Interview with Laura Marchini on Bercella, leading company in the composite materials sector
Laura who is Bercella and what business are you in?
Bercella srl is a company founded in 1966, specialised in the use of composite materials for manufacturing components with specific requirements in terms of strength and weight. At present, the company deals with structural and non-structural parts for the automotive, defence and aerospace sector.
Aerospace, defence…it looks like these are special components?
They are! We are talking about space components or helicopters interiors or radar components. However, our technology is broadening its area of application and creating the possibility to substitute parts that are traditionally produced in metal, with new, lightweight and resistant materials.
Lightness and resistance, how to reach such results?
By constantly using state of the art materials and studying innovative ways to process them, together with the application of the most advanced technologies. For instance, we are intensively working on the integration of sensors in our structures to provide information on the state of its health and on the design of new advanced technologies systems.
In the last few years our research was supported by two European Projects within the Horizon 2020 program.
What are the latest innovations you introduced?
We did a big investment by creating a new R&D department and enhancing the engineering department. Today, Bercella follows the customer throughout the whole manufacturing of the product from the early stages of its design: starting from the choice of the design and the materials, all the way to production. This means being able to support every kind of customer also during the design phase.
What should we expect in the future from a company so focused on innovation?
The main goal is to gain the ability to apply our technologies to those materials that are not yet produced with composites materials. This is the reason why it is important to work hard in terms of communication to raise awareness on the potentialities and the advantages of our solutions.
Our second goal is to grow on the international market and to focus on very innovative projects.