OVER 50 YEARS OF SOGO

The existence of the company SOGO S.p.A. is owed to the Melgrati family, which has always been an entrepreneur in the furniture and real estate sectors, with an eye always attentive to the quality of the goods and services offered to the market. In 1967 Luciano Melgrati, one of the four brothers, decided to venture into the field of production of technical rubber articles. These are the historical years of full industrial development. The large industrial sector, now on the path of the automation of the production process, records high rates of increase in industrial production. The beginning of the transition from mechanization to automation promotes the formation of a new layer of highly skilled workers, that in the nascent SOGO are highly employed: technical, administrative workers and blue-collars, all together, participate in a collective work; a common goal that requires preparation and a spirit of responsibility. Thus a large company was born, where the individual and collective histories of the human resources are intertwined in the company’s production history.

The SOGO plant is located in Frosinone, in the heart of Ciociaria. The construction of the “Autostrada del Sole”, which runs throughout the province, gives a significant boost to the emergence of new industries, including the SOGO itself. Initially the company concentrates its efforts in the manufacture of technical rubber articles for the pharmaceutical sector, for the construction sector, and for the automotive sector. The healthy madness and the pioneering intuition of Luciano Melgrati in throwing himself into an initiative so new and far from the previous entrepreneurial initiatives of the family, is so successful. Creative madness that after 50 years continues in the entrepreneurial spirit of the Sole Director, Luca Melgrati, and in all the resources that support him with the continued conviction of being able to grow in a highly competitive sector such as the transformation of raw materials.

The good performance of the business allows subsequently to experiment another field of expansion: the railway infrastructure sector. Europe can count on hundreds of thousands of kilometers of railway: so, between the construction of new sections and maintenance interventions, the idea is winning. Moreover, the great ductility of the raw material, from which the mixture is obtained, also allows a further enlargement of the areas of interest towards the industrial sector: this is how the creation of items for household appliances, nautical and various accessories begins. The enormous familiarity gained with the mixture and the rubber molding process by the SOGO technicians makes it possible to market these products, thus becoming real items for sale. The blend – which has been produced internally since the beginning of this experience – thus becomes an element of uniqueness towards the competition.

The constant growth gives the possibility to open a second plant: in 1998 the Sogo di Muggiò was born, a few kilometers from Milan, a strategic point to facilitate relations with the main European customers. There is also a network of technical and commercial resources in Italy and in Europe, made up of professionals, prepared both from a commercial and technical point of view, to respond promptly to customer requests. The Muggiò plant was subsequently closed in 2006, in order to optimize and concentrate all the technical-productive activities in the main plant in Frosinone. The excellent level of organization has allowed the company to constantly acquire new customers – both in Italy and in Europe – in the three main areas of expertise: Automotive, Railway and “Other Industry”. The current trend is still positive.

In 2006 SOGO initiated an important activity of “Business Process Re-Engineering”, which sees the launch of important investments at the same time for the modernization of the production and laboratory machinery. On the human resources side, a phase of selection and research of engineering skills is started with a view to supporting future co-design. These investment policies and modernization activities have allowed the company to achieve important goals in the following years. In 2008 SOGO obtained the qualification to become direct supplier of the Volkswagen Group, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Bentley, Lamborghini. In 2011 it also achieved important milestones in the railway sector: the supply for the German Railways and the Russian Railways began. 2013 is the year of the Morocco ONCF railways. In 2015 the collaboration began as a technological partner at the new “Alfa Romeo” and “Maserati” platforms. The range of products offered through the supply of molded plastic components is also widened.

SOGO LAB has been established and developed thanks to considerable investments in technologies and a highly specialized staff, it has been specially set up at the Frosinone production unit. Anyone can interact with the idea, propose solutions or improvements, cooperate in defining a project: the best solutions and results are achieved with the active involvement of our customers.

As a proof of its great entrepreneurial enthusiasm, in October 2019 SOGO SpA accomplished a major renovation of its production site and made strong investments also in regard to the laboratory. This is in order to offer the market and its customers more and more a better service and a higher quality of products. The participation of customers, suppliers and local and national authorities in the inaugural event was very strong, which was also attended by Senator Maurizio Gasparri.

Starting from 2020 – thanks to entrepreneurial efforts, investments in R&D and technical skills – SOGO S.p.A. is able to produce and supply expanded rubber components (EPDM and NEOPRENE) for the railway and industrial sectors.

30 March 2022: SOGO S.p.A. opened a technical sales office in Germany.
SOGO S.p.A. has been a supplier of the FIAT Group for over 50 years. 

With the merger of the FIAT Group with PSA, various brands were acquired including the historic German brand OPEL;

This led to the decision by the management of SOGO to open a technical-commercial office in Bonn with the main objective of supporting any requests by the purchasing and technical offices of the STELLANTIS Group and continuing the constant growth in the automotive German market