Meet the Team: Alberto Colombo

In a new series of posts, we are publishing interviews showcasing our Delta team members. For our first feature, let’s meet Alberto Colombo, our Technical & Production Manager. Alberto has been with the company for 16 years. He was hired shortly after finishing school and his first job with Delta was carrying out verification calculations for the certification of pressure equipment, which included completing certification technical files and user and maintenance manuals, with an eye on product quality. This enabled him to work with customers during their visits to our workshop.

Thinking back on his career so far, Alberto fondly remembers the first start-up he participated in. Visiting a customer in the Czech Republic, he was both nervous and excited. This was the first time when he would see the machinery outside of our factory. While this took him out of his comfort zone, he was also very curious to visit a new place and to work with the equipment in its final environment. Learning on the job, he saw firsthand all the checks that must be done before switching on the equipment.

When asked, Alberto said, “The best thing [about working for Delta] is the fact that our work is tailor-made. Our customer’s requirements are always different from each other, which stimulates the team (especially me) to develop new solutions, particularly when the requests are unique.” This ability to meet customer demands is what he takes the most pride in here at Delta. He loves getting positive feedback from the field when our solutions exceed our customers’ expectations.

This all leads to what makes Delta great. Alberto (rightly so) associates competence and flexibility with the Delta brand and work ethic. According to Alberto, “The entire staff is focused on the success of the job, providing their experience, expertise, and availability. The atmosphere one breathes every day at Delta is one of great harmony, and this too contributes to the final result.”

Over 16 years, he sure has some stories to tell (though not all can be shared!). But a standout moment with an Italian customer illustrates what he loves about Delta. The head of maintenance called him on the Saturday afternoon before Easter. They were having a problem with a Delta automatic valve during their internal maintenance. At first, it looked like an operator error, but further inspection showed an issue with abnormal wear. Alberto engaged the customer’s maintenance team and Delta’s most experienced worker, and they had the problem solved that same evening. This allowed our customer to proceed with their production schedule without interruption and was especially impressive given the availability of the team during the Easter holidays. According to Alberto, “It was a very time-demanding activity, but it was solved thanks to the quality and dedication of the Delta team, which I have highlighted before.”

Outside of work, Alberto is focused on nurturing his two kids. He also relaxes by doing puzzles, playing the guitar, and going for a nice swim. We can’t wait to see what Alberto does both personally and professionally in the years to come!

Video Showing Extraction of Filtering Sheet

Delta is excited to share that we are delivering three Delta Nutsche Filter Dryer 200s to a customer in Spain. In the video below, where the three machines are situated together, we share the moment when the filtering sheet automatically moves from the bottom of the filter dryer. This extraction allows operators to seamlessly perform maintenance on the filtering sheet and the dryer itself. 

Delta at Pharmtech and Ingredients 2021

Delta is exhibiting at Pharmtech and Ingredients in Moscow! We’ll be at our booth until tomorrow (Nov. 25, 2021). If you’re at the show, please come see us to learn more about our solutions!

Solid Pharm (GRAFITOS Y METALES, S.L) Pavilion 2, Hall 8.

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Delta at Expoquimia!

Delta is exhibiting at Expoquimia in Barcelona! We’ll be at our booth until tomorrow (Sept. 17, 2021). If you’re at the show, please come see us to learn more about our solutions!

GRAFIMETAL (GRAFITOS Y METALES, S.L) Hall P3 – Level 0 Street A Stand 124

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Powder Mixer Delivery

While Delta is known for its sophisticated solutions in the form of reactors and dryers, we also develop machines that are appropriate for the latter part of an API process.

Here we have a powder mixer, which is a simple machine that is used to mix two or more powders together. This was delivered to an API producer in northern Italy, and it can process 3,000 liters of product at a time. 

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Pilot Nutsche Delivery

Delta recently delivered a small pilot Nutsche filter dryer for API production to a customer in Northern Italy. The machine is made of C-22, and is equipped with a glove box for high potent molecules. The dryer was also included our complete production line: a control system, heating system, and vacuum system.

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Pilot Delta Nutsche Filter Dryer out for delivery

Successful FAT for Horizontal Paddle Dryer

Delta performed a FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) of a 300-liter Horizontal Paddle Dryer. This particular machine will be used as a pilot unit for API production. The dryer is made of stainless steel, has a vacuum and control system, and – most importantly – has an automatic opening system for its front door.

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Delta Horizontal Paddle Dryer

Distillation Column Developed for Cosmic Research

Delta recently completed an exciting project with our parent company, Polaris S.r.l. We developed a distillation column for which Polaris focused on the process while Delta focused on the mechanical solutions and provided necessary construction features.

This particular vessel produces an exceptionally pure solvent. It was constructed for a pool of international research institutes preparing an experiment on the makeup of the universe to discover matter structure. Part of the project focuses on the production of LinearAlkil Benzene (LAB) with a purity of 1x10E-15. That means that there is one particle of impurity per 1,000,000,000,000,000 of LAB particles!

LAB is a solvent that is used in the experiment as a scintillator. When pure and stressed by sub atomic matter structure particles, it releases a signal based on photons.

The plant where this column is installed is located in a cave, deep underground in order to avoid disturbance from cosmic microwave background.

Originally, the distillation column had been designed to minimize dead area and maximize cleanability (which is typical for the API market.) The construction followed particular procedures to allow for the lowest possible pollution of the internal volume of the vessels. Delta designed very special trays and distributors, and provided very high quality finishing (polishing + electropolishing) on the interior vessels’ surfaces. While this is typical for the API market, it is unusual for such complex geometry.

Distributors
Distributors
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Trays assembly

Renewal ASME U Certificate

Delta Costruzioni Meccaniche strongly belives that customized high quality products are the key for the success.

To guarantee to our Customers a recognized quality system we keep updated our design and construction certifications. For this reason we have gotten the renewal of the Certificate of Authorization ASME U.

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