Tecno Service and Thermo King, a vigorous union that has lasted for eleven decades
Published on Venerdì, 09 Aprile 2021 09:05 | | 
| Visite: 4460
| Visite: 4460
Tecno Service and Thermo King, a vigorous union that has lasted for eleven decades
Claudio Gallini
The company Tecno Service S.r.l., located in Piacenza – North West of Italy - has represented on the national territory for over fifty years one of the most important European concessionaires of the American company Thermo King Corporation, world leader in transport temperature control; an emblem in the shape of a superimposed "T" and "K" that has made a lot of talk recently having accepted - and won - the challenge for the development of a system that is able to ensure air and sea transport - at a controlled temperature - of Covid-19 vaccine.
The actual headquarter of Tecno Service in Piacenza - Italy (picture by Claudio Gallini)
The actual headquarter of Tecno Service in Piacenza - Italy (picture by Claudio Gallini)
Thermo King has in fact been offering the best solutions on the market for over a century about the control of the temperature regarding goods stored in vans, trucks, semi-trailers, railway wagons, air and sea containers, but also in intermodal structures in addition to the well-known systems of heating, ventilation and air conditioning for the carriages of railway wagons, buses and subways.
The systems developed by Thermo King actually improve the quality of life of each of us through the safeguarding and attention to the products that are fundamental to people all over the globe: the food we eat (fresh, frozen or deep-frozen), drugs, electronic components, musical instruments, flowers, paints and much more.
The refrigeration and temperature control technology developed by these machines - distributed, installed and repaired also by Tecno Service from Piacenza - protects all heat-sensitive products in a totally independent way from the external environmental conditions of the compartment in which they are contained and in the same way guarantees the comfort to travellers from all over the world.
In the mid-sixties of the last century, the primordial Tecno Service of Enrico Bonvini senior was located in the Piacenza’s midtown, who, in addition to exercising the profession of auto - electrician, was the official distributor of braking systems supplied by the American giant called Westinghouse Electric.
The first Thermo King sold by Tecno Service, the model MW (picture by Claudio Gallini)
Westinghouse Electric, absolute leader in the electricity and transport sector, had also merged in those years the Thermo
King first mentioned and founded in 1938 in Minneapolis by the genius of Joe Numero and his friend Fred Jones.
In 1964 Westinghouse proposed to Mr. Bonvini an innovative product for the Italy of those times: an independently powered truck cooler that made it possible to carry perishable goods at a controlled temperature over long distances; until then, refrigerated transport took place by placing blocks of ice in the van that had very limited cooling autonomy, no temperature control and the potential damage to the goods.
Enrico Bonvini's farsightedness and pioneering made it possible to bring Thermo King products to Italy for the first time and from that moment on, especially for the food transport sector, a new world opened up, a better and safer way to transport food; goods that we find every day on supermarket shelves.
At that time, the refrigeration units, built in Minneapolis (US), were packed in wooden crates, loaded onto a truck and taken to the port of New York where embarked, they reached Genoa (IT) and from there they arrived by road in Piacenza where there was the first and only Thermo King dealer in Italy, Tecno Service.
Around the seventies the reins of Tecno Service passed into the hands of Franco Bonvini, Enrico's son, who was commissioned by Thermo King Europe, which had recently arrived in the old continent with a factory in Ireland, to appoint the entire distribution and Italian service network; it was the year 1974.
In the photo we identify a part of the current team that makes up Tecno Service
In the photo we identify a part of the current team that makes up Tecno Service
Since then many steps have been taken, from the garage located in the midtown of Piacenza, Tecno Service has expanded by first opening a large workshop in the industrial area of the same town and then, since 2003, it has further expanded with the opening of the current headquarter, always on the outskirts of the city, near the Piacenza Logistic Center.
Tecno Service now has a total area of 10,000 m2 with a workshop of over 2,000 m2, offices, training rooms, spare parts warehouse and an appreciable yard, operating the sale, installation and maintenance of refrigeration units of Thermo King of course.
Tecno Service is also the exclusive reseller of Thermo King original spare parts necessary for the repair of the machines described, also providing a 24 / 24h on-call service for assistance in the event of an emergency.
The Piacenza company is also a test centre authorized by the Ministry of Transport for A.T.P. and for the calibration of data loggers, necessary and mandatory operations for vans used for transport.