The Lazio company’s tanks end up in industry and homes. Both in industry and agriculture, proper storage and processing of solids and liquids demand strict standards for tanks, specially where hard or aggressive substances are involved. Plinoxotar has used its experience in double seaming technology to create an innovative welding system. Furthermore the speed of manufacturing process has almost doubled: high quality new, flexible welded stainless steel tanks are manufactured that are geographically widespread. As regards the average time to manufacture a PED tank, Plinoxotar has a highly automated standard for repetitive type of equipment and the ability and flexibility to manufacture equipment to specific requirements of the client. Manufacturing time thus varies between two days and up to 3-4 weeks. This Lazio based global company markets itself mainly by taking part in 4-5 trade fairs, one global (the next to be held in UAE next autumn), and two European as well as participating in minor events.
The company specially considers respect of the environment as one of its strengths. “Environmental resources (water, plants, animals) are limited – continues Settimi – and man acting irresponsibly runs the risk of damaging it irreversibly. It is thus important that each one of us, industrialists in primis, learns to check our actions to limit damaging the environment. I believe each one of us can do a lot in our own sphere by simple daily acts. For us respect for the environment is fundamental: that we are ISO 14001 certified since long is proof of this. We also focus on LPG/methane which are environment friendly”. No less importance is given to ethics and solidarity in Plinoxotar. “We today need ethics which applies just actions and identifies the bad ones, leading to concept of good and bad – the President continues. I am among those for whom a handshake is enough, as once upon a time. Now during the lockdown we have minimised use of the redundancy fund, enabling our employees to come to work in safety and maintain their families comfortably. Therefore we need to act collectively specially in these difficult times.