Value-added distributor for industrial and lighting solutions

We are proud to propose the interview with Massimo Tirapelle, founder and CEO of Digimax; the content was produced in collaboration with Elettronica AV, an independent periodical of information and opinions on the electronics market.

Heart and Positive Energy

Digimax proposes itself as a value-added distributor for industrial and lighting solutions, but as the founder Massimo Tirapelle explained to us, in order to be successful in the market, you must also put in your heart and the ability to release positive energy.

Italian benchmark for the distribution of power supplies, industrial PCs, LEDs, displays and electronic components, Digimax provides to the customers the best integrated solutions through a single supplier capable of offering a specialized, rapid and best value for money consultancy service. With a widespread presence throughout the national territory coordinated by the Project Managers, the Vicenza distributor is able to offer updated and detailed advice, the result, as the founder Massimo Tirapelle explained, also of 25 years of experience on the market.

This year you have celebrate 25 years of presence on the market. What were the most important stages of this journey?

It was a beautiful journey, which started in 1996 from scratch and reached over 4.000 active customers today. I have seen the company grow steadily, with many joys and some pains and I have the great satisfaction of having created something really important in the italian world of the electronic distribution. In this journey I experienced the transition from the old electronic distribution system to the digital one, which stimulated us to continually invent new strategies, to be innovative and distinguish ourselves from others. In the path followed there is one thing of great value for me, which is giving me the incentive to improve: having created a group of close-knit people, who work in teams in the various departments with shared objectives, grown over time, fusing ability and experience. We can identify the key milestones in the last ten years, in which we have quintupled our turnover, going from 10 to 50 million Euros, a growth that had a turning point with the transfer that took place in 2013 to the new headquarters which, thanks to a larger warehouse and a computerized system, has allowed us to become a logistics hub for our main brands, such as Mean Well and Advantech, historical partners from the beginning of our adventure.

The Digimax group was born from the union of 3 historic companies in the sector. How do these realities operate today? Are they totally integrated or do they move independently?

In the last five years we have understood that in order to grow in turnover, acquisitions policies must also be implemented on a synergistic basis: in 2015 we acquired Velco, an historic distributor here in Vicenza, situated a few kilometers from our office. They had Citizen Led as its main brand, which was in line with our expansion policy in the world of professional lighting, synergistic compared to Mean Well, Snappy and Colors. In addition, we entered the world of light control through Dalcnet, a local manufacturer with a strong vocation for the design and production of dimmers for lighting, for the domestic and foreign market. In both companies, Digimax brought its know-how and its organization, necessary to be integrated into the group strategy based on the lighting and industrial ecosystem.

What are Digimax's strengths and what differentiate you from your competitors?

Digimax wants to be a true value-added distributor: to be recognized by the customer, value must be created with pre and post-sales consultancy services and with an offer of the most innovative products worldwide, such as those offered by our best partners from the Far East: Mean Well, Advantech e Citizen. To this we combine a "Premium" logistics service with high levels of stock and rapid delivery support for a true "Just in Time" in a range of products that includes over 15 thousand different codes. To do this, we have always invested in Information Technology, for the management of processes to support sales, trying to "digitize" us more and more, in order to accompany customers in the choice of products and in the management of orders towards inbound marketing which, to my opinion, it will be the frontier of the next ten years.

THE DIGIMAX CONSULTING

You started your business by importing products from suppliers of the Far East. How has your offer evolved over the years?

Product innovations are continuous, the world of electronic distribution is increasingly competitive and for a simple "box mover" distributor, is difficult to resist. The role of the distributor is no longer as it was at the beginning, limited to the import of quality and cost-effective products: today it is necessary to accompany the customer in the sale of an industrial or lighting ecosystem, combining a competitive and top-level product package, and allow it to be successful and innovative.

You also have an Academy inside. What does it do? How important is for Digimax to have trained and competent people?

When managing a sales force of around 30 people and a package of over 50 product lines, training is essential to offer customers a competent service, mainly through our Product Managers. There are a dozen PMs for the various divisions and operate within the new Digimax Lab structure, divided into two areas, Lighting and industrial, offering customized solutions with specific kits.

DISCOVER DIGIMAX LAB SERVICES

In your Vicenza headquarters there are also a showroom and a laboratory. Who are these facilities aimed at? What advantages do they bring?

The showroom is a small showcase of the most interesting and updated products with the latest technologies in the two ecosystems: for the lighting world there is the possibility to manage the lighting control with Casambi, Dali, Dmx protocols. For the industrial world there are embedded solutions such as boards or computers with Gateway functionality linked to the Internet of Things for remote data collection via I/O devices and solutions for Artificial Intelligence, with specific CPUs in graphic processing, combined with our line of industrial cameras.

