Steven Loricco

“Amazing to see my 3D designs as real-world machines.”

My Unisign story: Steven Loricco, who came to work for us as a mechanical engineer ten years ago. His roots are part Belgian, part Italian. In days past, his grandfather moved from Italy to Belgium to work in the Waterschei mine in Genk. His other grandfather was also employed there, working above ground as a draughtsman. And later on, Steven’s father also found employment at the mine, as a service technician. Engineering and draughtsmanship run in Steven’s family, so it is hardly surprising he came to be a mechanical engineer at Unisign.

Ford

So, how did Steven find his way from Genk to Panningen? Steven: ‘Genk used to have a lot of industry around the Ford factory, with lots of companies supplying the car assembly line. That industry collapsed when Ford closed down in 2014. While I was studying electromechanics at the technical college in Diepenbeek, a friend told me to apply for jobs in the Netherlands. Better employment opportunities meant I had a better chance of landing a job, so I applied at Unisign. I had not heard of them before. Now I’ve worked here for a while, I’m certain that there’s only a handful of Dutch companies that build CNC machines to this high standard.’

Classmates

Timothy Taramaschi applied for the position of mechanical engineer at the same time Steven did. Steven laughs: ‘That’s a good story actually. Timothy and I go a long way back, as we went to school together. His family has Italian origins too. When I came for my interview, I happened to spot his name on the visitors’ list in reception. I rang him at the time to joke that he was trying to steal my job. Now we’ve been working together for 10 years.’

Client-specific

The Unisign engineering department, which is also known as the drawing office, has 12 engineers, including Steven. He and his colleagues are responsible for creating and developing machine designs. Steven: ‘In my ten-year career here, I have never designed the same machine twice. That’s because our great strength lies in tailoring a CNC machine to each customer’s specific needs. The fundamentals of each machine are the same. Customers can then add options, such as a fully fledged loading or transport system.’

Turning 3D into reality

Working from a basic outline, Steven sets up rough 3D models for each of his designs. Detailed 3D models follow once the calculations are ready. As soon as all of these are validated, 2D and assembly drawings are generated for his colleagues in the work planning and assembly departments. Steven: ‘At college, we’d use 3D software called Inventor. I loved working with this and we use it at Unisign too. What’s so good about it is that I actually get to see my 3D machine designs come to life. Unisign builds the whole CNC machine that my colleagues and I design in-house. How unique is that?’

Challenging projects

Steven and his colleagues conceived and developed a loading concept for a Chinese customer who ordered six UNITWIN machines. Steven: ‘This set-up filled a whole hall with CNC machines and loading systems. The products that needed to be machined, which were front axles for trucks, had to be automatically distributed and loaded into our CNC machines, from a single central location. The machined parts then had to be automatically collected again in a central location.’

His current project involves a Unimast machine. This is a dedicated CNC machine for machining mast channels for forklift truck. Steven is designing a transport system based on the customer’s requirements. ‘The forklift truck masts need to be transported to a sawing machine that cuts them to the required length. The masts are then transported to the Unimast machine. After machining, they need to be taken to a specific location in the factory hall. I’m designing this entire manufacturing line together with a number of colleagues. With most suppliers, a customer would just buy a CNC machine but Unisign actually takes our collaboration with the customer a lot further.’

Assembly feedback

After Steven had designed his very first machine, he was given the opportunity to travel to France, to witness the machine being assembled on-site. ‘That was a special occasion. I got to observe how colleagues approach the assembly and what their experiences and challenges are while they do this. The 3D model on my screen obviously shows everything fitting together perfectly but this is not always true in practice. In those cases, it’s good to get the benefit of the knowledge and experience of the assembly engineers, as it allows us to further improve future machines. Their feedback has great value for me, so I always try to obtain and incorporate this in my drawings after each project.’

Director as a sounding board

Steven greatly values the open and informal working culture at Unisign. ‘I’ve got great colleagues who are ready to help whenever I need them. This includes regular sparring sessions with our director, Paul van Ruth. If there’s an issue I can’t resolve, I’ll discuss things with him and together we’ll find a solution. His background is also in engineering and he obviously has a wealth of experience too.’

How would Steven pitch Unisign to prospective colleagues? ‘Unisign is a manufacturing company unlike any other. You’ll have lots of freedom and responsibility here, which is great for job satisfaction. But your work has to be of a good standard. The bar is set high.’

Football fanatic

Most of Steven’s free time is spent on the next most important thing in life – football. ‘I’m a keen supporter of KRC Genk, the best squad in Belgium. I try to attend every home game with my dad and twin brother.’ Steven laughs: ‘I did play myself for a while but I wasn’t good enough.’

June 3, 2024