Grafiche G7, a company located in the Genoese hinterland, thanks to the strategic acquisition of the expertly relaunched art publishing house Sagep, has been able to gain a leadership position on the market and today is a reference player, highly appreciated in the commercial and editorial press, with an excellent service that focused on high quality and finishings
Guzzo family’s adventure in the world of printing began almost by chance about forty years ago, when Bruno, at that time an industrial designer, due to a series of vicissitudes, was involved in this new adventure in the graphic world by two other partners. However, none of the three had ever seen a printing press before, and the two partners soon gave up. The only one whose heart is conquered by this new world immediately is Bruno Guzzo, who, with the help of his wife, decides to move forward, embarking on a path of growth and development which, step by step, has led the company today to be a point of reference in the commercial and editorial press, with a headquarters in Savignone about 30 kilometers from Genoa, of 3500 square meters with 15 collaborators and a complete production cycle.
“Certainly the period in which I started my career in the world of graphic arts was from a certain point of view simpler than today, and even if not all the choices were right, we were able to move forward without major problems”, Bruno Guzzo says, who today manages the company together with his children Cinzia, administrative manager, Claudio, commercial manager, and his son-in-law Maurizio Procopio who takes care of the production department, and to everyone he has passed on his great passion and love for the scent of printed paper.
“Today, however, to remain competitive, companies must absolutely invest in technology, to improve process efficiency, but errors are not allowed. We have always grown from a technological point of view in step with the needs of the market, and from the two-color Heidelberg we then moved on in 2008 to a Speedmaster CD 70×100 4 colors + varnish, and in 2020 we installed the more recent XL 106 70×100 5 colors + varnish, always with Heidelberg as our point of reference, not only in the press room”, adds Mr. Bruno, who, retracing the history of his company, as well as his personal experience, proudly recalls what was built with sacrifices and a lot of passion.
After moving to its current headquarters, Grafiche G7 decided to open a complete internal prepress department, also in this case choosing Heidelberg technology with 2 SupraSetters to produce printing plates. Strengthened by a philosophy based on efficient organization and timely responses to customers, the company has also decided to expand the internal bookbinding department with folding machines, stitching lines, perfect binding, laminator and a die-cutting machine also capable to realize hot printing to also develop the finishing offer. We are in fact in an area, the Genoese hinterland, where travel is certainly not the most convenient, and the subcontracting companies to rely on are not just around the corner, therefore being able to optimize production internally can be vital for the growth of a company.
Finally, again to complete the service to customers, a digital printing and finishing department was opened, and these investments proved to be very important, not so much for the volume of work produced, but rather for the possibility of developing small but important projects with customers, who can find a single supplier in Grafiche G7.
The acquisition of Sagep publishing house was fundamental for the growth of Grafiche G7
In the growth path of Grafiche G7, in 2012 Sagep publishing house was acquired with 8 collaborators, specialized in art volumes, and thanks to a renewed industrial plan and with the collaboration of the staff, the company was relaunched and today is an important point of reference in the art world, helping to feed the Grafiche G7 printing presses with art volumes. “In 2023 we published as a publishing house over 100 art catalogues, for exhibitions that took place throughout Italy from Lombardy to Sicily, without forgetting the publications for the Vatican Museums. These publications appear to be strategic for the printing company, which for this very reason has been updated with technological investments of absolute importance in every department”, intervenes Claudio Guzzo, sales manager of this small company group which in the synergy between the two realities has found its own winning business model.
Investments in the bookbinding department for absolute quality
‘Graphic’ art for art’s sake, is the expression that best describes the model carried out by Grafiche G7 which has always invested in technology precisely to guarantee maximum quality and efficiency. And this is what happened at the end of 2023 with the latest investments arriving in the company, again supplied by Heidelberg, with a KH 82 folding machine and a Polar 115 paper cutter.
“We needed to increase the production speed as regards the folding of our printed products, and mindful of the technologies already present in the company, also by Heidelberg, and also given the long-lasting relationship that binds us to the German supplier, it was completely natural to turn to Lorenzo Ariberti of Heidelberg Italia”, says Cinzia Guzzo.
The new investments were added to older technologies present in the company, such as the new Polar 115 paper cutter, inserted to serve the printing department and the new KH 82, while the one already present in the company remained at the service of the bookbinding department, operative at Grafiche G7.
“The KH 82 folding machine is a proven technology, extremely productive, completely automatic right from start-up phases, a characteristic which greatly speeds up the entire production itself and differentiates it from the other machines present in the company, guaranteeing a quality fold, fundamental for the subsequent binding operations”, intervenes Lorenzo Ariberti, Business Driver Postpress at Heidelberg Italia, “while as regards the Polar 115 paper cutter it was inserted to improve the company’s production flow, given that it was installed at the service of the folding machine and close to the printing machines”.
The efforts and investments made by the Guzzo family seem to prove them right, given that 2023 saw turnover grow by 10%, not bad given the general period which was not exactly brilliant, there is no shortage of projects for the future and it is foreseen a visit to next drupa to discover the latest technological innovations launched on the market and perhaps identify the next investments to further improve company productivity.
