Established in 1976 and now in its second generation, Riem Italy is a historic company in Rome highly specialised in the marketing and maintenance of compressed air compression and treatment equipment. Over the years, this all-Italian excellence has managed to increase its brand reputation in its target market, thanks to a strategic vision and a low environmental impact policy. Fabio Russo, CEO of Riem Italy, in this lengthy interview talks about the future challenges that the Lazio-based company is called upon to face in an increasingly competitive, globalised and sustainable context.
by Roberta Imbimbo
Dr. Russo, with what mission was Riem Italy born?
About 50 years ago, my father, entrepreneur Francesco Russo, backed by many years of experience in large multinational companies, decided to found a company specialising in the marketing of lubricated and oil-free air compressors (very important machinery for assembly line automation), destined for the industrial sector. Thanks to a strategic vision and an innovative business approach, Riem Italy soon managed to expand both nationally and internationally, achieving surprising growth both in terms of territorial expansion and turnover (today we invoice around 7 million euros a year, 2/3 of which is abroad and the rest in Italy, where we also offer a high value-added after-sales service to large industrial groups). The real turning point came when I joined the company. Firmly convinced that innovation and sustainability are the keys to success for any business, I added other strategic activities to my original core business, creating a special branch of the company dedicated to the production and maintenance of spare parts for large industrial compressors, in order to offer the global market products that are increasingly technologically advanced and have a low environmental impact.
Riem is in fact a company with a green heart that places great emphasis on environmental sustainability. How do you reduce your ecological footprint?
Our sensitivity to environmental issues, coupled with increasingly stringent government regulations on emissions, have driven us to improve our green credentials in order to achieve ever more ambitious sustainability goals; but also to offer high-performance, green machines to meet the industries’ requirements in terms of environmental safety. Our commitment to a more sustainable future, however, has not only been limited to the adoption of precise environmental and corporate social responsibility, but has even gone as far as reorganising our production processes, focusing on the reconditioning of compressor packages to recover the full functionality of used, obsolete or disused machines. Our aim is to recondition original equipment compressor packages at zero hours, so that we can avoid the need for a complete replacement of the machinery, which is clearly economically advantageous for the requesting companies and good for the environment. With the same mechanical performance, we can therefore produce less waste, emit less carbon dioxide and feed the circular economy, in line with the parameters of Industry 4.0. Thanks to a series of distributors located all over the world – today we are present in the USA, Canada, South America, Australia, South Africa, and the Far East – we have succeeded in exporting our highly specialised know-how and our pro-environmental business culture across borders, becoming the spokesperson for best practices throughout the sector.
So what peculiarities distinguish you from your competitors?
In addition to the experience and professionalism gained over many years of activity, the continuous and substantial investment in Research & Development (to proactively anticipate the technological needs of an ever-changing market), reverse engineering is undoubtedly the prerogative that most distinguishes us from other market players. Thanks to state-of-the-art instrumentation, we are perfectly capable of producing spare parts, analysing in 3D the product design, the geometry (shape and dimensions) of each individual element to be replicated, so as to reproduce it perfectly, correcting any defects and improving certain functional aspects. This reverse engineering process has allowed us to increase our brand reputation in the international market, where we are now known for quality and reliability. Another of our strengths is our human capital. The 50 or so people who work with us and for us are undoubtedly our most valuable resource, on whom we invest a great deal both in terms of continuous training and welfare policies. The aim is to enhance and increase individual professionalism in an innovative and stimulating working environment, so that each employee is not only able to offer high value-added services but also becomes a promoter of a sustainable development policy.
So many achievements in so many years of activity. Future goals?
Certainly to continue to grow in the global context, penetrating hitherto unexplored markets, expanding the worldwide network of distributors and broadening the range of products offered, facing the challenges of the future without ever losing our historical identity as a future and environmentally-oriented company.
