For sixty years, we at Lafert Group have been developing cutting-edge technologies for energy efficiency and industrial automation. We are leaders in Europe, and we put all our experience into building a more productive and sustainable future.
We create electric motors that improve efficiency in terms of reliability, performance and compact design. This comes from the investment in research and people, and the desire to always propose innovative solutions.
Each individual member of our group contributes to the success of the organization through their specialized strength in design and production. The combined knowledge of the organization supports the continuous research and development of innovative technologies.
We operate in eleven locations in Europe, North America and Asia, including six production units articulated in order to facilitate the integration of production processes.
We were among the very first in designing permanent magnet electric motors, but our gaze still looks ahead to the development of increasingly effective solutions that guarantee product competitiveness in any market sector.
In sixty years, we have shown that we know how to solve the most varied application needs by helping our customers shape the future before it becomes present.
Flexibility and reliability guarantee us customer confidence and strong visibility in the international competitive arena. From robotics to renewable energies, material handling to air processing, or even the most diverse industrial machineries, the fields of use for our products are endless. For this reason, we are the ideal partner to supply high-performance solutions for all applications.
The integration of Lafert Group into Sumitomo multiplies the opportunities for collaboration with global partners and gives us the opportunity to intensify our international presence.
Thanks to the complementary production capacities within the Sumitomo industrial group, financial solidity and organizational strengthening, we consolidate our growth and leadership in the electric motor market.
Bring innovation anywhere, leveraging the maximum technological know-how.
Innovation means doing something new every day, something that will improve the world.
We face new challenges every day, but with a clear vision on how to constantly improve our production capabilities, energy efficiency, product customization and performance, all while reducing our environmental impact.
It is a great responsibility that we assume for the world and future generations, an awareness that allows us to understand the future, to think big, and to anticipate future global needs to achieve a more efficient and sustainable world.
Create innovative motors that are increasingly efficient and optimize performance with advanced integrated solutions.
Engineer customizations for different applications and changing market needs.
Evolution is in our DNA. Through company choices, in-house skills and market demands, we have always been committed to technological innovation that matures over time.
Evolution is the ability to optimize integrated industrial processes at the highest technological level, natural inclination towards custom solutions and ambition to improve, look forward, and imagine a future full of new opportunities.
Since 2018, we have been part of the large international industrial group, Sumitomo, and we have embraced the strategic idea of being the global Competence Centre for research and development of the most modern electric motors, as well as a reference point for the future development of the market. Our partner Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., is one of 33 companies within Sumitomo, founded by Masatomo Sumitomo about 400 years ago in Japan. In 2022, Sumitomo Heavy Industries had a turnover of over 8.5 billion euros.
Thanks to an ambitious investment plan, organisational strengthening, and complementary internal production capabilities; many business opportunities have already developed and will continue to expand in the near future. Strong financial data reinforces mutual benefit and is already supporting common growth and facilitating consolidation in our leading position in the electric motor market. With this agreement, we will be able to expand our product portfolio with the most sophisticated design expertise and the most modern production capacity, even for the integrated solutions.
We remain strongly focused on technological innovation, energy saving and product customization, while improving performance and reducing environmental impact.
Over the years we have positioned ourselves as a world leader in the electric motor sector with Super Premium performance class (IE4, IE5). Today we are firmly part of the Sumitomo brand expansion strategy through the Sumitomo Drive Technologies division, a leader in power transmission and control products. Together we offer a wide variety of integrated applications and solutions, especially for the European market, with the aim of reaching a turnover of 400 million euros by 2025.
We have created a powerful claim, a statement that sets a long-term goal and represents the ideal to which we aim to "shape the future together".
Sumitomo Drive Technologies, Lafert Group and Invertek Drives Ltd: the union of these three large companies participating in the same group has elevated our operational vision; triggering the design evolution, especially in the field of integrated solutions, and solidified the strength of our position within European markets.
Our Corporate Social Responsibility
We are all guardians of the planet and environment that we live and work in. As individuals and businesses we have a responsibility for its current and future sustainability.
Our mission is to contribute to solving social, environmental, and industrial problems through the development and optimization of drive technologies.
We are doing this through our commitment to sustainability via the goals of People, Planet and Prosperity to realise the vision of global economic, social and environmental sustainability.
We operate in eleven locations in Europe, North America and Asia, of which six are production units, articulated in order to facilitate the integration of processes. This allows us to offer superior customization of technological solutions to meet and exceed market demands.
Lafert Group's commercial network is present in the most industrialized countries over four continents to be closer to the customer and ensure a timely and tailor-made response.
Lafert Group is a leading international company in Europe that has 60 years of experience and solid collaborations with international players, all world leaders in their sectors. With them we weave important strategic alliances maximizing our technological capacity.
