Supplier Profile: ELESA

Established in 1941, ELESA began by producing handles, knobs, handgrips, and handwheels for machines. Over 80 years later, ELESA is a leader in the design, fabrication, and distribution of plastic and metal standard machine parts for medical and mobile equipment, machine tools, packaging machinery, and more.

Design and production for ELESA are concentrated in Monza, located in the Lombardy region of Italy just north of Milan. A far cry from the humble beginnings of the company, ELESA uses the latest automated production technology to produce tens of millions of pieces every year. The new fully automated Logistics Center has over 64,000 products in stock and ready to be shipped worldwide since ELESA products are sold in more than 60 countries through 14 subsidiaries and many qualified distributors.

Though the ELESA of today is a much larger operation than how it started in 1941, a constant remains. As ELESA looks to continue to innovate and look to the future, the company holds true to the original values of quality design, ergonomics, and attention to customer needs.

Design with Ergonomics and Aesthetics in Mind

In 1980 the ELESA Group slogan became “ergonomics + design = quality” and the company still stays true to that philosophy today. ELESA introduced design into an area where the focus was traditionally only on technical manufacturing. This was in part made possible by the research in the 1980s that allowed ELESA to produce position indicators or rotary controls out of plastic instead of the traditional metal. This provided the option for more design flexibility and ELESA took that opportunity to make the machine tools functional as well as look and feel good for those who use them.

“We design our products to offer perfect functionality and the best ergonomics while keeping in mind the creation of unique designs recognizable over the world as ELESA products,” said ELESA President Alberto Bertani.

The ELESA Ergostyle line is a prime example of the commitment to functional products that don’t sacrifice on design. These elements were initially created for a series of new market applications such as hospital and medical equipment, sports and leisure equipment, scientific instrumentation, and office furniture. Now even more traditional industrial sectors have undergone major aesthetic and design renovations over the last few decades and are looking to elevate the appearance of their components without sacrificing function.

What sets Ergostyle apart is the prioritization of user comfort and safety, along with a focus on aesthetic appeal. Ensuring that the Ergostyle line not only functions well but looks appealing. With inserts in seven ELECOLORS that allow the components to be better integrated on machinery from an aesthetic point of view. As with anything ELESA does, the ELECOLORS of orange, grey, yellow, blue, red, black, and green don’t just serve the purpose of looking good. They also add value by helping to differentiate machinery functions.

ELESA’s commitment to design has been recognized with 49 industrial design awards over the last 40 years. The EWW.240 and ECW.375 operating handwheels were awarded the prestigious Compasso d’Oro Award in 1994. Presented by the Association for Industrial Design (ADI), the Compasso d’Oro was established in 1954 and is now the highest honor in the field of industrial design in Italy. The very next year, these products were recognized with the Good Industrial Design Award from the Industrie Forum Design Hannover (IFDH). This award is one of the most prestigious design awards in the world.

The culmination of all the research and effort that makes ELESA a pioneer in industrial design is the EWW.240 and ECW.375 operating handwheels that have been entered into the Milan Design Museum curated by ADI. ELESA is proud of its history and its place in the overall history of industrial design.

Made in Italy Quality, Accessible Worldwide

Alongside the wide range of standard machine elements available, ELESA offers on-demand customized technical solutions to meet specific needs. The customization could be aesthetic additions such as logos and text, special colors, special materials, and shapes, or surface treatments. These options make sure that ELESA products will meet all the needs of the customers and hold up to any harsh conditions.

ELESA is proud that all products are made in Italy in the Monza company headquarters, which is a stamp of assurance for quality. With 14 subsidiaries and distribution in more than 60 countries, customers around the world have access to Made in Italy quality products.

With this focus on customer needs, it is not a surprise that ELESA products can be found in a diverse number of industries. ELESA products are used in agricultural machinery, construction, and material handling machines, woodworking, accessories for professional lighting, scientific instruments, and laboratory equipment, food, and drink packaging, medical equipment as well as rehabilitation and fitness equipment, and more.

Through AutomationDirect, customers have access to ELESA position indicators, handwheels, and reducer brushings. Position indicators monitor the rotating shaft of industrial equipment to provide a precise reading of its position, while reducer brushings are designed to adapt smaller rotating machine shafts to the available position indicator diameters. Handwheels, a specialty of ELESA, are used in applications requiring precise manual positioning or alignment of equipment or machinery and are available with or without a foldaway revolving handle.

An Entrepreneurial Vision

Even with a full catalog of products and a history of success behind them, the spirit of ELESA is to keep striving to innovate and improve. The best proof of this is ELESA’s 300 patents and registered designs. To stay on the cutting edge, the company invests 10% in innovation relating to technology, production processes and products. The goal is to not only identify and create new products but to also continue to improve the performance and level of safety of the products already in their catalog.

The ELESA internal testing laboratory with the most advanced equipment and measuring instruments is the hub for much of this research and innovation. This is where the ELESA team studies new plastic materials that can withhold the growing demands of industrial machines.

All ELESA products are subjected to mechanical, physical, chemical, and durability testing to provide reliable technical data and make sure that it meets the standards customers have come to expect. The laboratory is even open to customers to carry out tests that simulate specific or particularly heavy conditions of use.

Eighty years from its founding, ELESA still has the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit that founder Carlo Bertani started the company with. That may have to do with Carlo Bertani Jr. and Andrea Bertani, the grandsons of the founder, being the third generation of family entrepreneurs to lead ELESA. The company finds the balance of striving to improve and look to the future, while still holding true to the values of ergonomics, design, and quality that have been at the core of ELESA products from the beginning.