Brescia - Italian sock knitting machine builder Busi Giovanni will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2018.
As the demands of the sock and hosiery markets continue to evolve, Italian sock knitting machine builder Busi Giovanni has made considerable advances in developing new technology and upgrading its existing models.
Busi Giovanni Srl was founded by the late Giovanni Busi in 1958 aged just 32. The company initially modified sock knitting machines by installing a patented device of its own invention (BREBUS) - converting machines for women's socks to produce terry sports socks.
In 1967, Mr. Busi designed and constructed the first Busi single-cylinder sock machine with rib needles in the dial. From then on, production was almost completely dedicated to manufacturing machines for the production of true rib socks, allowing the company to stake a claim as the most experienced in the market with this type of machine.
Born in 1960, the late Gianmario Busi began to assist his father in 1986, collaborating in the design of new machinery following his graduation with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Brescia.
The following years saw the development of a range of new technologies for the global hosiery and sock knitting sector emerge from the family firm with Gianmario completing the creation of the first electronic selection model of Busi socks machines in 1986 and the first model with full electronic control in 1990.
Under Gianmario's technological direction, the company continued to achieve a number of important milestones including in 1998 when it acquired the LIN-TOE patent, the first toe-closing solution available on the market; 2005, when Busi developed the Rimaglio, system, which is still regarded as the most advanced system for loop-by-loop linking of the toe of the sock; and 2015, when Gianmario acquired the European Patent for the Busi Twin Layer machine.
Further ground breaking innovations followed such as the the Rimaglio 2.0 toe-closing device, the J-Terry, Doppio and Doppio Terry machines as well as the state of the art medical range.
With Giovanni's and Gianmario's passing, the family and industry have lost great innovators, both men renowned across the industry. Their legacy though is a company in an extremely strong position, expertly led by Gianmario's sister Catina in a management role, Gianmario's son Leonardo, who supervises the technical and production departments, and the highly experienced Michele Castagna who takes care of commercial, export and marketing aspects.