Metal profiles with Italian design
Italian design is a great source of national pride and, as you already know, Dallan was founded as an engineering and design company.
Over time we discovered that many customers abroad began to advertise their products as “profiles with Italian Design”.
That is absolutely true for every profile we make. The first step is to refine and modify the design of the product, improve it, then make it suitable for production.
This is a process called “design for manufacturing”. It is carried out jointly with the customer to finalize the theoretical design upon which the design of the equipment is based.
We are often asked for preliminary product studies, even before starting the machinery project, and this is an excellent way to optimize the production times of lines.
The aesthetics of the profile, the type of material, the coating, the quality of the surface, the assembly and interaction with the other accessories with which it will be assembled, the formability and versatility of the profile, and of course, the function of the profile, are all analyzed and made available for discussion.
As well as, if you like, a smidgen of “Italian Design”.
It is precisely because of the importance we place on design that Dallan’s symbol is a compass. Indeed, creating an excellent project takes a few weeks and, as my father often says, 40 years of experience.
Flowers and Profiles
When I was a child, I found it fascinating to watch my father working on the flowers of profiles.
When a profile is formed during roll forming, it goes through a series of steps that gradually result in its final form.
We then use the form of each step to design the set of rollers.
And lastly, we machine each component that make up our sets of rollers.
When he was at university, my father developed one of the first mathematical algorithms to calculate and draw these steps automatically. At the time, computers were not as widespread as they are now. In 1973, he had to drive 120 miles to Milan to test his algorithm, which was written in Fortran IV.
After all the steps were drawn, they were overlaid for a final check and the result resembled a flower opening little by little.
We have been calling these drawings “flowers” ever since.
In over 40 years of work, we have literally seen thousands of flowers of different profiles. The initial algorithm has been improved and completed using our experience, but the beauty of the flower of a new profile still manages to fascinate us!
I hope you enjoy the book and look forward to reading your comments!
You can e-mail me at [email protected]
Andrea Dallan
CEO – Dallan Spa