Flexibility and reliability guarantee us customer confidence and strong visibility in the international competitive arena: from robotics or renewable energies to the most diverse industrial machinery, the fields of use for our products are endless. For this reason, we are the ideal partner in the supply of high-performance solutions for all applications.
Facing new challenges regarding integrated solutions requires constant improvement in the production capacities that we make available to the market.
The integration of Lafert Group into Sumitomo increases opportunities for collaboration with global partners and gives us the opportunity to intensify our international presence.
It is this global presence that allows us to understand the future, to think big and to anticipate future needs of the society in which we operate. This enables us to respond to new challenges with innovative products that contribute to a more efficient and sustainable world.
In the production plant of San Donà - Italy we manufacture high-performance synchronous and asynchronous three-phase, single-phase and brake electric motors for the most diverse uses and applications. As headquarters we determine the development strategy and investments that are always firmly aimed at technological innovation and product customization. Consequently, we design production processes, define commercial strategies, and develop new product lines. The historic headquarters is experiencing a substantial expansion with the construction of a new plant designed with fully automated lines and integrated systems in an Industry 4.0 perspective.
Each individual member of our group contributes to the success of the organization through their specialized strength in design and production. The combined knowledge of the organization supports the continuous research and development of innovative technologies.
The group consists of six manufacturing plants and six commercial companies with cohesive goals and processes yet each with a specialized focus. The production units are mainly located in Italy, one in Slovenia and one in Suzhou, China. The commercial offices are international and cover the European and North American area including Germany, France, Spain, Great Britain, North America, but also Singapore.
The Noventa - Italy production plant is a leader in the production of highly customized, advanced and high performing brushless servo motors designed for industrial automation.
Here we have started some of the most important innovative transformations for the whole group, combining asynchronous technology with the features of servomotors.
In the Noventa production plant we have full control over the production process of all brushless motor components, which allows us to remain flexible while maintaining consistency in reliability and quality of products.
At the production plant in Bologna we are constantly looking for customized solutions according to the specific needs of the customer while simultaneously supporting energy saving and environmental sustainability.
Our production plant in Fusignano - Italy is dedicated to small and medium-sized asynchronous motors where quality, robustness and speed of delivery are all fundamental to our offering. With strong customer orientation and focus on customization we have specialized in very niche applications. The technical department leverages our expertise becoming experts in any application making us the ideal partner.
High performance and maximum customization are the intrinsic qualities of our motors produced in Fusignano Plant.
Lafert Suzhou is fully dedicated to the production of brushless servo motors for the Asian market. Established in 2012, we have spread our proficiencies worldwide and now produce brushless servo motors and gearless motors for elevators. Thanks to this plant we are able to respond to the growing demand for motors in the Asian market, from both historical customers and new developments with local companies. This location reduces delivery times and transport costs while maintaining the guarantee of the quality of Lafert brand motors.
The Lafert Elektromotorji plant is located on the border between Italy and Slovenia. Over the years this plant has become a center of excellence in the production of windings for Italian plants. Professionalism and timeliness in responding to the requests of the plants have made it an important partner in the development of the Lafert Group. It supports the constant growth of production capacity and the adoption of increasingly compact and high-performing designs.
Our history is one with the proverbial characteristics of our land, Veneto. A region of hands and brains that is recognized as the virtues of concreteness and tenacity, with the added value of innovative ideas.
In San Donà di Piave just outside Venice, we founded Lafert in 1962, a company producing asynchronous electric motors that is committed to guaranteeing the quality of the Lafert product on the Italian market. Today, The San Donà facility is the headquarters of the Lafert Group, where our technical team kicks off the customization process, characteristic of our historic approach to the market.
At the end of the 1980s we enter the international market with our intrinsic propensity for customization. In those years we were introduced to different demands and regulations from the global markets, often more rigorous than in Italy. In the early 1990s the North American market already reserved particular attention to energy savings and required some of the highest efficiency standards in the world. Lafert North America was founded in 1992 to meet these needs thanks to a fruitful joint venture in Canada.
In the 1990s we face the first industrial automation project for the European market and expand our production. To ensure the highest levels of customization, we identity an in-house need that will profoundly change our history: internally producing all the components of our motors and acquiring proficiency in the servo motors field. In 1994 we found Lafert Servo Motors, a few kilometers from Lafert San Donà, and Lafert Elektromotorji in Slovenia to respond to this expansion of the business.
In the second half of the 1990s our expansion continues, as we increase the production and distribution capacity with the establishment of some operative units in Spain, France and Australia. In 1997 the Lafert Group acquires ICME, a manufacturer of small and medium-power motors, and the AEG Fabrica de Motores Group, based in Barcelona, joins the following year.
These are the years of the great international development of our business in which we see the expansion of Lafert both by product ranges and by application areas.
