Success story

Interview with Stefano Maria Profeti, GSI Group Chairman and CEO. 

Can you present your personal experience in SMC BMC

My working experience is an example of what made me believe in these new technologies. In 2002, I quitted my manager position in the chemical field to start-up my own business activity, focused on something new. The market was in search of end-to-end suppliers able to offer their support throughout the whole industrial process, and SMC is absolutely the best technology to achieve such a result.

It is no coincidence that this material represents more than 80% of our production in Italy and abroad.
I choose SMC technology because, compared to similar methods, it benefits from a very high volume production ability, excellent part reproducibility; it’s cost effective, low labor requirements per production level is very good and industry scrap is reduced substantially.

What do you think of SMC BMC – is it a material of the future ?

Talking of SMC/BMC technical features, the first things that come to my mind are: excellent mechanical properties both at very high and low temperatures; mechanical strength not affected by thermal shocks and resistant to from ageing; low weight, which means energy savings, greater fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions throughout the lifetime of a vehicle; high versatility. SMC/BMC materials can be formulated and moulded to meet performance and end-use specifications, allowing high design freedom as well.

Another very important thing, from the customer point of view, is the speed to market: low system costs mean easier and less expensive implementation of model changes. Compared to others, SMC/BMC technology can drastically reduce the timeframe between concept and production.

Do you have a project in SMC BMC you would like to explain?

We develop this material in collaboration with Automobili Lamborghini, one of the few companies, taking advantage of the innovative aspect of Carbon SMC. Our Group was definitely a pioneer in shaping a process now employed by many other companies.

We currently produce for Lamborghini the Engine Bay, a package of four components made in C-SMC (Carbon Sheet Moulded Compound). Other than innovative aesthetical features, Carbon SMC has indeed better mechanical properties compared to SMC, Young’s module and tensile strength above all.

SMC is currently one of the most performing materials, and given its powerful characteristics, I believe this technology will strongly evolve in the near future, attracting more and more attention from companies and surprising the ones already using it.