Lazzari’s metallurgical manufacturing machinery among the world’s best
By Federico Piazza
Metallurgy is big business around the globe and a number of interconnected processes, which utilize a broad variety of machinery and processing plants, are involved.
Many European companies have cutting-edge technological know-how in this sector and the Metal Hub platform aims to promote European experience in advanced metallurgy and, more broadly, in the areas of materials and expertise.
It develops international cooperation between companies working as technology integrators and those ready to receive and adapt these technologies to their own purposes, exploring state-of-the-art technological applications in the various production segments of international metal supply chains.
The Metal Hub platform features a special section focused on machinery used in processing ferrous and non-ferrous metals, steel, and metallurgy. This is a sector in which Italian industry is among the world’s best in terms of quality, technological innovation and the ability to customize metallurgical plants that meet the specific needs of the important players in the international metals industry.
One such Italian producer is Lazzari Officine Meccaniche. This Bergamo-based company has been in business for over 70 years and specializes in the design, construction and installation of machinery used for the production processes necessary for the manufacturing and handling of pipes, bar stock, profiles, and forging.
All of these products are important for industry. Pipes and connectors are used in the oil and gas sector, but carbon capture wells are an important emerging industry that will also be using specialized steel alloys and precision milling to create pipes, connectors and caps for this type of use. Bar stock and profiles are key for the construction industry and forged steel is used in automotive and many other areas.
Currently Lazzari partners with many of the world’s leading steel companies, and in particular, it is a world leader in sawing machines for cutting a variety of different materials, with very high efficiency blades, inserted “in line” in the production plants.
Another area in which Lazzari has expertise is that of machines for the production and testing of pipes used in the oil and gas industry, according to the API and GOST regulations, used in the phases of pipe and sleeve coupling, checking the internal diameter, testing the hydraulic seal of the pipe/sleeve coupling, pipe straightening, as well as facing and chamfering for line pipes.
Over the years, Lazzari has always emphasized research and technological development, which has kept it at the top of a competitive industry.
Lazzari’s current design focus is on automation that increasingly reduces the impact of human error in production processes and ensures qualitative reliability and productivity. Also important in this field is the simplification of the operator interface, which makes it possible for a non-specialized operator to use the machine; this results in a reduction of production costs—a strategic factor in maintaining competitiveness on world markets.
According to Lazzari, the future of the steel technology market will be marked by a constant contraction in demand for new complete production plants, considering that the global steel sector is currently facing a situation in which overproduction is a serious issue.
On the other hand, there may be ample space for greater development of renovation projects for existing plants specialized in the production and transformation of steel, with the aim of improving quality and productivity. With the future metals processing market looking very competitive, reducing costs and an increasing focus on R&D as well as renovation and automation will be a key factor for all players.
