After decades of expanding auxiliary equipment product lines, Venice, Italy-based Piovan SpA is fine-tuning the product company names.
Founded in 1934, the mechanical engineering firm entered the plastics industry in 1964.
Ninety years after its start and 60 years after expanding into the plastics arena, Piovan has started a process the marketing team refers to as "simplification of its brand architecture."
Essentially, the company names won't change too much — but graphics will.
"The aim is to have a clear and identifiable image in the international market while respecting the history and identity of the individual brands that are part of Piovan Group," a news release said.
As part of the change, the Fdm, Fea, Penta and UnaDyn brands will become Piovan Fdm, Piovan Fea, Piovan Penta and Piovan UnaDyn (W2729). The Conair, Doteco, Pelletron and Thermal Care brands will add "Piovan Group" as an integral part of their logos.
In addition, Aquatech will operate as Thermal Care, Energys as Piovan, Progema will flow into Piovan Penta, and Republic Machine into Conair.
The Thermal Care brand is evolving, too, with a new strategic division for industrial and process refrigeration, which is the result of integrating the businesses operated by Thermal Care and Aquatech.
The division will have consolidated sales of about 100 million euros ($108 million) globally and be headed by Lee Sobocinski, current president of Thermal Care Inc., another news release said.
Thermal Care operates primarily out of the United States, offering heat-transfer solutions to the plastics, food, beverage and other markets, while Italy-based Aquatech offers design, sales and service of similar products with a focus on plastics processing.
As part of the integration, Thermal Care and Aquatech products will continue to be manufactured in North America, Europe, Asia and South America and sold in their respective regions. The division is expected to benefit from an expanded portfolio of products and services for a wider range of markets and realize cost savings in the area of research and development.
Piovan set a company sales record in 2022 after acquiring Cranberry Township, Pa.-based IPEG Inc. and its brands of Conair, Thermal Care, Pelletron and Republic Machine. Sales increased 85 percent to $578.4 million (531.4 million euros) thanks in part to the acquisition and an emphasis on greener ways to process plastics.