Italiano 
When faced with changes in the global marketplace, some businesses choose to expand their scope. Others have done the opposite: they have narrowed their focus, refined their market positioning or found a material, process or skill to invest everything in. Scussel Eyewear falls into the second group.
Based in Agordo, in the heart of an area where production is still a way of life, the company gradually decided to focus on a niche sector: titanium eyewear. Not adding it to its current offering but making it its core business. Just titanium and just for other brands. This choice redefined its way of working and its place in the supply chain.
Barbara Scussel and her son Nicola don’t beat about the bush: “We used to work with a number of different materials but the demand for titanium was so great, we decided to focus on just that, so we could guarantee the highest possible quality for our clients”.
A story that goes back a long way
The story of Scussel Eyewear began long before it decided to specialise in titanium. When Barbara was sixteen, she started work as a factory worker in Agordo. In 1989, she established her own individual company and then in 1992 created the current company with her husband, Carlo.
“We’re still here”, says Barbara. Those three words sum up more than thirty years of hard work, transition, adjustments and steady growth. Their son Nicola joined the business in 2001 and today he is in charge of the equipment and the technical side of things.
From its early days in their garage at home, this family-run business – whose focus is on quality rather than quantity – has grown steadily and now employs about a dozen people. Before the shift to titanium, its core business was soldering eyewear parts and it was this technical background that led to the decision in 2009 to develop a new area of specialisation.
2009: a leap of faith into the unknown
When Barbara and Nicola look back on those early days of working with titanium, they don’t sugarcoat it: “It was a leap of faith into the unknown”. It’s the best way they have of describing what it was like to branch out into a material with such different characteristics, in a marketplace that was changing, and without being able to rely on techniques they had learnt over the years. They decided to chart a different course in the world of contract manufacturing, entering a demanding niche market where technique and expertise are everything.
At the beginning, they explain, it was tough. “We had to rethink the way we worked. Completely change our mindset”. Rules, equipment, attention to detail, precision, choice of materials, consistent performance all had to be redefined. Whereas before there had always been an element of tolerance, that was no longer the case with titanium.
Titanium: light to wear, tough to process
“Titanium is a fascinating yet tricky material, it has to be handled with care: it demands method, attention to detail, precision and continuity. For flawless assembly, parts have to fit together perfectly.”
They are soldered using electromagnetic induction, involving an electric discharge between a top and bottom electrode that produces very high temperatures. Even the slightest imperfection can become an issue because it’s not easy to correct afterwards. “The whole process calls for a specific approach with different tools, lubricants and, most important of all, the utmost precision.”
But it is these demanding technical measures that give titanium its value: when processed properly, it becomes a lightweight, elastic and comfortable material, as well as being hypoallergenic. “Sometimes you can’t even feel it. Once you’ve worn titanium glasses, you won’t want to wear anything else”.
When the project goes into production
“We’ve always been contract manufacturers, it’s what we’re specialised in”: they believe that working for other brands does not play a secondary role but brings manufacturing expertise in its own right. Scussel Eyewear is directly involved in nearly every stage of the production process, only outsourcing when strictly necessary, like coating for instance.
In fact, when handling a material like titanium, dialogue with other specialists in the production chain is crucial. This is exactly what has happened with D.F., which is involved in the company’s projects from the early stages to assess feasibility and come up with technical solutions. “Whenever you ask them something, they already have the answer. We just give them a call and they get it”. This technical partnership began fifteen years ago when Scussel Eyewear embarked on this new venture.
Up for a challenge
The difficulty of processing titanium reduces the margins of error and challenges your problem-solving abilities. “It’s an ongoing challenge”, say Barbara and Nicola. “We’re more focused on the result than how long it takes. We don’t give up easily”.
This is a quality that still gives Italian manufacturing the edge: our determination not to give up until we have found a solution to the problem. Even when the way forward is not immediately obvious. Even when others decide to throw in the towel.
