Decsa | From stand-alone machines to a fully integrated line

Part of the Cofinair Group, Decsa has brought the production of sheet metal components for its cooling towers in-house by relying on Prima Power technologies. This gradual path led from stand-alone machines to a fully integrated, high-performance LBB line. 

A European leader in cooling technologies 

Evaporative cooling towers are key components in many industrial processes, ensuring efficient heat dissipation while supporting safe and reliable operations. They are used across a wide range of sectors, including food, metallurgical, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. One of the leading players in Europe is Decsa, now part of the Cofinair Group, with nearly a century of experience in ventilation and cooling technologies. 

Founded in the 1930s from an initial focus on industrial fans, the company progressively developed expertise in evaporative water cooling, leading to the creation of Decsa in 1975. Rapid growth soon made it an independent company, with production facilities established in Voghera. Today, as part of the Cofinair Group, Decsa has strengthened its international presence and ranks as the second-largest player in the European market. 

“Within the Cofinair Group,” says Valentino Zella, Managing Director of Decsa, “Decsa specializes in water recovery, cooling, and refrigerant gas condensation technologies. What truly sets us apart from competitors is our high degree of customization. This approach, combined with increased production capacity, has allowed us to consolidate our presence in Europe and expand into the Middle East and China.” 

Bringing production in-house 

Today Decsa employs 45 people and operates across 36,000 square meters, producing around 500 units per year with revenues of about €14 million. Its range includes open- and closed-circuit cooling towers and evaporative condensers for industrial refrigeration, all designed for efficiency, reliability and low environmental impact. 

“What all these products have in common,” the Managing Director explains, “is the intensive use of sheet metal, which represents about 95% of the materials used. We mainly process galvanized steel from 1.5 to 4 mm. Until a few years ago, we relied on subcontractors, but after joining the Cofinair Group we needed greater control over the entire production flow. So we brought sheet metal fabrication in-house, processing around 600 tons of sheet metal per year.” 

Relying on subcontractors posed significant issues: from uncertain lead times to delays and high transport costs, with a significant impact on CO2 emissions. 

“Setting up a sheet metal department from scratch was not easy,” Zella adds. “We had to train internal staff and adopt technologies we were not sufficiently familiar with. That’s when Prima Power opened our eyes to how much cutting and bending technologies had evolved.” 

Evolving through technology integration 

After analyzing its production needs with Prima Power, Decsa installed a Laser Genius+ 1530 with a 4 kW fiber source, an EBe 3320 FM panel bender and an eP 1030 press brake. 

“Installation and training were completed in record time,” says Zella. “Prima Power supported our operators from the very first production runs.” 

Early results exceeded expectations. “With the panel bender, we saw how effectively the technology handled galvanized steel, which in our case has a very high zinc content and can be difficult to bend. Thanks to the EBe 3320 and NC Express software, we were able to solve this issue.” 

With quality challenges addressed, the focus shifted to improving efficiency and reducing waste in production. 

“Once again, Prima Power provided the answer,” Zella explains.  
“We integrated the technologies already installed at our facility into a fully automated LBB (Laser, Buffering, Bending) line, significantly speeding up the entire sheet metal production process.” 

Laser cutting and panel bending go in-line 

Integrating stand-alone machines into fully automated production lines is one of the pillars of Prima Power’s strategy. In Decsa’s case, this meant connecting the Laser Genius+ 1530 to an eight-shelf Combo Tower and, via a PSR 2D robot, to the EBe 3320 FM panel bender within a fully automated LBB line. 

The Laser Genius+ 1530 combines high-speed, high-quality cutting with automated storage, sorting and bending. The Combo Tower ensures continuous, unmanned production, while the PSR 2D robot enables precise picking and stacking without interrupting the cutting process. The servo-electric EBe panel bender completes the cycle with fully automated, high-precision bending. 

“Once again,” Zella notes, “the integration took much less time than expected. We quickly saw improvements in lead times, scrap reduction and operator safety.” 

Decsa organizes its production in kits, a crucial approach given the high level of customization and small batch sizes. In this context, the LBB line enables grouping by material and automatic sorting, improving nesting efficiency and reducing scrap from 30% to 18%. Production times have also dropped significantly, from 4-5 minutes to just over a minute per component, while eliminating manual handling. 

An evolution destined to continue 

The increased production efficiency enabled by the LBB line perfectly aligns with Decsa’s future vision, which focuses on further growth while maintaining strong customization capabilities, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability. “These growth objectives,” Zella emphasizes, “are shared by both Decsa and the Cofinair Group, and given the results achieved, Prima Power will continue to play a key role.” 

Based on an article originally published on Lamiera magazine in October 2025.