Agr International, Inc., Butler, Pa., opened the doors to its newly expanded sales, training and service facility in Montecchio, Italy.
“Increased business in the region, especially North Africa and the Middle East, required us to consider additional space to handle our operations,” says Marco Palma, director of Agr Europe S.R.L. “We decided that it was time to move to larger quarters in order to support our customers to the level they expect from Agr. Furthermore, the old facility was limiting our ability to grow our services. We now have that capability.”
The new sales and service facility is located in the Montecchio industrial estate, an industrial park strategically located 15 minutes from Parma, midway between Milan and Bologna in the heart of the Italian packaging industry. The 1,100-square-meter facility includes 900 square meters dedicated to service and support operations for Agr equipment and another 200 square meters housing the sales offices, conference area and training center.
This new facility also offers a number of amenities, including the latest high-speed internet and tele-communication equipment as well as a demonstration show room that displays Agr’s newest and most popular products. The center also includes dedicated facilities for component/small equipment repair, refurbishment and re-manufacturing of legacy equipment, calibration and re-certification, equipment training and an expanded parts warehouse.
“Agr values its European customers,” adds Robert Cowden, chief operating officer. “That said, Agr is increasing its European presence and support. In addition to providing a regional center for our sales and service professionals, the site will serve as an equipment showroom, including Agr's most recent product innovation, the Sampling Pressure Tester 2. The addition of the equipment will enable our European team to conduct demonstrations and evaluations in a manner more convenient for our customers. This is part of our global initiative to move closer to customers in order to provide timely, competitive service and support.”
Services offered at the center include depot repairs and rebuild services for all Agr laboratory products, for both the glass and plastic container markets, as well as the ability for customers to have their equipment in need of more extensive repairs shipped to the center.
The new center also boasts a large conference room and training section well suited for training programs of all types. Future programs include high-level training on Agr equipment as well as a new offering of American Glass Research training seminars.
“Over the years, Agr Europe SRL has had numerous requests from customers in the region to hold the seminars in this area, but we were limited by the space available in the former facility. The new site eliminates this problem,” adds Palma. “Further, this site is a convenient and easily accessible location for Agr customers in Southern Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. We believe the availability of these seminars in Italy will be of great interest.”
