Pulsar is a company involved in the field of mechanics, specialized in the engineering and production of transport and handling plants and systems for the packaging field.
Marketing Dept. - Pulsar
Pulsar designs and produces conveyor, feeding, sorting and ordering systems for different kinds of products that span from the field of paper converting to food and non-food packaging, to industrial automation within the mechanical industry, electronics and the automotive field. In the course of the years it has specialized in tissue, turning it into its core business, which today represents about 80% of its turnover.
Founded in 1989, in 2014 the company celebrates 25 years of activity. President and CEO of Pulsar is Massimo Franzaroli. He has a long-standing experience in the field of manufacture and sale of industrial automation systems and in the creation of prototypes.
His story begins in Marposs, a company specialized in the supply of industrial automation systems. In 1983 he becomes a sales agent for Mapor, a Turin-based company working with Fiat and importer of a wide range of automation components. Simultaneously with this commercial activity, Franzaroli is also involved in supporting engineering and design activities for the creation of prototypes and special machines in the field of robotics and automation in general, and starts to build special devices for the automation industry, in particular for the automotive and packaging fields. During this activity, he establishes collaborations with some of the major machine builders in the area of Bologna, the heart of the European “packaging valley”.
In 1989 he leaves Mapor and begins his activity in Pulsar, entering the market with his own capabilities and products.
In 1995 he meets Mr. Tienno Bettati of Bett Sistemi in Correggio, a company specialized in the creation of high-quality standardized mechanical components for the automatic machine production industry with whom, together with Bettati’s partner, the late Mr. Ferrari, he starts up a sales collaboration for the supply of industrial components for the production of automation elements and product conveyor and sorting lines. The collaboration turns into a veritable partnership and supply chain integration rapport with the creation of B Group, a group of companies involved in offering automation systems, creating a vertical supply chain that starts from the design and manufacture of the individual components in plastic material all the way to the proposal of automatic devices for complete lines.
The creation of B Group allows Pulsar to further develop its technical and sales offer, interacting directly with the production of the basic components for the creation of the devices, to the point of being able to patent and hence to have exclusive special basic mechanical parts having peculiar shape and composition features. Since it could now count on higher quality, special basic components, Pulsar developed in the direction of identifying and proposing line management and automation logistics capable of satisfying the demands of the ultimate industries, becoming a true expert and partner in the design and management of integrated packaging lines for several different products.
This led to creating patented pioneering systems in the field of automatic lines like REDS, an intelligent product sorting and regrouping mechanism for converting lines that performs a supervising and coordination function integrated with the operational conditions of all the machines comprising the line and produced by different manufacturers, and other devices.
In the course of its development, Pulsar has generated dozens of industrial patents on an international level that have yielded justified recognition in the fields it is involved in, above all tissue. Throughout its history, Pulsar has been able to propose innovative, high-quality, long-lasting products, specially engineered to solve the specific needs of the different application fields. In this realm, Pulsar was the first company in the field to propose warranty periods against component wear of up to 5/7 years.
Since 2004 Pulsar has made Castelmaggiore - a town north of Bologna and not very far from the city - its headquarters. A large new building ensures room for further development and growth. Today Pulsar employees about 30 people, many of whom are mechanical, electrical and electronic design technicians, and has created a lean and flexible structure, ideal to accompany customers in their projects. From initial contacts to an on-site survey followed by a customized proposal complete with layout, supply specifications, performances attainable and functionality analyses obtainable through the use of Pulsar’s automation systems - all at customers’ disposal. In the course of project evolution, Pulsar stands by the customer’s side, placing a Project Manager at his/her disposal for the creation of the systems, their assessment, check-out and installation and post-sales assistance.
In its 25 years of activity, Pulsar has created over 200 product handling and conveyor lines, among which over 18 multi-line facilities in the tissue field. Operating worldwide, the company is at the service of both large multinationals and local-sized producers, from Italy throughout all of Europe, Africa, North and South America, Australia and the Far East. In 2001 Pulsar opened a branch office in Toronto, Canada, to directly assist local customers, and in 2013 a second office was opened in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA, to locally manage the important US market. The company’s evolution in products as well as organization and its direct interaction with customers on a global level have allowed Pulsar to mature awareness that, in order to assist its customers, good mechanical solutions are not enough: you must also understand their real needs - even those not clearly expressed - and hence develop proposals that can satisfy them.
Along this line, Pulsar has focused on flexibility and control of production lines, on the strategic themes of operator safety, being involved also during the design phase of the basic components and the production of safety circuits; on themes regarding energy savings, having a say both as far as the quality of the materials is concerned and on profile design in order to optimize friction; in work conditions, managing operation speed based on the needs of the moment through the adoption of line control and management systems like the Harmonizer software.
To assist in the maintenance of production lines, Pulsar has developed a management software for programmed maintenance operations - PWS - that supplies indications regarding maintenance operations to be performed and their periodicity. Additionally, it has equipped lines with remote communication systems through VPN lines to perform remote diagnostics and remote reactivation. More recently, Pulsar has also developed PLS software, today proposed as a service on a dedicated web platform. It is a calculation and verification instrument of the efficiency and re-dimensioning of converting lines, useful in determining the actual level of operation of the systems, identifying bottlenecks, allowing corrective actions to be performed, simulating and verifying configurations of different lines in order to compare functionalities. The PLS service can be used through the www.tissuepls.com platform.
Besides supplying materials and services, Pulsar is also involved in promoting exchange of experiences and knowledge within the tissue field.
In 2006 it established the Tecnologia & Passione prize with the collaboration of the Fondazione Lazzareschi foundation of Lucca, to identify and reward technicians and entrepreneurs who, through their work, have distinguished themselves in the development of the tissue field. In 2008 the Club Tecnologia & Passione was born that today sees the participation of several tissue manufacturers and producers. Besides collaborating in identifying persons worthy of being rewarded, it is active in technical and scientific dissemination within the field, also through the institution of scholarships in collaboration with the University of Pisa.
In 2012 Pulsar was among the promoters of the creation of the Tissue Italy Network: twelve companies - some even competitors - that have given birth to an association to organize events for the mutual promotion of their technical innovations. In 2013 iT’s Tissue was held, an internationally resounding event taking place mainly in and around Lucca, where the 12 companies organized Open Houses with demonstrations of their products, welcoming over 700 guests from every part of the globe and accompanying them throughout the area to discover the Italian cultural and territorial heritage.
Entering into contact with Pulsar today means experiencing the passion, the competence and the desire for progress that has characterized the company since its very beginning, spurred by its founder, Massimo Franzaroli.
In these past 25 years Pulsar has evolved, it has characterized its products, built loyalty in its clientele, established itself on the market thanks to the application of its founding values such as partnership, ethics, passion and above all dedication to its work.
Other challenges await Pulsar; let’s just wait and see… In the meantime, Happy Birthday, Pulsar. *