FACE TO FACE
Ficep’ s GEMINI LASER for mechanical operations( such as milling, drilling, tapping and scribing) combined with laser cutting.
Robot on the GEMINI LASER. fabrication machinery and, next year( according to Colombo), will launch solutions for automated logistics, handling and transport of components between machines and different working units.
With sustainability in mind, Ficep is adding IoT to its products to monitor energy and CO 2 impacts. Its first products are in the market being tested. It aims to continue the rollout of this technology in 2026.
“ For the next three years, we are working on a major programme to re-design all our machinery for easy assembly and rapid installation. Our steel fabrication machinery offers multiple technologies on the same platform( our hybrid machinery concept includes laser cutting, drilling, milling, sawing etc. in the same multi-functional working units). We believe that steel construction must be flexible. This is important. Thermally generated connections using plasma or laser can sometimes affect certain steel types and make them brittle, which is not ideal for construction projects such as bridges, carparks and multi-storey buildings. Our strategy is therefore to supply flexible machines that offer multiple functionality and flexibility to
fabricators who may have to choose a range of steel fabrication processes, depending upon the projects they have chosen,” outlined Christian Colombo.
Current geopolitical tensions, new microcluster requirements, increasing protectionism and gaps in oversight and protection for manufacturers against some global trading practices have driven this change of machinery design philosophy. The business world, says Colombo, is evolving and, he says,“ the industry is going through the most active changing paradigms of business models that I have ever seen in my business life ….”
He highlighted trends such as increasing localisation of manufacturing( such as in the U. S. market), which may be challenging for European manufacturers, and U. S. tariff issues that are creating confusion in the market for some types of products, with custom codes changing even while goods are in transit. He is also seeing more machinery from outside Europe that may not adhere to European standards of safety, sustainability etc.
“ It is challenging to sell European-made machinery, that has been built to high standards of quality and safety, to countries
The Ficep SABRE. that may not value those standards. You are then competing with local manufacturers on price. Manufacturers today must be flexible and should not limit themselves to selling in just one region or market, or they become vulnerable to market / economic shocks. That means a substantial change in machinery design philosophy. I think small companies will suffer more as they will have more difficulty setting up different streams or different product variants for different regions of the world,” explained Christian Colombo.
Meeting new challenges
“ Companies need to design products to be more‘ manufacturable’. With the advent of artificial intelligence, processes are becoming more streamlined. If it is true that humanoids will support assembly or manufacturing in just five / ten years, then I think that new product design must take this into account. Instead of just designing machines for specific countries, manufacturers need to think about manufacturing products for the micro-cluster areas that I mentioned before. Europeans must consider making products that are easily assembled and disassembled and can be easily reintroduced into the circular economy to save material and meet green targets. If this product design route is taken, then issues such as super-subsidised steel / semi-products from other countries or regions will not be such an issue for manufacturers,” outlined Colombo.
He does not believe in the long-term continuation of subsidies for high-tech products from the Far East, for example,“ as someone always has to pay the bill in the end.”
“ Over-capacity in markets can distort economies because the end-user is no longer the final customer; it is the country or state that decides to subsidise who is the customer. This cannot be a sustainable practice and is becoming more prevalent, so manufacturers need to find alternatives. In my opinion, the only alternative is to make products that can be reintroduced into the circular economy so
36 | ismr. net | ISMR October 2025