The world of Impex Tecniche Lineari has been focused successfully on the linear transmission for thirty years.
A small company characterized by very high standards and able to compete with the international giants, which has made flexibility and quality its highlights and is proud of boasting some primates. We are at Torgiano, few kilometres after Perugia, the ancient medieval village where the soaring tower and the ancient walls are crowned by smooth hills where they have always produced fine oil and wine. Here is headquartered Impex Tecniche Lineari s.r.l., the company established in 1986 by Alvaro Torba, at the beginning for the exclusive distribution of linear products in Italy, then, just four years later, specialized in the production of linear systems, present on the market with Movitec brand. The occasion is the anniversary of the first thirty years of activity.
The “new” owners welcome us, quotes are compulsory because Impex is a family-owned company and precisely last year the baton was passed, a crucial time in the life of a company, we know, and now the two sons Cristina and Maurizio Torba, are the majority shareholders of this enterprise, where 55% of the capital is hold by women, with the aunt Mariapalma’s shareholding.
The story of Alvaro Torba reminds a real self-made man’s. After some years of activity in precision mechanics in Switzerland, he decides to come back to Italy with his family and few years later he establishes a company by adopting the same logic learnt during his years of work abroad and betting on a high-quality product. In 1990, Impex Tecniche Lineari s.r.l. is the first company in Italy that develops and produces Linear Tables and Systems that until that time were imported from Germany, a choice that has been awarded and has granted a certain expansion and longevity.
A company highly specialized in the supply of linear components, multi-axis systems and special machines, today boasting fifteen employees, a manufacturing of around one thousand of axes yearly and a turnover amounting to about one million Euros. Thanks to prestigious partners, Impex operates in particular in the automotive industry and in all various application sectors that range from the standard industrial to the medical ambit, like rehabilitation.
Five lines, all matching
Five production lines allow satisfying all automation requirements and all of them are mutually combinable: Carropattino linear units, Piccola Linear Tables, Electromechanical Linear Tables, Pneumatic Linear Tables and Bi-Rail Linear Modules; they can represent the suitable solution for the various application sectors. We are analysing their characteristics more in detail.
Carropattino, in the Series 40, 60, 86, 116, is proposed with anodized extruded aluminium profile type CV/CH or high profile HV/HH/CC, re-circulating ball screw transmission, long pitch screw Speedy, round thread screw Rondo, trapezoidal screw, belt or without transmission. Sliding with two lateral hardened stainless steel guides and one or two re-circulating ball carriages of different lengths, metal protection, bellows or without protection, motor coupling options, travel ends, inserts and holding brackets.
Piccola LV Linear Tables in the series 50, 75, 100 are made of anodized aluminium or steel, the transmission is performed with re-circulating ball screw, long pitch screw Speedy, round thread screw Rondo, trapezoidal screw. Sliding with linear guides and re-circulating ball pads, slipping sliders, crossed roller sliders and ball sliders, metal or bellow protection, motor coupling options, travel ends, holding brackets, linear reading system. TV electromechanical linear tables series 100/150/200/300/400 made of anodized aluminium or steel. The transmission occurs with re-circulating ball screw, satellite roller screw, long pitch screw Speedy, round thread screw Rondo, trapezoidal screw. Sliding with liner guides and re-circulating ball pads of various sizes, with increased linear guides or crossed roller guides, protection with bellow, bellow and stainless steel or metal lamellas, possibility of motor coupling, travel ends, inserts and clamping brackets, lubrication, safety stop system and linear reading system.
TP pneumatic Linear tables, series 150/200/250/300/400 of anodized aluminium or steel, transmission with pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder, sliding with linear guides and re-circulating ball pads of various sizes, with increased linear guides or crossed roller guides, possibility of motor coupling, travel ends, inserts and holding brackets, lubrication, safety stop system and linear reading system. BI-RAIL Linear Modules series 70/90/130/160, anodized extruded aluminium profile, re-circulating ball screw transmission, long pitch screw Speedy, belt or trapezoidal screw, sliding with two linear guides and four re-circulating ball pads of various sizes or increased linear guides integrated laterally into the profile, protection with bellows or metal strip, possibility of motor coupling, travel ends, inserts and clamping brackets, lubrication, stop safety system and linear reading system.
A new managing generation
«In the last year we made huge investments – affirms Cristina Torba, 47 years old, administration and sales manager – for both the personnel, composed by new young motivated collaborators coming from other sectors as well, and inside the company, upgraded with forefront machines and reorganized to exploit the work spaces at best, among the various functions. In the future – adds Cristina Torba – we are going on exploring new sectors, automation in still undiscovered ambits will be the field on which to bet on European scale».
«Working in the automotive industry – specifies Maurizio Torba, 46 years old, employed in the company’s technical division– our axes are acknowledged and appreciated for their quality and long service life –the most prestigious automotive brands mount the axes produced by Impex Tecniche Lineari – and now the great expansion is oriented to East Europe markets where there are at least three manufacturing sites that use the products. Concerning the project related to the rehabilitation, it is an international collaboration that will involve Countries like United States and India, through showroom spaces used for the rehabilitation and we have already planned the manufacturing of two hundred machines for next year».
First manufacturer of linear axes in Italy, we said at the beginning, today first company in Italy offering a broad suitable range for all solutions, able to provide also the supports for the screw transmission, various typologies of rolled and ground screws and the machining of screw terminals.
An enterprise that, despite its small size, has always focused on innovation and that in 2002 was one of the first companies that introduced the digital prototyping system, remarkably shortening the times for a project development, system that will be introduced by other companies in Italy just some years later, since 2004 onwards. At customers’ disposal, in fact, the service and the 3D design for the implementation of special machines, in addition to the productive area dedicated to their prototyping, assembling and testing. Naturally, today the attention is fully devoted to the implementation of the industry 4.0, the Autodesk platform that here at Impex is considered favourably and arouses lively interest. What is anyway the stronghold making it a winning team? “Teaming up” is the motto at Impex Tecniche Lineari, a multi-ethnic group, due to the provenience of some of its employees from different countries but very cohesive and proud of its activity, acting as a football team on the green rectangle, with the various entrusted roles that are determinant for the final result. A real “Team-company” oriented to the customer-target that has always made its product quality its mission. www.movitec.it
