Right-sizing to customer requirements

When a company needs a chiller or a temperature controller, the final decision should never be a tradeoff between the products available from a manufacturer and the customer’s needs. As a matter of fact, this approach would translate into an oversized plant, with excessive costs and consumption. Since the company’s foundation in 1991, Green Box has been working to provide each customer with the most suitable solution in terms of power and dimensions, performance and consumption, developing a portfolio that covers a wide spectrum of applications and capacities.

Temperature under control

Based in Piove di Sacco, near Padua, Italy, Green Box designs, manufactures, sells and supports a full range of machines for the cooling and temperature control of industrial process fluids. “Our machines are auxiliary to primary production plants,” says owner Caterina Spiandorello. “Our core business is the plastic industry, with additional applications in mechanical engineering, laser processing, biogas production and any area where controlled temperature fluids are required.”

With 70 employees and approximately €16 million in annual revenues, Green Box ships about 1,000 machines every year, starting from existing product families that are customized for each customer. “In the plastic industry, each company has very specific requirements, and Green Box’s differentiator is the capacity to adjust our products to the specific needs of each customer,” Spiandorello says. “With this approach we can effectively face competition in an industry dominated by Italian manufacturers.”

Supported by a team of sales engineers that travel all around the world, a sales department with 15 people and a global distributor network, Green Box has achieved an 85 percent export share. “We were only marginally affected by the 2008-2009 financial crisis and were back to growth in 2010,” notes Spiandorello.

Constant development with extensive expertise

Maintaining a strong focus on the introduction of new technology and the evolution of regulations and standards, Green Box constantly develops new products, driven by customers who pay more and more attention to the environmental impact of their business and consequently look for energy-efficient solutions. The company responds with advanced expertise in the management of complete plants and projects: not only standalone products, but also packaged solutions designed for energy efficiency. From a simple flowchart through the 3D design of piping, Green Box engineers can deliver complete turnkey solutions, including all materials for onsite installation. “In regions like Africa, for example, no materials can be sourced from the local market, so we have to provide an all-inclusive supply,” says Maurizio Zambonin, technical manager, Green Box.

After receiving customer specifications, the sales engineering department identifies the most suitable chiller or temperature controller within the Green Box portfolio and dimensions the machine to customer-specific application and installation conditions (indoors or outdoors, for example). When the order is finalized, it is the responsibility of the engineering department, guided by Zambonin, to check manufacturability and the availability of all documentation for production and user manuals.

For products created from scratch, the technical department prepares all the necessary documentation, from 3D models to assembly instructions and assembly drawings for instruction manuals.