What SPD does

SPD SPA is an Italian industrial manufacturer, founded around 1970 and headquartered in Caravaggio (Bergamo), that designs and produces electro-permanent magnetic systems for clamping, lifting, and handling ferrous loads in metalworking and heavy industry. Its product portfolio spans workholding magnetic chucks for milling, grinding, turning, and EDM operations; a lifting and handling family that includes TRETEL telescopic beams, TREFIX rigid and tilting beams, SEP and SEL electro-permanent lifters, battery-powered portable units (SB01, SPEEDY BAT), and specialized systems for coils, tubes, profiles, and rings; plus automation components such as MHM-P pneumatically-actuated magnetic modules and the SYMBLO RAIL rail-machining system. Underlying technology combines permanent magnets with brief electromagnetic pulses for magnetization and demagnetization, so the systems consume power only during activation cycles, retain force during power loss, and produce measurable, constant holding force. The company operates three dedicated facilities in Caravaggio (Galilei for administration and logistics, Da Vinci for machine tools and sales management, Fermi for production and R&D), holds CEI 211-6 magnetic-field safety compliance for its products, and partners with German industrial group Schunk for advanced magnetic technology. Its customer base spans at least twelve vertical segments including automotive, steel, moulds and dies, railways, energy, shipbuilding, big structures, automation, sheet trade, mechanical construction, household appliances, and rubber stamping, with named enterprise customers including JSW Steel Italy, Tsubaki Nakashima, and Romec Stampi. SPD makes money primarily through the sale of engineered, customized magnetic hardware on a quote-based pricing model, complemented by professional services for prototyping, installation, and on-site testing, and by an after-sales service stream covering repair, re-testing, health certification, and design consultation. Go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales executed through a network of six named regional sales consultants covering every Italian region plus the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, supported by a multi-language website, technical catalogues, newsletter, and trade-fair participation. The company is privately held with no external funding rounds, no disclosed acquisitions, and 51–100 employees, positioning it as a stable, niche-specialist, owner-operated industrial manufacturer.

Name

SPD

Legal name

SPD SPA

Website

https://spd.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

SPD SPA is an Italian industrial manufacturer that designs and produces electro-permanent magnetic systems for clamping, lifting, and handling ferrous loads, serving automotive, steel, railway, mould/die, and energy customers via direct field sales across Italy and the Swiss Italian region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Magnetic Clamping and Lifting Equipment

NAICS

Electrical Equipment Manufacturing (3353)

SIC

Electrical Industrial Apparatus (3620)

akta.pro primary industry

Transformers & Magnetics (Power/Signal) (HDAHANAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Passive Components (Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors, Ferrites) (IMAGAJAA), Inductors & Coils (Power/RF/Chokes) (HDAHANAC)

Keywords

• Electro-permanent magnetic systems
• Magnetic workholding chucks
• Magnetic lifting equipment
• Industrial material handling
• Ferrous clamping solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Caravaggio

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Magnetic systems and equipment sales: Sale of electro-permanent and permanent magnetic systems including workholding chucks, lifting magnets, and handling equipment for industrial applications.
2. Customized solutions and prototyping: Design and development of custom magnetic solutions tailored to specific client requirements, including on-site prototype testing and implementation.
3. Service and maintenance: After-sales services including repair, re-testing, health certification, installation, and design consultation for magnetic systems including third-party products.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SPD designs, manufactures, and sells electro-permanent magnetic systems for clamping, lifting, and handling ferrous loads in industrial environments. The offering spans workholding magnetic chucks for milling, grinding, turning, and EDM machining; electro-permanent lifting beams and battery-powered portable lifters; pneumatically-actuated magnetic modules for automation; and specialized systems such as SYMBLO RAIL for railway machining. Solutions are typically customized in collaboration with clients and validated through on-site prototype testing before deployment.