In the first decade of 2000 we increase our strength by entering new markets and applying our products to unique application areas. This gives us the opportunity to study important innovations and develop a strong understanding of specific applications that still put us at the top of the market today. In particular, thanks to our expertise in asynchronous motors and servo motors, we were among the very first to apply permanent magnet technology. From this moment on, we continue to be leaders in energy-saving market segments while manufacturing super-efficient motors that are compact in size and outperform the limits of current regulations. We are always ready to exceed new standards.
In the second decade of the 2000s we focus on market needs by integrating a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a drive. This innovative technology has led us to enter new business segments especially related to renewable energy and material handling. In 2012 a new adventure leads us to the Asian market with the opening of Lafert Suzhou where we bring our experience and quality Lafert motors, synonymous with warranty all over the world.
Our great expansion and the level of brand recognition in 2018 led to the integration of Lafert Group with the Sumitomo international group. Today we can face challenges that require the ability to respond to new global needs such as developing synergies and integration projects with other world leaders. This also supported the development of new business areas offering integrated packages for industrial automation such as solutions for AGVs and airport baggage handling.
Today, Lafert is an international group able to deliver quality all over the world through co-engineering processes and a completely internal and controlled production. The new plant in San Donà di Piave is fully automated with maximum energy efficiency, ready to confirm our reputation of evolution and successful market orientation.
The entrance into the Sumitomo Group, in the Power Transmission and Control (PTC) division, allows us to create fundamental synergies between the other companies of the Group, develop new integrated products and enter new markets. To support our expansion, we inaugurated a new site in San Donà di Piave, totally automated with maximum energy efficiency, proving our history in grounding our work in evolution and market orientation. We also acquired a new industrial area next to our headquarters where we will build another piece of our future made of innovation, expansion, and sustainability.
In 2022, we crossed the line of our sixtieth anniversary and, with this occasion, we strengthened ourselves as a Group: we simplified the internal relationships by unifying all the Italian societies under the one common leadership of Lafert S.p.A.
At Lafert we have always reached our targets by following our distinct values: respecting each other, creating value through innovation and contributing to the well-being of society through our endeavors.
Our constant commitment to respect these values has allowed us to develop a strong corporate identity that is based on quality and recognized by all employees and also by national and international partners.
Our annual turnover is split by 55% asynchronous motors, 18% synchronous motors and 27% brushless servo motors and drives. The main sales areas are Europe (mainly Italy and Germany), North America and APAC. The main application sectors where our motors are particularly valuable are HVAC/R, industrial machinery, air processing, wind energy, robotics, material handling but also systems integrators and distributors. Some of these sectors are showing a strong sensitivity to greater energy efficiency and integrated systems as they align with Industry 4.0.
Lafert Group, with 1170 employees in 2022, has more than doubled its headcount in 10 years with an increase of 245 new hires between 2020 and 2022. Thanks to them we produce over 1.2 million electric motors every year divided between servo motors, synchronous and asynchronous motors.
Lafert's financial solidity was built on a model of organization, management and control that complies with international standards.
A rigorous and timely monthly report evaluates the efficiency of any company department and adopts the necessary measures to guarantee high quality standards and the best time to market.
Being part of Sumitomo allows us to be an international group with management that respects monthly business audits aimed at ensuring financial stability. This makes us a solid and secure partner for our customers.
Investment is an important part of our financial policy, which has seen a 50% increase under the Sumitomo guidance in the last four years. The international evolution of Lafert is based on this, and it is essential to direct our attention to innovation and customization. The major investments are in R&D and Engineering departments where more than 90 engineers work to bring the quality of Lafert motors to all applications.
Another relevant part of our investments lies in the modernization of facilities and production plants with an Industry 4.0 perspective. We work to be a company that leads by example because digitalizing and automating production while focusing on environmental quality at Lafert means contributing to a more efficient, clean, and sustainable world.
High-performance and customized electric motors make reliability the core of Lafert products. Our core business is asynchronous, synchronous and servo motors, fully customized and designed to bring Lafert excellence into industrial automation and energy efficiency applications.
We work with international players in the field of industrial automation to design high-performance solutions for robotics, material handling and industrial processing machineries with the need for motors that guarantee speed, precision and control. Our brushless servo motors are fully customizable to the needs of the application, meet performance requirements and integrate seamlessly into industrial systems.
Our company's technological capabilities and vast experience acquired over the decades have allowed us to create solutions that maximize control and performance. We are able to provide several integrated products and packages that combine the robustness of our motors with the most advanced technologies.
Energy efficiency is an element that we have always looked for in our solutions with the aim of increasing the performance optimization of our motors. Since our foundation, we have been active in the market of HVAC, renewable energy and industrial machineries by designing products with high energy efficiency beyond regulatory standards. These applications require robust and reliable motors in continuous operation.
