I have been a businessman for more than twenty years, working in the Machine Tools sector. My father founded the company Porta Solutions back in 1958. Today, I manage the sales area, while my brother Giorgio deals with the production aspect of the company: together, we carry on our family’s tradition.

After my first experience working at the company for 7 years, I moved to the United States for 2 years, where I personally set up the American subsidiary, Porta North American Inc. in the town of Newington, Connecticut.  This town is near the city of New Haven, where, in 1993, I attended college for one year.

The American experience was aimed at setting up a local facility in order to supply the systems produced by PORTA SOLUTIONS to customers operating in the automotive sector. This was a real challenge as the U.S. market in this sector is the most competitive in the world.

Thanks to these systems, which were not easy to produce, PORTA SOLUTIONS was forced to quickly develop its expertise in order to compete with the German and Japanese giants already operating on American soil.

These efforts were nevertheless repaid by the customers themselves, and in just a few years PORTA SOLUTIONS became a supplier to companies such as TRW AUTOMOTIVE, HARLEY-DAVIDSON, DANA, THYSSEN

KRUPP, RANGE ROVER and other important groups. In 2005, after listening to customers and observing the market as it evolved, I became convinced of the need to launch a new product, different from the usual Machine Tools made to customer order. The name of this new product is PORTACENTER: a machine that is the first to be positioned between the special machine (TRANSFER) and the common MACHINING CENTERS.

At first, it was difficult to get this project started. The main cause for this was the cost of the machine itself, since it was not yet mass-produced and so its cost slowed the sales. On the other hand, the market still had to understand its usefulness, continuing to prefer the more productive TRANSFER machine.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD….

Anyhow, I never doubted the usefulness of this machine, and after three years, during the crisis of 2008, the PORTACENTER revealed itself to be the ideal machine for producing in a flexible manner, with fast production changes.  The key was no longer to target at the speed of execution of the part, but instead on the flexibility of the machine to adapt itself to new market needs, quickly and cost-effectively.

After winning over the users of special TRANSFER machines, the PORTACENTER began to steal market shares from sectors in which common MACHINING CENTERS were being used. Today, PORTA SOLUTIONS’ turnover is made up of 70% of sales of machines of the MULTICENTER line, with the remaining 30% coming from sales of the TRANSFER line.

The hard work of the first years and the determination to never give up have fully repaid the commitment and dedication of all those who, at PORTA SOLUTIONS, have always believed in this project.

If you want to contact me:

maurizio@flexible-production.com