MSA Damper, an Italian medium-sized company, is designing and producing shock absorbers for railway application and rolling stock, supplying rail market a complete product range: shock absorbers for primary and secondary suspensions, yaw dampers, inter-car and pantographs dampers. In addition, the “tailor made dampers”, as the company defines itself, performs tests for shock absorbers and other purposes to deliver reliable products.
Gabriella Gardino, the Sales Manager Rollingstock, explains our readers more information about this sector and company’s activities and projects
How would you describe this sector’s involvement in the rail market?
The involvement is total because every locomotive or passenger train needs shock absorbers and rubber to metal antivibration parts which are essential to guarantee the safety and comfort of those travelling.
And imagine the potential of this market when you consider the number of trains in circulation and the new projects.
What are the biggest challenges a producer of such solutions is facing?
A shock absorbers manufacturer must first of all be able to meet the required specifications that depend on the type of train.
The lead times for the production of trains are rather long, but if one imagines how many elements are required, it is clear that each supplier must be able to meet deliveries without delays, and therefore being able to have a short lead time is certainly appreciated.
Not least, of course, to be economically competitive.
Please tell us about MSA Damper company and its activities in the rail market.
MSA Damper was founded in 2019 by a Group of Industrial Investors which acquired the 25 years know-how and technology of Mediterr Shock Absorbers S.p.A. The headquarters have been maintained in Asti in a completely high-tech, new and functional plant, to which many of the latest-generation production systems were added and technologies always aiming to meet our market and customer’s targets.
We produce shock absorbers and anti-vibration rubber metal components. This means that a good number of running trains are equipped with MSA shock absorbers or elements.
Where are you present on the after-market and OEM market? (In terms of regions or countries).
We are of course present in Italy and Europe as we supply the major train manufacturers, and we have developed a distribution network, which we are continuing to expand, with a presence in Australia and New Zealand, North Africa, South America and USA.
What is your plant’s capacity? Do you have plans to further develop production?
We are a 100% Italian growth-oriented medium-sized company. Therefore our production capacity is constantly growing. We currently produce 45-55.000 shock absorbers /year based on one shift.
What new technologies are available at the plant and to manufacture your products?
The main targets we set ourselves when we started our business were to improve the technical and quality aspects of the products.
From a technical point of view, which also brought benefits on the Purchasing and Production side, we decided to standardize the diameters of horizontal and vertical shock absorbers to 50 mm – fiftytech project.
From a quality point of view, we conducted an in-depth study to improve the seal. We devised a customized machine to test the seals and identified a new partner for the supplies.
What distinguishes you from other producers in the same sector?
We are a medium-sized company, as mentioned before, and therefore we can move quickly. We are a very motivated team and it is a challenge for us to be able to continue to grow as in the last years, i.e.
2022 – increase of 25% over previous year
2023 – increase of 40% over previous year
2024 – increase of 70% over previous year
When designing your products what elements do you consider providing your clients with the best solution?
We like to define ourselves as “tailor made dampers” as we are able to design customised shock absorbers.
How is the production process going? But also, the testing one?
An important aspect I have not yet mentioned is the shock absorbers regeneration.
This is a very important activity: the “overhaul” of our rebuildable dampers allows us to obtain various benefits both in terms of environmental and economic sustainability.
Besides ISO 9001:2015 quality management system
ISO/TS 22163:2017 (IRIS rev 03) Railway applications – Quality management system
EN 3834-2:2021 quality requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials
EN 15085-2:2020 Railway applications – Welding of railway vehicles and components
we are certified:
IS0 14001:2015 Environmental management system
IS0 45001:2018 Occupational health and safety management system
From the testing point of view, we always aim to guarantee our partners the delivery of reliable products with the best performances and optimized service intervals which are validated through our testing laboratory which can perform extreme life tests simulations including temperature tests at -50°.
This allows us to provide shock absorbers for use in areas with extreme environmental conditions.
You can find more about MSA Damper on www.msadamper.com
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