Product overview

SPD (Società Produzione Distributiva) is an Italian industrial magnetic solutions company that designs and manufactures electro-permanent magnetic systems for clamping, lifting, and handling ferrous materials. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio organized around three main product lines: (1) Workholding Systems encompassing magnetic chucks for milling, grinding, turning, and EDM operations; (2) Lifting and Handling Solutions including TRETEL telescopic beams, TREFIX rigid and tilting beams, SEL and SEP lifters for various load types (sheet metal, slabs, coils, tubes, profiles, rings), and battery-powered lifters (SB01, SPEEDY BAT); and (3) Automation components such as MHM-P pneumatically-actuated modules and custom integration solutions. SPD also provides specialized systems like SYMBLO RAIL for railway track machining and complete service support including repair, re-testing, installation, and CEI 211-6 health certification. The company operates as a single unified product ecosystem based on electro-permanent magnetic technology, with customization as a key differentiator. Technology partnership: German group Schunk.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SYMBLO RAIL: Electro-permanent magnetic system for rail machining
• TRETEL
• TREFIX
• SEP
• SB01
• SPEEDY BAT
• SEL
• MHM-P

Products and services

• Workholding Magnetic Chucks Electro-permanent magnetic chucks that clamp workpieces during milling, grinding, turning, and EDM machining operations, delivering deformation-free holding force with set-up times measured in seconds. Sold to industrial machining workshops and OEMs across automotive, mould and die, and general mechanical engineering.
• TRETEL Telescopic Beams Electro-permanent telescopic beams for lifting large sheet metals of any thickness, with hydraulically extendible arms, an anti-accidental deactivation system, and remote control. Sold to steel service centers, shipbuilders, and large-structure fabricators handling variable-length sheets.
• TREFIX Rigid Beams (including TREFIX-V and TREFIX-T) Electro-permanent rigid beams for lifting large sheet metals of predefined thickness and length without telescopic movement. Includes TREFIX-V tilting beams for rack storage and TREFIX-T versions that load/unload laser, oxycutting, and plasma cutting machines in a single operation, including chip removal. Sold to sheet-metal processors, cutting-machine operators, and warehouses.
• SEL Electro-Permanent Lifters Electro-permanent lifters for hot-rolled sheet metal or coils with low air gap, equipped with PICK UP and FULL MAG magnetization modes and remote control. Sold to steel mills and coil-handling operations.
• SEP Electro-Permanent Lifters (including SEP-R) Electro-permanent lifters for sheet metal, slabs, and forged blocks with high air gaps, with load capacities from 5,000 kg to 50,000 kg. The SEP-R variant handles round and forged parts using a mechanical V centring device for quick positioning. Sold to heavy-industrial handlers of large steel loads.
• SB01 Battery-Powered Lifters Battery-powered electro-permanent magnetic lifters for both flat and round workpieces with a minimum thickness of 40 mm, performing 250–300 magnetization operations per charge. Sold to mobile lifting operations without fixed power supply.
• SPEEDY BAT Battery-Powered Lifters Battery-powered electro-permanent magnetic lifters delivering over 1,500 loading/unloading operations without battery recharge, with a magnetic sensor that prevents demagnetization while a load is suspended. Sold to high-throughput mobile lifting operations.
• MHM-IT2 Neodymium Lever Lifters Magnetic neodymium lever lifters for handling both flat and round ferrous loads with load capacities from 125 kg to 2,000 kg and a 3:1 safety coefficient. Sold to manual lifting operations not requiring powered activation.
• MHM-P Pneumatically-Actuated Magnetic Modules Magnetic modules activated/deactivated by a pneumatic cylinder operating at 6 bar compressed air; the load remains clamped even if pneumatic pressure fails. Designed for integration into automated production lines and robotic cells handling ferrous components.
• Coils Handling Systems Specialized magnetic handling systems for compact coils of any weight and size, suitable for both horizontal- and vertical-axis coils. Sold to steel service centers and coil-processing operations.
• Tubes Handling Systems Magnetic handling solutions for tubes of any weight and size, controllable remotely by a single operator or via PLC integration. Sold to tube processors, distributors, and structural fabrication operations.
