With over 50 years of experience, Friulsider designs and manufactures in-house safety and innovative fixings to meet all the demands and trends of the global market. The company’s product range is constantly expanding with innovated historic solutions and newly developed ones.
Friulsider has a stable distribution in over 30 European countries, reaching commercially over 60 countries worldwide. In Romania our products are distributed by Dedeman, main DIY retailer of the country and Friulsider’s commercial partner for many years.
Since 2022 Friulsider has been part of the Simpson Strong-Tie Group, world leader in structural solutions with an unparalleled passion for problem solving through skilful engineering and thoughtful innovation.
The two companies share many values but especially the focus towards product innovation and development.
What industries do you think will grow in the next years?
The wood construction sector is going to be a growing market in the next few years and this will definitely be a positive aspect for our company since the Simpson Strong-Tie Group is a world leader for providing products and technology for wooden structures.
This area of the market has already shown positive results for our business, all over Europe but also in Italy.
The Italian market has seen some changes due to the recent geopolitical events and to the cut of financial incentives that the government was providing to the building sector. There has been a drop in concrete constructions, and so some of our products have seen a reduction in the orders, while the wood sector keeps growing. This is what we are focusing our attention on at the moment also because with the recent acquisition we are expanding our portfolio introducing wood connectors from the parent company.
What solutions do you provide for these industries?
As part of the Simpson Strong-Tie Group we offer a wide range of solutions for the wood construction sector, focusing especially on the cross-laminated timber industry and its designers. All products are designed in every detail to provide high technical performances.
We have total control over the whole process: our solutions are designed and manufactured in-house, sold directly to our customers to whom we provide technical support.
Our catalogue includes wood connectors such as the BTALU, a concealed beam hanger designed to connect timber members together without being seen and so providing an aesthetically pleasing solution. This connector is often used together with the SDD, a self-drilling dowel for fastening of Glulam and CLT, designed to reduce the splitting of timber thanks to its unique point.
During 2024 we have expanded our catalogue dedicated to wood connectors, adding more than 100 new products to satisfy all our customers’ needs.
Friulsider also offers a vast range of anchors to be used on many different construction materials and this is the reason why our company is becoming the key logistics hub for this product category for the European continent.
Tell us about product innovations and what is their impact on customers?
For Friulsider innovation has always been a key word, we are continuously focusing on the development of new products to meet the changing and improving market needs and trends.
2024 has seen the launch of the innovative FM 753 evo, a new heavy duty through anchor totally redesigned to provide a 30% increase in performance and higher levels of versatility, which will also simplify uniformity checks after installation on the building sites.
As mentioned before, in the last year we have also been concentrating on expanding and strengthening our wood connectors offer.
Our CLT catalogue includes many different products from which certainly the HTT and the ABR255 stand out. HTT, Heavy Duty Hold Down, is a single piece folded, not welded, suited to provide high resistance to uplift forces, while ABR255 is a reinforced angle bracket developed specifically for CLT construction and capable of resisting extremely high shear loads.
We are also expanding our screw range with products such as the SSH (hexagon head connector screw) and the SSF (flat round head connector screw). Thanks to their particular head designs, these screws ensure full contact with the connector creating a firm assembly and provide peak performances, perfect to be used together with connectors where high load capability is required.
Both solutions feature a special zinc/nickel coating, Impreg®+, which makes them suitable also for exterior use since it guarantees a long-lasting rust-free effect.
Our customers benefit not only from top product performances but also from high durability levels.
How will you adapt your solutions for the future?
As pioneers in the application and the advancement of European and world standards, Friulsider’s products have obtained the highest certifications.
A very strong focus is put on solutions for seismic areas, as a matter of fact the whole Simpson Strong-Tie Group has been developing products and technologies for designing and building safer structures since 1956. The attention on this field is proven by the fact that Friulsider has been one of the first companies to certify a metallic anchor as earthquake-resistant and is constantly expanding its antiseismic product range.
The most recent certified product is the SHD, Seismic Hold Down, a unique hold down system for timber buildings in seismic areas. Available in three different sizes, the connector is designed in every small detail in order to provide very high levels of resistance and features a black powder coating which protects it against corrosion.
The SHD is often used together with the metal anchor ATS evo or the heavy duty through anchor FM-753 CRACK, both also earthquake-resistant certified.
How will these solutions benefit users?
Product certifications confirm and declare a certain level of quality which enables customers to feel safe and confident about the solution they are purchasing.
Also new tests and certificates allow our products to be used on different materials expanding the possibilities of application and so meeting the needs of the designers when choosing solutions for their drawings. Our HTT is one of the main examples since its characteristics provide flexibility in its uses but always maintaining strong performance standards.
Obviously, seismic certifications help building safer structures and respecting regulations which require the adoption of certain criteria. They represent a very important feature especially for constructions in specific countries which face high seismic risks.
In the last few months, we have also expanded our staff introducing the role of Field Engineering. Their job requires a very strong technical background since their purpose is to support designers in finding the best products for their projects.
How do you think the future will look like in your field in the following years?
In the following years the wood construction sector is expected to grow, especially due to the use of wood as the main construction material for multistore and public buildings.
Mass timber is considered more sustainable compared to steel and concrete in the construction industry due to its lower carbon footprint.
The European Union is pushing towards the so called “Near Zero Energy Buildings – NZEB”, buildings which require very low energy needs but have high energy performance, for which mass timber construction we think will play a key role.
So, we expect to see growing requests for newly introduced Simpson Strong-Tie products in our portfolio.
How do you overcome the new challenges and this more competitive environment?
Optimization of the supply chain and in-house production will become big factors in overcoming the new challenges arising from this competitive environment.
As a Group we are working on obtaining the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for our solutions, a step towards increasing awareness and at the same time focusing on reducing our environmental impacts.
To become even more competitive, we have recently expanded our production site and warehouse and the same is happening for other European branches of Simpson Strong-Tie. We are going to use newer machines to increase our production and change the warehouse layout to become more efficient.