18 Jul Proficiency and … technical advice, at your service

From the avionics to the military, Cilli has been able to make its way in sectors of high technological value with the strength of a successful approach.

Let’s go over the story, thanks to the testimony of the founder … and of the second generation.

40 years: in these 2 simple words, the story of a successful company is contained.
Forty years of serious work, of inexhaustible passion and – even more extraordinary –  Will do more and better, which today has been transferred to the second generation.

We are talking about Giovanni Cilli who still manages the business of his company in person, and has long been validly supported by Lorenzo, who plays the role of Technical Manager. It is therefore in their factory in Novate Milanese, at the hinterland of Milan, that we meet the two representatives of the Cilli company.

“My father decided at the age of 32 to make treasure – and thus make his production autonomous – his great experience accumulated in particular in the electronics and electrical engineering sectors. Thus began an entrepreneurial adventure that continues today with great satisfaction. First of all, thanks to my father’s solid technical bases and his particularly lively commercial vision”, says engineer Lorenzo Cilli.

Yes, because the Cilli over the decades has changed skin many times, always trying to take a path of continuous improvement and openness to the opportunities offered by the market.

An evolution without stop: from the only production of cables and electronic cards – the first core business of the company – today Cilli presents itself on the market with an articulated offer, which includes first of all the assembly and wiring of electrical and electronic equipment including racks and cabinets.

But that is not all! The company carries out the wiring of the connectors to MIL standards with connection of wires through various technologies. Furthermore, the offer includes electromechanical assemblies and machining on coaxial cables, shielded cables, special plates for telecommunications and much more.

“We can carry out the drafting of electrical harnesses with binfing using a string specifically requested by the aeronautical sector”, explains Lorenzo Cilli, “as well as making special cables for the military and aerospace sectors”.

An articulated and complete offer, the result of the attention – and long-term vision capabilities – of the founder in relation to a market that has never been like in recent years, is at the mercy of numerous disaggregating elements.

It has gone from a period where the main customers were in the civil sector, and meant large quantities and long-term forecasting possibilities, to a situation where focusing on quality and small value-added lots is a safe haven.

But it is necessary to have the skills and know-how to approach increasingly specialized markets.
And it is the great experience and know-how of the product that is the best competitive lever of Cilli, as the founder Giovanni Cilli points out: “Starting from the second half of the 80s we have made – even gradually – the jump from a small structure to medium business company. This has no meaning simply to hire more employees but, above all, to be able to understand on which machines and technologies to invest, in order to give ‘more value to our value’.

An approach that has led the company to establish business relationships with important national groups – such as Ansaldo and Marconi – as well as to provide technologically advanced assemblies to the aeronautic and military industries.

The role of operators is the key factor of this result… “In our sector, even the most advanced machine is only an aid to the activity of technicians”, underlines Lorenzo Cilli.

“At every stage of the production process, the supervision of the operator is an essential element: for this reason I and my father commit ourselves – daily – to making the work environment engaging and interesting, taking special care of the aspect of ‘training on the job’ of our collaborators; that are completely interoperable with each other, whatever the work in progress … with obvious advantages in terms of flexibility.

Flexibility is certainly a very important competitive factor but it is in the “customer advice” that the quality of a partnership is measured: and the customers who address the Milan company know they can always count on the right advice to get the best result in the shortest possible time and, above all, at a competitive price.

It would seem already enough but in reality it is not so … Cilli also produces and sells an aspirator for welding fumes.

“This additional activity arose from a practical need”, underlines Giovanni Cilli. “About 20 years ago we used the soldering iron in a massive way, and regulations had demanded the adoption of activated carbon systems: not finding a compact and economical product on the market, we decided to self-build them. If we want, this is a relatively simple machine, but that is indispensable wherever tin solders are made “.

And the quality?

Since 1992 the company has adopted its own quality manual which, over the years, has been improved and adapted to current regulations and customer needs.

Since 2004 the company Cilli has decided to give formal recognition to a system already in force and, therefore, the quality management system has been certified and kept up to date according to ISO 9001 regarding the manufacture of electrical and electromechanical equipment. and electronics for the industrial, medical, aeronautical and military sectors.

“The certification closes the circle of service that we have always provided to our customers. A perfect circle of competence and completeness that makes us ready for new challenges” concludes Lorenzo Cilli.