Reliable, high quality and highly customizable: Lafert single-phase, three-phase and brake motors adapt perfectly to the most diverse application needs while ensuring maximum performance.
Since 2003, with a strong market approach we have been a leader in innovative products based on IE4, IE5 permanent magnet technology which increases motor performance while reducing size and weight. We have combined our innovative spirit and proficiency with a focus on variable speed applications in order to be the first to develop a technology with the highest torque density.
Thanks to its control capacity, compactness, and precision; our synchronous motors benefit all industrial systems where energy efficiency and high performance are critical. We supply the complete integrated motor and drive package designed as a customized solution achieving high efficiency.
Education: Degree in Electrical Engineering – University of Pavia
In April 2023 I was appointed CEO of Lafert Group and member of the Board of Directors, reporting for the entire worldwide business of the Group.
With a long managerial experience in multinational companies and leading positions abroad, I am responsible for guiding Lafert's growth in designing and manufacturing increasingly efficient and performing electric motors, but also in developing integrated solutions in synergy with the other companies of PTC (Power Transmissions & Control) division of Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd.
I focus on results improvement and value creation, strategically resetting the business imperatives for both growth and profitability, developing the organization and making continuous improvements that aim to business excellence.
I exercise a "pragmatic inclusive leadership with guidance", where consistency, integrity and leading by example are the founding values that build trust, which is an essential ingredient of my success in working with different cultures around the world. So, people embrace the project and its leader, and therefore strive to achieve goals and ensure growth.
Background:
Education: Degree in Mathematics – University of Padua
Master in Administration and Management Control - Forema
Since 2020 she has held the position of Finance Director of the Group, supervising the financial management of all Italian and foreign companies belonging to the Group, combining the need to ensure proper administrative, financial, planning and control management, with the ability to provide adequate decision-making support for business development. She monitors financial performance by planning appropriate improvements and new strategies with a view to increase integration with the Japanese Sumitomo.
In Lafert since 1998, she initially held the position of Head of Management Control, consolidating her financial expertise over the years up to cover the role of Administrative and Management Control Manager of the Group.
Education: Degree in Mechanical Engineering – University of Udine
MBA – Kansas University
Since 2020, he has held the position of Sales Director & Marketing of the Group with responsibility for the sales structure of Italian and foreign plants, consolidating over the years the commercial direction through several roles in the Group. He oversees commercial objectives by defining new sales strategies, follows market trends to anticipate customer needs and develop increasingly integrated solutions with the companies of the Sumitomo group.
His path of professional and personal growth began in Electrolux Professional, moving from the role of Process Engineer to that of Project Manager and finally of International Key Account Manager. A further step of growth comes with the experience in the world of electromechanical components for household appliances, at Askoll, with the role of Sales Manager. Then he joined Lafert in 2014.
Since 2020, he has held the position of Business Development Director of the Group, accepting the challenge of entering a dynamic and fast-growing reality such as Lafert, with the aim of developing new products and applications also in synergy with the other companies of the Sumitomo group.
For over twenty years he has been working within the Sumitomo Heavy Industries group coordinating projects that require strong collaboration between different work teams and different companies of the group both in Europe and with the Japanese parent company. He has held management roles in Sumitomo including CEO of the Italian office in Milan and Sales Director of the European branches.
Education: Degree in Business Administration – University Cà Foscari, Venice
Master General Management – CUOA Foundation
Since 2022 he has held the position of HR Director of the Group, supervising the management of human resources of Lafert S.p.A. and of all the companies abroad belonging to the Group, defining the related strategic lines consistent with the need to support the development of the company's business and with the aim of enhancing human capital.
His professional career has been articulated in international companies, in the metalworking and food industrial sectors, always in the Human Resources field and with increasing roles of responsibility. He began his experience in Komatsu, then continued in Birra Peroni and then in Fiamm, before reaching Lafert.
Innovation is part of us and fosters continuous growth to achieve our main goal: responding to the needs of modern industry with flexible integrated solutions while anticipating future needs of the market.
We are driven to create top quality, cutting-edge motors that are increasingly efficient in performance and design, while paying close attention to environmental considerations. We have always been committed to supplying technological innovation for advanced system applications. We combine the highest standard of industrial processes and excellent production capacities with our core value: people at the centre.
We consider it essential that our activities are carried out according to the principles and values of legality, integrity, transparency and ethics.
Therefore, we are committed to spreading and sharing these principles and values, so that they can guide the behavior of employees, collaborators and all those who interact with us.
The promotion objective is achieved through the preparation of a system of rules and internal controls aimed at preventing conduct and acts that are not consistent with the values and ethical principles expressed by the Lafert Group.
