THE COMPANY, HISTORY AND VALUES

Gigola & Riccardi S.p.A. is founded in 1986, when the co-founder Antonio Gigola, former entrepreneur in the poultry breeding industry, decides to exploit his handcraft capability to start up a new business, together with his partner Giuseppe Riccardi.

From 1986 till 1990 the focus of the company is the production and installation of agricultural machinery.

In 1995 the company starts producing light traps for breedings and patented an innovative, efficient and easy-to-assemble plastic pad light trap system, which is patented in 1995 and is awarded as the “best invention of the year” from the Atlanta world famous poultry exhibition.

In 1998 the company starts producing cooling pads as a necessary complement for the fans in the poultry segment (70/90 cooling pad) and later on starts producing 50/90 cooling pads which are mainly addressed for providing humidification in other industries, rather than poultry (e.g. industrial, and others).

According to the philosophy of the company and its innovative spirit in 2004 a new Cooling & Darkening pad is patented.

This product is still today unique and exclusive all over the world. This special z-pattern pad combines a higher cooling efficiency, compared to the classic pattern cooling pads, together with a darkening property that doesn’t allow light passage and increases performance with a lower pressure loss.

The success of the fans production is motivated by the quality of the products provided: robustness, durability, easy maintenance and performance (airflow and energy efficiency) have always been the key drivers on which the company has been building its reputation for more than 25 years.

In March 2015 the co-founder Antonio Gigola decides to retire from work and new partners (a group of entrepreneurs from Brescia) joined the company.

The other former partner Mr. Adino Gritti, chief of pad production and the co-founder Mr. Giuseppe Riccardi chief of fans production are still working within the company.

Mr. Pietro Seccamani Mazzoli is appointed as the new CEO.

In January 2016 the company decides to further improve the quality of its cooling pads by introducing a new resin having better features in terms of resistance to the sun exposure and environmental impact. This new formula is adopted on all the cooling pads under production.

In December 2016 a new fan called HP140, with better performances in terms of capacity and efficiency, especially in sheds with high pressures, is launched with an immediate response from the market.

In February 2017 a new cooling pad called 70/60 (angles 45/15) is released. It is an alternative to the existing pads 70/90 (angles 45/45) and indicated to reduce pressure drops.

In March 2017 the company added a new building with an incremental surface of approx. 1500 sq mt. to its headquarter in Cazzago San Martino (BS) – Italy, in order to benefit from the following new facilities:

– A new office;
– An additional warehouse;
– A new laboratory with a new testing bench (compliant with AMCA regulation), for fans, and with a new testing bench for cooling pads;

In June 2017 the new laboratory is launched. The new facility is one of the most modern testing benches for fans worldwide. Our testing bench can provide tests on performance and efficiency for axial or centrifugal fans and on drops of charge of passive objects (such as cooling pads or light traps). With a maximum capacity of 85.000 m3/h at a pressure that can be up to 1000PA, our new testing bench is an investment on our future product development.

In 2018 the laboratory was implemented with a second testing bench, designed and constructed specifically for cooling pads tests. Our new testing bench can measure cooling efficiency, drops of charge, and is a fundamental tool for the development of new evaporative pads.

In 2018 the company developed a service named “White label custom solutions” that allows customers to receive custom solutions, thanks to a package comprising of 4 development areas:

– Product customization;
– Techincal documentation customization;
– Marketing documentation customization;
– Logistics customization;

In december 2018 the company has launched a new 55’ extraction fan called Typhoon 150. The fan has been conceived to cover a particular demand segment that requires high air capacity (even at high pressure) and high efficiency at the same time. The result is the new cone fan created by Gigola e Riccardi, featured with a 43% increase in energy efficiency and a 10% increase in air capacity. The tests have been certified by BESS LAB, Illinois, U.S.A. (test nr. 17563).

In 2019 new research and development projects were launched. The purpose is to bring to the market some new interesting innovations:

• Big diameter ceiling fans (HVLS) – particularly addressed to the cow and industrial markets;
• Space saving cone TY CNF 150 – allows the installation of Typhoon series fans without the encumbrance of the cone and improves performance;
• Heavy duty shutters – The new product family comprises two options: with actuator or with cable lever;
• Heavy duty light trap with hanging system – Our patented light trap has been completed with a new system to increase robustness and with 2 brackets kits (one for seasonal use and one for permanent use);
• Cooling pads custom processing – these processings allow the production of cooling pads with custom shapes, with an advantage in terms of installation and functionality;
• Pads connectors – created to joint pads together to obtain custom sizes;
• Iron cooling battery – As an alternative to our standard aluminium cooling battery;
• Cooling battery with frontal opening – created to simplify the opening procedure of our standard cooling battery.

The following year a new production line is launched, comprising a new punching automated line and a new profiling automated line. This innovation allows our company to have more production capacity, more control on quality and more flexibility for custom processes.

In 2020, a new production line was introduced, including an automatic punching line and an automatic profiling line. This innovation provided the company with increased production capacity, greater quality control, and improved flexibility for customized processes.

In 2021, a new warehouse was added to the Cazzago site. The new facility features 1,000 square meters of covered space and over 2,000 square meters of outdoor area.

A new automated profiling line was implemented to enhance production speed and customization capabilities to meet client needs. Additionally, the new line enables better inventory management, reducing the number of raw material codes used so far.

The four patents filed the previous year were officially confirmed. The patents cover the following products and applications:

• HVLS – Frame that can be easily disassembled to access electronics
• HVLS – Anti-fall protection system
• Cooling Pads – Customized processing solutions
• Cooling Pads – Assembly system for larger pads

The first part of a new production line for cooling panels was completed and temporarily installed at the Cazzago San Martino facility.