Since the early 1960s, Italian company Selip S.p.A. has been creating a wide range of products made of advanced composite materials to aid in storage, filtration, air and water transport, and more. Selip is not the only company to offer such a product range, but the manufacturer differentiates itself by working closely with fiberglass and carbon fiber and, since its beginnings, has grown to become Italy’s premiere supplier working with these materials.
Fiberglass in particular is a special material lauded for its strength, flexibility, minimal weight and anti-corrosive properties. CEO Carlo Romani, who joined Selip in 2013, knows the value of his products and works diligently to keep his company ahead of the competition. “Selip is one of the most popular companies in Italy and one of the three or four main players in the European market,” Mr. Romani highlights.
Management at Selip realized early on that it had to differentiate itself from its competitors, and one way the company has done this is by focusing on the chemical sector, which requires storage of chemical substances that are not susceptible to corrosion and abrasion.
“Our strength lies in managing different kinds of resins and glasses with very different manufacturing technologies in order to satisfy the diversified demand for these tanks,” Mr. Romani explains. Focusing on this strength has paid off, Mr. Romani underlines, as “Selip is Europe’s main supplier of fiberglass tanks for the chemical sector. We now have 60 collaborators and sales representatives in Italy and 15 abroad.”
Currently, exports make up 40% of Selip’s turnover, and Mr. Romani wants to keep this momentum going. “We would like to have a larger presence in Turkey, Poland and other areas which were, up until now, considered ‘distant’. This expansion will be the primary goal for the sales department,” states Mr. Romani.
Selip would also like to branch out more in the Middle East and United States through an increase in its water treatment plants. Selip presently attributes 30% of its business to water treatment, which includes desalination plants, filtration and purification. Mr. Romani expects the area of sea and waste water treatment will soon grow, providing more of a balance with Selip’s production of fiberglass storage plants.
Quality control, thorough after-sales service, and acquisition of updated domestic and international certifications also allow Selip to remain ahead in its field. “We have been able to stay on the market, unlike our competitors, by minimizing production costs and following through with our clients from start to finish,” Mr. Romani shares.
As any good leader does, Mr. Romani has his eyes set toward the future. The CEO says confidently that his “goal is to increase business abroad by attacking markets like North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and Eastern Europe.” Additionally, like his predecessors, Mr. Romani aims to keep Selip as versatile and flexible as the product it sells.