• Beams and Profiles Handling Systems Magnetic handling systems for beams and structural profiles that combine safe lifting with compact design; the shaped profile enables tilting and easy storage. Sold to steel distributors, construction suppliers, and structural steel processors.
• Ring Handling Systems Electro-permanent handling systems for rings of any weight and size, integrable into complex automatic or manual systems. Sold to bearing manufacturers, forging operations, and ring-producing industrial customers.
• SYMBLO RAIL Rail Machining System Electro-permanent magnetic system dedicated to rail machining across different rail profiles, providing uniform holding force, rapid switching between rail types, and zero power consumption during operation. Sold to railway infrastructure maintenance depots and rail welding/processing facilities.
• Demagnetization Systems Systems for demagnetizing workpieces after magnetic clamping operations, removing residual magnetism before downstream use. Sold to machining shops using magnetic workholding on parts sensitive to residual magnetism.
• Mechanical Workholding Mechanical clamping systems (vises, clamps, fixtures) offered to complement magnetic workholding for industrial applications where mechanical solutions are more appropriate. Sold to the same machining customer base as SPD's magnetic chucks.
• Service and Support After-sales services including repair, re-testing, health certification (CEI 211-6 SEFE certificate with magnetic field measurement for human exposure), installation, and design consultation — including for non-SPD magnetic products. Sold to the installed base of magnetic-equipment users across industries.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tsubaki Nakashima achieved +50% output increase in turning department and -50% setup time reduction
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments12 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SchunkcoreTechnology or IntegrationSPD's technology partner is the German group Schunk. This partnership provides SPD access to advanced magnetic technology expertise and strengthens SPD's position as a leading provider of industrial magnetic solutions in Italy and internationally.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Kanetec: Japanese maker of magnetic chucks, demagnetizers, and magnetic lifters serving machine shops and steel/service-center operators globally. Highly comparable electro-permanent and permanent-magnet clamping portfolio addressing the same workholding use cases as SPD.
• Walker Magnetics: US-based manufacturer of industrial magnetic lifting, material handling, and workholding equipment for steel mills, metal service centers, and machining operations. Closely comparable on lifting/handling product lines and industrial customer base.
• Schunk Group: German global leader in workholding, clamping, and magnetic systems, and SPD's named technology partner. Overlapping product lines include magnetic chucks, lifting magnets, and stationary workholding used across the same automotive, steel, and machining customers as SPD.
• Walmag Magnetics: Czech-based manufacturer of permanent and electro-permanent magnetic systems for clamping and lifting of steel products and machined components. Comparable technology stack and serving steel mills, machine shops, and metal service centers similar to SPD's customer base.
• SAV Spann- und Automations-technik: German specialist in workholding and automation clamping systems, including magnetic and mechanical chucks for CNC machining. Comparable European competitor serving overlapping automotive and general machining customers.
• Tecnomagnete: Italian-headquartered manufacturer of electro-permanent magnetic chucks for milling, turning, grinding and EDM, plus lifting systems. Closest direct competitor to SPD by product architecture, customer base, and home market.
• Braillon Magnetics: French manufacturer of permanent and electro-permanent magnetic chucks for milling, grinding, turning, and EDM plus magnetic lifters. Direct functional overlap with SPD across workholding and handling lines for European industrial customers.
• Magnetool: US manufacturer of permanent and electro-permanent magnetic chucks, lifters, and demagnetizers for machining, grinding, and material handling. Directly comparable in product mix and small-to-mid industrial customer profile.

Broad incumbents

• Eriez: Large US-based global manufacturer of magnetic, vibratory, and separation equipment with broad industrial portfolios including magnetic lifters and workholding. Overlaps with SPD on lifting/magnetic handling but operates across a much wider product portfolio and at larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/s-p-d-

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SPD