History

Origins

SISME’s first plant opened in Olgiate Comasco (Como) on 31 January 1957, on the initiative of the US multinational Ranco.

A strong link with the region

Olgiate Comasco welcomed the new company, satisfying the far-sighted strategy of the Municipal Administration that had long called for sectoral differentiation of the production sites. The strong textile industry in the region had forced the entire local economy to follow fluctuating economic trends.

Perfect symbiosis

Ranco immediately benefited from the skills, abilities and industrial culture spread among the local labour force: its production process required the same skills developed in the textile industry. The contribution from qualified personnel was therefore fundamental for the company’s success from the very beginning.

The “Via Grandi” headquarters

In 1961, the company moved to new headquarters in Via Achille Grandi, still in Olgiate Comasco, where more modern machinery and systems were installed, constituting the first fundamental stage for the company. The mechanisation process began, the number of motors produced increased and the workforce remained stable. The prevailing market was the national one.

The leading product was the rotostator for refrigeration compressors, destined for a booming market: refrigerators for the family. The most sophisticated American technology, combined with the skill of the local workforce, propelled Ranco to the top of the sector.

Sisme New Deal

But it was in 1975, the year the company changed its name, that SISME took on a role of absolute leadership in the field of electric motors for domestic appliances, industrial and civil ventilation, and rotostators for compressors.

The change of company name corresponded to a renewed management team, highly motivated for development. It was at this stage that the figure of Antonio Costantini, at the top of the Company, gave the organisation a modern imprint, based on careful and optimal use of internal resources, with a view to market globalisation and product differentiation.

The result was the company’s growth on the national and international markets. The number of employees remained largely unchanged, around 800, but the production area increased significantly with the construction, in the early 1980s, of the “island” department, where the human contribution in terms of micro-organisation, initiative and an overview of the work was particularly valuable.

Automation

In the second half of the 1980s, maximum technological expression in motor manufacture appeared at Sisme with the advent of the first automated machinery for controlled winding of the electric coils.

The company greeted the sophisticated production systems with skilful “know-how”: in a very short time it not only assimilated the new processes but, thanks to appropriate modifications, succeeded in ensuring admirable production results in terms of effectiveness and quality. It was immediately decided to make strong investments in this direction.

The personnel’s constructive attitude, interest and skilled integration ability made it possible to build a harmonious whole that gave the company a major boost.

Exponential growth

From around 4,000 motors a day to over 15,000 in the company’s first 40 years. The technologies and production systems allowed the company to achieve market penetration equal to four times their initial one, with the same number of employees. Production was divided equally between the product families: motors for domestic appliances, motors for industrial and civil ventilation, rotostators for refrigeration compressors.

80% of the products reached markets worldwide: predominantly Europe, but notably also in other continents (America, Australia, Africa, Asia), which made the Sisme brand known and admired all over the planet for its application specificities and its renowned quality standard.

In 1995, the 10,000,000th dishwasher motor was sold to the Bosch-Siemens group.

Expansion and strategic locations

In the years 1999/2000/2001, Sisme was ranked among the top 500 European companies that had increased both turnover and the number of employees in the previous 5 years.

In the early 2000s, Sisme received many awards from its major customers as the best supplier of electric motors; among the most important was the biennial one, received since its establishment, from the Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte Group in the years 1992/93, 1994/95, 1996/97, 1998/99 and 2000/01.

In 2004, Sisme China was inaugurated: a new factory in Tianjin, to meet the demands of one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. In continuous pursuit of customer satisfaction and coverage of Eastern European markets, in 2009 SISME opened a new plant in Velky Krtis, Slovakia. A strategic country for Europe, both from a logistical and an economic point of view.

Continuous improvement

Following corporate policies strongly oriented towards reducing waste, Sisme began continuous improvement processes with the aim of providing a better service at a lower cost.

These processes took the form of targeted investments in the company, people and production lines, actions that allowed Sisme to maintain a major and relevant position in its sector.

Challenges

Sisme faced the great market challenges, such as globalisation, quality, safety and the ecosystem, with effective involvement from all its professionals and with the incessant search for solutions that let it anticipate future trends.

This thinking was the basis for investment in a new fully automated production line, designed to produce high-efficiency brushless motors for kitchen hoods and domestic ventilation.

Sisme is still fully aware that even in the future we must continue to work “together”, because it will still be human work, although aided by machines, that determines the company’s effective development.