A pioneer
OCEM dates back to 1926 when a pioneer of precision mechanics – Ugo Giannelli sr. – established it with the help of some members of his family when he was only 22.
His father, who worked for the public lighting company of Florence, wanted him to become a lawyer or a doctor, but the war hardship called young Ugo’s education to a halt when he was in the 4th grade of the Grammar School.

The dark days
At the beginning and up to 1940, OCEM was dedicated to products of fine mechanics, but when WWII forced the whole Italian industry to produce whatever needed by the Italian Army, they had to conform to it. At that time all OCEM workers were exempt from military service because of the expertise degree they had reached in precision mechanics.

Resurgence
At the end of WWII, in early 1946, the inventive and quick-witted Ugo Giannelli quickly realized how to make his company activity become whatever could have been useful to rebuild a nation that had been completely destroyed by the war. They started by servicing truck motors and textile machines, which was only possible thanks to a small group of talented workers that remained intact.
In 1947 OCEM opens again for good.

The genius
In 1953 Ugo was struck with a great intuition: Italy had to be rebuilt and it was necessary to have machines capable to produce precast building products - especially floor and wall tiles - at reduced cost.
The real stroke of genius was the use of the compressed air which allowed the delicate movements necessary in the handling of such products. Moreover, pneumatic systems are notoriously less costly and easier to service than hydraulic systems.
The first experiments, although looked at with great scepticism, were immediately successful and the first machines were soon put on the market. They were the world’s first presses capable to produce high quality tiles with low production and maintenance costs, due to the extreme simplicity of the pneumatic systems they were based on. They were some sort of “egg of Columbus” of the tile-producing machines.

The rise
Since 1953 OCEM has then been committed to manufacturing increasingly powerful and versatile tile-producing presses while keeping them simple and easy to use, right up to today’s models which are real jewels in their field. The first modern complex of the factory was built in 1958. Then new extensions of the OCEM 2 hangars were built in 1973 and 2003. Today these buildings are used for the construction of the electrowelded parts and the machining of the big cast iron frames and the assembling of the biggest presses, such as those with a pressing force from 600 up to 1500 tons. The use of compressed air has remained unchanged in time for all those operations that need particular care in the production cycle. Such devices are today supported by sophisticated digitally-operated systems that can reach previously unthinkable quality and quantities.
Today Ocem has three wide buildings, in two different facilities where there are about 70 employees including operative, technical and administrative staff.

The continuation
At Mr Ugo sr.’s death (1968) his son Giuliano took over his place, and was later teamed up by his own son Ugo jr.
The Giannelli family still runs the business themselves, as they can count on help from all members of the family, as well as on a sizeable number of employees, among them engineers, specialised technicians including an employee who has been recently appointed Master of Work. All this confirms the company's constant efforts to maintain the highest standards of technical excellence and commercial reliability, both of which have long been widely recognised.

OUR MOTTO IS:

MORE ROBUST, MORE RELIABLE, MORE AFFORDABLE