Preview all articles

Scilla Meccanica saves energy with E-Power

Scilla Meccanica is an EN ISO 50001:2018 certified company.With reference to the "Energy Management System Policy", the first of the commitments made by Scilla Meccanica is:   to assume and reinforce the awareness of the importance of efficient and correct use of the energy resource. The fundamental question that arose during the meetings of the company's Energy Team was whether the process optimisation effort underlying the above-mentioned energy policy statement could be undermined by the use of inefficient energy at source.On the basis of this argument, the Energy Manager of Scilla Meccanica, Gabriella Albani, promoted a specific survey on the subject, which resulted, after a number of meetings for analysis, evaluation and in-depth study during the year 2021, in the mandate that Scilla Meccanica gave to the company Energia Europa Spa for the supply and installation of the E-Power system.With the operational support of Elettrogamma Srl, the system was installed in the electrical transformation cabin of Scilla Meccanica on 08/10/2021 and tested on 21/10/2021.   The E-Power system: what does it consist of? Il team Elettrogamma: Michele, Nicola, Roberto E-Power is an Energia Europa patented system for energy efficiency in production sites, producing energy and cost savings for the same amount of work performed. The key principle is that electrical energy can also be filtered and therefore made more efficient. The inspiration for the development of the E-Power system comes from audio and acoustic technology: distortions are unwanted background noise in the acoustic sector that can be attenuated with appropriate filter technologies. Due to new types of stabilised power users now widely prevalent in modern electrical systems, there are more and more disturbances in the electrical transmission that impoverish the quality of the power, as happens in the world of high-fidelity audio. The filtering results obtained in the field of professional audio and the new conditions in the electricity grid were the basis for Energia Europa's research and development, with the aim of optimising energy transmission and reducing losses in the grid. Until the 1980s, all industrial and commercial sites were dominated by linear loads, i.e. electrical loads that were not regulated or managed by electronic devices. In the late 1980s, electronic components became smaller and more efficient. New, more efficient technologies are starting to come to the fore, linked to electronic frequency control, which have a positive impact on consumption but a negative impact on power quality. Since the 2000s, world electricity consumption has grown exponentially and production from renewable sources has increased significantly, which has a negative impact on power quality. Non-linear loads, i.e. loads managed by power electronics, are prevalent at production sites. It is essential to save energy by making installations more efficient and optimising power quality. The innovative filtering technology of E-Power systems works by modifying the current waveform, reducing disturbances and losses on the line and improving power quality and efficiency. Una fase dell'installazione dell'E-Power l'8/10/2021             Glauco Pigoli architetto - project manager

Scilla Meccanica at MECSPE Bologna 2021

Scilla Meccanica is participating in MECSPE 2021, which this year will be held at the Bologna exhibition centre from 23 to 25 November.
Scilla Meccanica participates in this event by joining the Apindustria Brescia collective to which stand B-26 hall 26 refers.

Christmas ergo cogito

“Courage, the best has passed,” goesone of the great Ennio Flaiano's most famous aphorisms. Perhaps we should resign ourselves too and admit that our dolce vita is now dead, irrecoverable. Perhaps Pier Paolo Pasolini was right when he said in the second half of the 1950s: “We are at the origins of what will probably be the worst era in human history, the era of industrial alienation.” If we think back to the last year our life, it is difficult to remain indifferent to Pasolini's prophecy and anxiety rises inside us. By isolating us, making us sick, killing our loved ones, the pandemic has tested our psyche and our economy. Is this really our historic moment? Are we, seventy years later, creatures condemned to live the worst era in human history? Is the era of industrial alienation really our era? My answer is that it depends on us. I am deeply convinced that in life there is always the possibility to choose. What is often lacking is the courage to make choices. The courage to change Because some choices are tough, they involve sacrifices that we are not willing to bear. This is our era: the era of choice. It is time to decide what we want to do with our lives and the shred of the world we have left.

Scilla Meccanica at MECSPE Parma 2020

Concerns linked to the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic on a global scale inevitably give rise to uncertainties and doubts over the appropriateness and true viability of taking part in exhibition events. Notwithstanding the possibility that MECSPE 2020 may be affected by a reduction in visitors and exhibitors, particularly from abroad, Scilla Meccanica has confirmed its attendance, joining the initiative promoted by API Industria Brescia. For all members of the Brescia-based collective of companies, it is clear that organisers of Fiera di Parma have focused their efforts on meeting all participant safety requirements. Why is Scilla Meccanica in Parma? Historically, the company has favoured foreign trade fairs to strengthen the visibility of the Scilla Meccanica brand on the international scene. The unexpected peak in production in 2018 spawned the feeling of an imminent crisis in the engineering sector, which would have affected even the most established relationships in the domestic market, as was, in fact, the case. Even before the pandemic started disrupting every action programme, Scilla Meccanica had decided to participate in exhibitions throughout Italy. The Parma fair has established itself as one of the most important events in Italy, dedicated to the manufacturing industry and innovation technologies. After the devastating impact that the pandemic has had on the ability to make long-term market forecasts, the need to share an agora of technical and economic knowledge is now even greater. Working together during this transition phase, which will inevitably lead to a shift in the world economy, we can only speculate on the possible scenarios.

