Fabbrica Italiana Sedili Autoferroviari

What Fabbrica Italiana Sedili Autoferroviari does

Fabbrica Italiana Sedili Autoferroviari (FISA) is an Italian private manufacturer of seats and interior components for the railway industry, founded in 1960 and headquartered in Rivoli di Osoppo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The company produces passenger seating (including the proprietary LEAN1 and LEAN2 product lines, SLIM, Hexagon, and Tip-up designs), driver cab seats, couchettes, and complementary interior fittings, with output also generated by its 80%-owned subsidiary IMET Srl, which contributes dining bay tables and custom interior solutions. FISA holds multiple international certifications — ISO 9001, IRIS (International Railway Industry Standard), ISO 45001, ISO 14001, ISO 14064-1, and Deutsche Bahn Q1 — that qualify its products for supply into major European and global rail vehicle OEM programs.

FISA operates two production facilities in Italy — its historic Rivoli di Osoppo plant and a new Buja site opened in 2024 — with approximately 90 direct employees supplemented by around 100 outsourced workers. Its revenue model is contract-based: long-cycle, project-driven manufacturing of customized seat systems and refurbishment kits for rail vehicle OEMs and operators. Reported record revenues in 2021 and 2022 reflect major contracts including a 23,000-seat supply for Stadler FLIRT EMUs (Abellio East Anglia franchise), a CrossCountry Voyager refurbishment with Alstom covering 312 cars, and ongoing deliveries to Hitachi Rail, CAF, Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier, Pesa, Newag, Talgo, and Hyundai Rotem.

The customer base spans European, Asian, and Australian train operators and rolling stock integrators (Trenitalia, Deutsche Bahn, SNCF, OEBB, Israel Railways), and product reach extends across roughly a dozen countries. Recent commercial positioning centers on the SLIM 800 launch in 2025 and continued participation in industry trade shows such as InnoTrans, EXPO Ferroviaria, and Rail Live, signaling an active bid pipeline across both new-build and refurbishment tenders.

Name

Fabbrica Italiana Sedili Autoferroviari

Legal name

FISA Fabbrica Italiana Sedili Autoferroviari Srl

Website

https://fisaitaly.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Fabbrica Italiana Sedili Autoferroviari (FISA) is an Italian manufacturer of railway passenger and driver seats, couchettes, and interior components, supplying customized seating systems to global rolling stock OEMs and operators including Stadler, Alstom, Hitachi Rail, Siemens, and Bombardier.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Railway Seating and Interiors

NAICS

Motor Vehicle Seating and Interior Trim Manufacturing (33636), Motor Vehicle Seating and Interior Trim Manufacturing (336360)

SIC

Railroad Equipment (3743)

akta.pro primary industry

Automotive Seating Systems Manufacturing (Frames/Mechanisms/Foam/Complete Seats) (IMACAKAA)

Keywords

• Railway seating
• Passenger seat manufacturing
• Rolling stock interiors
• Train refurbishment
• Rail vehicle components

Headquarters

HQ city

Rivoli

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Railway passenger seats: Design, development and manufacturing of railway passenger seats including LEAN1, LEAN2, Hexagon, and Tip-up models. Revenue from both standard product lines and custom client design projects.
2. Locomotive driver seats: Manufacturing of driver seats including SLIM and FA product families, with extensive customization options for suspension, basements, and accessories.
3. Railway interior components: Following IMET acquisition in 2020, FISA expanded to include bay tables, couchettes, and other interior components for railway vehicles.
4. Fleet refurbishment projects: Contracts for seat and interior replacements on existing train fleets, such as the CrossCountry Voyager refurbishment with Alstom (312 cars) and Porterbrook Class 170 Turbostar refurbishment.
5. Custom/client design projects: Industrialization and production of seats where intellectual and industrial property belongs to the end customer, such as Executive seat for Hitachi Rail Italy's Zefiro ETR Frecciarossa project.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Fabbrica Italiana Sedili Autoferroviari (FISA) designs, manufactures, and supplies seats and interior components for rail vehicles. Its portfolio covers first-class and commuter passenger seats, tip-up seats, bay tables, and couchettes, along with refurbishment services for rolling stock operators and OEMs.

Product overview

FISA (Fabbrica Italiana Sedili Autoferroviari) is a leading manufacturer of railway seats and interiors. The product portfolio consists of three main categories: (1) Locomotive driver seats including SLIM, FA, and Special seats with various configurations for different cab requirements; (2) Passenger seats comprising LEAN1 and LEAN2 (lightweight modular seats with self-supporting iron shell design), Hexagon (super-luxury seat with electric controls), and Tip-up (folding seats for versatile applications); (3) Client design projects where FISA manufactures seats based on customer intellectual property for projects like ETR 1000/Frecciarossa (Regional, ETR 1000, Executive classes for Hitachi Rail Italy). Additionally, through its 2020 acquisition of IMET, FISA offers Bay Tables and Couchettes as bespoke interior solutions. The company operates two production facilities in Osoppo and Buja, Italy, and serves major global rolling stock manufacturers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IMET: A brand retained after FISA's 2020 acquisition of 80% of its shares, focused on manufacturing of bay tables, gangways, doors, partition walls, and passenger seats for high-speed trains.

Products and services

• SLIM Seat

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% recyclable and 98% recoverable materials in LEAN seats
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers22 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 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.

• IMET SrlcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2020FISA acquired 80% of IMET shares in September 2020. IMET had been a leading manufacturer of railway seats and interior components including bay tables, gangways, doors, and partition walls. The acquisition significantly increased FISA's production capability and expanded product portfolio to include comprehensive interior solutions.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Adient: World's largest automotive seating manufacturer with adjacent commercial vehicle and rail exposure. A larger incumbent that competes with FISA when rail seating is bundled into broader interior packages by OEMs.

Direct peers

• Rescroft: UK manufacturer of rail vehicle passenger seating supplying UK train operators and OEMs. Direct competitor for UK refurbishment programs such as Voyager and Turbostar fleets that FISA also services.
• Grammer AG: German-based seating specialist with a dedicated rail division producing both driver and passenger seats for trains, trams and buses. Direct overlap with FISA on rail seating platforms; FISA even partnered with Grammer from 1993-2003 for driver seat production at its Osoppo facility.
• USSC Group: US-based manufacturer of seating and interior products for rail, transit and industrial vehicles. Comparable product category to FISA's passenger and driver seating lines.
• Compin: French designer and manufacturer of railway passenger and driver seats, supplying major European OEMs and operators. Closest geographic direct competitor to FISA in the Western European rail seating market.
• Freedman Seating Company: US manufacturer of seating for transit, rail, bus and paratransit vehicles. Comparable product scope to FISA in transit and commuter rail seating.
• Transcal: UK manufacturer of rail vehicle seating and interior components. Direct competitor on UK rail seating tenders where FISA has strong recent wins.
• McConnell Seats: Australian rail seating manufacturer partnered with FISA on the Bombardier VLocity DMU platform for Victoria State. Comparable product offering in passenger rail seating and explicitly partnered with FISA.
• Borcad: Czech Republic-based manufacturer of railway seating supplying European rail OEMs including regional and high-speed platforms. Direct competitor to FISA in Central European tenders.
• Kiel Industrial Group: Polish rail vehicle interior systems supplier producing seats and interior components for regional and commuter trains. Comparable Central European competitor to FISA.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/f-i-s-a-fabbrica-italiana-sedili-autoferroviari-s-r-l-

Compliance15 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 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 Fabbrica Italiana Sedili Autoferroviari