A customer contacted our extrusion plant in Ornago, Italy, with a problem. The company, which makes refrigerated food display cases for supermarkets and other retail outlets, wanted to improve their line.
Their display cases had fixed glass coverings, meaning that stocking and cleaning the inside of the cases was difficult. Better access would make it easier to manage the contents and clean the inside of the display case, improving hygenic conditions.
Innovative idea
The Ornago team came up with an innovative idea: a three-piece hinge of lightweight, but strong, extruded aluminium that would be built into the display case, connecting the glass and the frame. This would allow supermarket workers to flip open the protective glass for stocking and cleaning.
“With the previous solution, the glass cover was fixed in place,” says Alessandro Garavelli, who is in sales at Ornago. “Now, the cover can be flipped up for cleaning and moving the food in and out.”
A simple solution, perhaps, but a solution that nevertheless didn’t exist before. And the potential? A whole new generation of a product line for the customer.
Collaboration
It’s a good example of how we like to work with our customers. We bring not just expertise in extruding aluminium, but contribute the resources of a global company with activities throughout the value chain.
Says Luca Bertola. managing director of the Ornago plant: “It’s an advantage to be part of an integrated aluminium company. Our customers like that it’s Hydro billets we’re using.”
The way the people at the Ornago plant think, Bertola says, is “Let’s do something extra for the customer.”
See link in right column to return to Annual reporting 2007 site