Covid-19: emergency management

Three months have now passed since February 21, 2020, the day of the announcement of the first case of positivity to the Coronavirus, found in Codogno in the province of Lodi. In the previous weeks there were fragmentary reports of an epidemic that was spreading in China, but we all thought it was something distant that would not concern us, and if it touched us, we would have managed and overcome it like any winter flu. However, the number of victims that was feeding that distant situation could not be considered normal, let alone a simple detail for people who are fond of statistics.

In those days at the end of February Ancilla Bezzi and the undersigned were engaged in the exhibition “Fornitore offresi 2020” in Erba in the province of Como.  When the news of the first case of Codogno arrived, a noise was immediately perceived between the pavilions. The interest for the fair quickly waned, leaving a widespread concern and a desire to break ranks to go home, with the instinct to protect oneself and understand what would happen the next day.

A phone call to Dr. Luigi Residori, a dearest friend and doctor in force at the Borgo Trento Hospital in Verona, immediately alerted us to the importance of this news: foreshadowing the dramatic scenario that three weeks later we would really experience, he urged us to take the situation very seriously.

We must thank him for his advice if, during the same weekend, the company’s management organized and activated immediate security measures, regardless of the lack of official government directives, bodies and health structures that at the first juncture appeared to be waiting and uncoordinated in communications through the media.

The suspension of all classroom training activities, the staggering of staff at different working hours, the suspension of consultants’ and representatives’ visits, the strict regulation of access and the disclosure of the hygiene rules to be adopted, all this, applied since Monday 24 February, allowed Scilla Meccanica’s work to be carried out regularly in safety. Until the production activities closed on 23 March 2020, stated by the Prime Ministerial Decree of 22 March 2020, no positive cases of Corona Virus were found in the company.

From then on, office activities were regularly carried out in smart working, while the prospect of a three-week production shutdown was revised with an advanced notwithstanding re opening on April 12, 2020. Starting up again, notified in advance to the Prefecture of Brescia, justified by the request of about sixty customers that supply components necessary to support specific chain activities, classified as “necessary” and authorized by the government decree.

In the meantime, the company has activated, although minimally, the ordinary redundancy fund (CIGO) notwithstanding for Covid-19.

Despite the production downtime, the suspension of supplier-customer relations and the sharp break in the flow of orders-deliveries-payments have led to consequences whose negative impact will tend to be projected over the mid-long term, Scilla Meccanica has not hesitate to pay workers redundancy payments in advance, as required by the agreements between the government and the social partners.

 

The Prime Ministerial Decree of 26 April 2020 led to a regular restarting of the productive sectors.

Scilla Meccanica’s work activities are currently carried out in compliance with anti-contagion safety protocols.

The management, in collaboration with RSPP, RLS and legal advisors on the subject, has internally and externally disclosed the “Covid-19 Emergency Company Protocol” as well as a file of procedures to be daily adopted in the company to prevent contagion. The measures taken are summarized in the following principles:

 

  • spacing;
  • hand sanitization;
  • personal protective equipment;
  • anti-droplet barriers;
  • temperature measurement at the entrance;
  • space and route limitation;
  • professional cleaning and sanitizing of rooms, at regular intervals;
  • admission of maintenance workers, consultants and representatives on a indispensability criteria;
  • staff shifting;
  • enable home smart working;
  • use of social security cushions;
  • stop of collective training activities.

 

The company management has appointed an emergency committee to regularly update the safety protocol and monitor its implementation in cooperation with department supervisors.

The staff is punctually instructed and trained by notifications, posted on the bulletin board and sent to the respective e-mail address.

Scilla Meccanica Logo

"The aim was, indie is, to give an accommodation to the already done in order to contribute to the making. And the curiosity of the investigator is only in appearance an end in itself. It is only the other half of professional curiosity, or rather the desire to produce innovation, which is characteristic of those who work. In fact, those who work expert from scholars a prognosis for the future. And those who search go looking for it in the already done."