Italy always has been and always will be a manufacturing country. However, that does not mean that artisans and virtuosos of the most diverse materials and fabrics do not update their work processes in light of technological progress, developing machinery capable of making their own production, as well as that of their customers, serial.

The story of Worklinestore, a company based in Mondovì (Cuneo, Italy), half of which is run by women - its founders are Bruna Bosco and Carlo Ruggiero - is symbolic in this regard. Founded in 1997 as an embroidery factory, it has since moved into marketing graphic design equipment and customisation machines, from embroidery to pad printing, from screen printing to heat pressing and thermoforming machinery, until 2005 when it moved on to laser, which is still the company's core business.

Worklinestore has extended its reach over the years with branches in Rome and Turin since 2018. “Unlike our competitors”, says Davide Defend, manager of the Turin office, “we create machinery based on our own designs, which we then have made by our production unit in China. This makes us unique at national level”. Worklinestore’s flagship laser engraving and cutting machinery is the VisionTech series, which boasts features unique to this segment, such as its Safety Glass tempered glass door - a key protective detail as, unlike Plexiglass, glass does not risk burning - and its positioning camera, to name but a few. “Our passion for lasers”, highlights Defend, “has also led to us becoming the sole distributor of Epilog, a U.S. brand whose Laser Epilog Fusion Edge and Fusion Pro machines are the fastest in their category, as well as being configurable both in terms of power and type of source (fibre, CO2 or Dual Source)”.

The availability of laser technologies across all their versions means Worklinestore's target market is highly varied: customisers are artisans, carpenters, and leaders in both manufacturing and industry, which has long since unlocked the potential held by galvanometric markers, which can rapidly engrave on both plastic and metal. “While our customers may be varied, our technical support is consistent”, adds Davide Defend, “both in terms of machinery, consumables and laserable materials, which are always chosen based on their quality, safety and sustainability, from rubber for stamps to multilayer wood with a very low formaldehyde content”.

A perfect balance of craft heritage and innovation brought about by the changing times, Worklinestore prepares machines on request to make them compliant with the Industria 4.0 National Plan. “This is a specification developed by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development”, Defend points out, “which is based on the Budget Act of 2017 and is aimed at computerising industry. It provides a 50% tax credit for companies that meet at least 5 of the 7 requirements in the specifications. However much our equipment is in line with these requirements, whether or not it is certifiable depends on how individual customers in the company use it: all it takes is for the machines not to be configured in a network and compliance with the Industria 4.0 National Plan lapses”.

*Opening photo: The warehouse of Worklinestore's parent company in Mondovì, Cuneo