A new Technology Center of over two thousand square meters, a reference for the wood-furniture industry for Brianza and Northern Italy and a bridge to the rest of the world. SCM continues to invest in the territories where its industrial sites operate, and Lombardy could not be outdone. We talked about it with Gabriele Patti, commercial director of the group’s Wood Division.
Gabriele Patti.
Over two thousand square meters of space, new offices, and a new technology hub bringing together innovation, solutions, and processes. SCM has revamped its SCM-Superfici Technology Center in Villasanta (Monza and Brianza), further strengthening its presence in Lombardy and providing advanced technological resources to woodworking companies in the strategic area of Brianza. The Rimini-based giant is charting its future based on clear principles: innovation, servitization, and multi-material capabilities.
“The new Technology Center in Villasanta, located at the Superfici site, is a key hub for SCM. It’s an investment rooted in the early 2000s in a district that is pivotal for the wood and furniture industries—not just in Italy but globally,” explained Gabriele Patti, Commercial Director of the Group’s Wood Division. “Initially, the Technology Center was closely tied to Superfici and finishing solutions. Today, it offers a much broader and more diversified selection of technologies and processes, with a portfolio of over 30 solutions. This makes it SCM’s most advanced and comprehensive Technology Center after our Rimini headquarters.
“This is a strategic asset,” continued Patti. “In addition to technologies, we’ve integrated the latest advancements in software and digital services, including our IoT platform Maestro Connect and the new Digital Control Room. Offering customers a place to see our full range of technologies in action is vital—it allows us not only to showcase individual solutions but also entire processes. This positions us as a 360-degree partner for our clients. Our goal isn’t just to provide technologies and services; we aim to help clients reimagine and optimize their workflows based on their specific production and business needs.”
Strategic Investments in Lombardy
“The decision to invest in this region is no coincidence,” Patti emphasized. “Lombardy, particularly Brianza, is a highly competitive district filled with companies and long-standing partners of the group. For example, our partnership with F.lli Bodei, a renowned service center for the wood/furniture industry in Brianza, began in the early 1990s. In 2022, this collaboration led to the establishment of Bodei Service Center Srl, based in Borgosatollo (Brescia) and 49% owned by SCM. This initiative allows us to provide even more direct, timely, and efficient post-sales support.
We’re also collaborating with local educational institutions like Artwood Academy and ASLAM’s Lentate sul Seveso campus. For ASLAM’s woodworking lab, we’ve provided machinery aligned with the latest industry demands in furniture and design. The lab has recently been enhanced with additional state-of-the-art SCM technologies and software, complementing the initial setup. Other Lombardy schools supported by SCM include the Crotto Caurga Professional Institute in Chiavenna (Sondrio), the Tino Sana Professional School in Bergamo, and the Patronato San Vincenzo School in Endine Gaiano. These institutions are equipped with SCM machines, primarily CNC work centers for furniture and design, featuring advanced software solutions.
The labor shortage and difficulty in finding specialized professionals for the sector are well-known challenges. By partnering with educational institutions, SCM aims to stimulate generational turnover. We firmly believe that when a company invests in a region, it must also integrate itself into its socio-economic fabric.”
The Numbers
“2023 was a challenging year, as it followed a record-breaking 2022 for both the industry and SCM. After the slowdown in 2023, 2024 has shown growth in Italy, despite the complexities of the international macroeconomic environment. Despite these difficulties, SCM has gained market share in 2024 because our previous strategic choices were both consistent and correct, allowing us to adapt to new challenges in terms of technology demands and post-sales services.
The pandemic and its aftermath have prompted us to reflect. The market has changed compared to a few years ago, and we need to be ready for a more uneven trajectory with greater fluctuations between ups and downs. In such a scenario, servitization becomes even more central to SCM’s strategy, tied to maintenance contracts, digital services, and spare parts, which offer much more stable revenue streams.”
Future Objectives
“Our goal is clear: to continue gaining market share and outperform the current market trend. Key to this is the development of engineering projects for large industries, enabling us to deliver not just standalone machines but complete industrial processes. This objective also includes our partnership with Tecno Logica, a Veneto-based company acquired in June. Tecno Logica enriches our product and service offerings in the high-tech, customizable, and flexible industrial systems segment for furniture, doors, and even non-wood materials like automotive components.
Customers expect a partner capable of providing technologies, services, and expertise while ensuring a lasting relationship with consistent results over time. SCM meets these expectations by addressing the entire spectrum of customer needs and requirements.”
Markets and New Frontiers
“In recent years, we’ve made significant investments in several markets and key geographic areas, including Slovenia/Serbia, India, Turkey, and Vietnam. We’ve consolidated some markets while opening new commercial offices in high-potential areas. These investments have also allowed us to advance servitization and adopt a new approach that goes beyond supplying machinery and systems.
Xylexpo, where we showcased our new Maestro Connect Digital Control Room service, exemplifies this new vision. Here, the machine is central but no longer the sole focus. Competition in individual machine categories is fierce, but SCM offers an ecosystem of technologies, software, services, and expertise to support clients throughout the lifecycle of their machines and their businesses. The Digital Control Room is a model we’re replicating across various markets as it embodies our approach. It’s a vital tool for delivering high-level, proactive customer service and consultation.”
Service, Digitalization, and Technological Innovation
“…Exactly. Technological innovation remains a priority. In 2024, we launched new solutions for various production phases: the ‘morbidelli x50’ and ‘morbidelli x100’ for nesting, ‘stefani m’ and new upgrades for industrial edge-banding cells, the new ‘gabbiani p/pt 95’ models for panel sizing, ‘oikos xl+’ and ‘oikos xs+’ for wooden construction, and ‘celaschi action’ for profiling and tenoning.
Looking ahead to 2025, we plan to continue investing. We’re developing new software solutions, which offer significant growth opportunities, as well as the new ‘stefani k’ for edge banding, the new ‘topset xxl’ moulder, and advanced versions of the ‘oikos xs’ work center and the X-lam sander module ‘dmc sistem xl’ for timber construction.
Our ultimate goal remains gaining market share, and we know that achieving this requires relentless focus on innovation—technological, digital, and service-related.”