The laboratory offers an "ad-hoc" assembly service, tailored to each customer, with burn-in activities, wiring, mechanical customizations and software integrations carried out by our dedicated team.

VISIT DIGIMAX SHOWROOM

Last year you implemented an e-commerce dedicated platform. Who uses it and for what reasons? What results is it bringing to you?

The e-commerce platform was created to satisfy the range of small time-spending requests for the company. Our goal is to work and protect our Key Accounts, System Integrators and partners, to whom we are offering digital services tailored to the B2B, through a reserved area to operate independently, offering a dedicated support from our Technical Sales team.

You developed the concept of "ecosystem" in the industrial environment. Can you explain better what it means? What are the main problems of the industrial world?

For us, the industrial ecosystem is a complete product chain, from the embedded pc board, to the indoor/outdoor touch display, transmission and connectivity with industrial network switches, joysticks, industrial power supplies and wireless sensors applied effectively. The complete solutions are studied together with the customer with our Product Managers and subsequently developed in our laboratory. The applications are different: automation, medical, vending machine, machine builder, transportation. The same principle is also applied in lighting for lamp manufacturers and retail. The main challenge in this area is the long development times, months or even years, which require many pre and after-sales support activities, with increasingly compressed margins between our producers and end customers and direct Asian competition on the customer. The goal is to have a "Premium" service but with "Economy" rates.

The world of power supplies, which has always been your core business, seems to be the only sector that has reported growing numbers in 2019. How is your offer structured? What results has it brought?

Power supply has important numbers not only in Italy, but also for us: more than half of Digimax's turnover is generated by power supplies. Our offer is based on very important stocks, on a portfolio of thousands of models with widespread sales in the Italian territory for both industrial and lighting applications. On the other hand, despite our quality and cost-effective power supplies, such high numbers have led to a constant and progressive erosion of margins on the national and international market, and for this reason, logistics plays a fundamental role for distribution.

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS

Among the most promising sectors for you to address is that of charging columns for electric vehicles. What solutions do you offer?

The market is certainly interesting and growing fast. In this sector, Digimax can offer embedded board solutions with gateway functionality for charging stations, which can interact with specific displays and touches for outdoor environments and resistant to UV rays and specific power supplies and chargers for managing electric vehicle charge cycles.

You have become a reference in the embedded world, as confirmed by the prize awarded to you by Advantech. How are you moving in the sector?

In these 25 years we have become a reference point in the embedded world also thanks to the support of Advantech, the world's leading PC manufacturer, of which we are the most important partner in Italy and among the first in Europe. In this sector we are constantly updating our offer, with always innovative and complementary products.

The LED sector has experienced a moment of extreme development during the last decade. How is the situation today? What are the most interesting applications?

The LED market is extremely mature, with technologies that no longer have the same wide margins of technical improvement as at the beginning, and increasingly competitive, given the many players who have entered this market. Citizen, for example, has also added niche applications, such as museums and horticulture, to the main retail market. However, I believe that the distinctive element is the remote control of light, realized through the use of protocols such as DMX, Dali, Casambi. For this reason we have invested in Dalcnet, a dimmer manufacturer for these technologies, which has internal design and production, and works in synergy with Digimax, customizing many products: is the creation of a supply chain of lighting products interconnected with each other in the concept of ecosystem has allowed us to stand out in the market and offer real added value to our customers.

PROFESSIONAL LIGHTING SOLUTIONS

Let’s talk about the Coronavirus. How much is it impacting your business? Can you already predict the effects on Digimax results?

The effects of the pandemic will not end in a few months. Although it may seem paradoxical, this situation is offering us important opportunities. It will be crucial to be able to grab them before the competitors in the restart phase. For this reason we are further reviewing our internal organization, with the aim of accompanying technical and commercial support with an increasingly performing digital platform.

How do you see your company in the next 5 years? Do you imagine new suppliers, new products and new markets to approach? What will Digimax's future challenges be?

An entrepreneur like me, who has worked with passion and dedication for years, putting heart and positive energy into it, cannot fail to see the future well. Despite the setback brought by the pandemic, which has caught everyone unprepared, only the fastest will be able to recover and I am convinced that those who have always worked well and continued to do so, will be rewarded. In the next 5 years I see Digimax working and strengthening in the already defined strategies, with the current primary suppliers and, probably, someone new to be included in the two ecosystems, with innovative products and technical-commercial consultation, adequate stock levels to consolidate long term relationships with partners and with an ever increasing number of important customers.

GET IN TOUCH WITH DIGIMAX

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