Miller Magazine Issue 146 February 2022

71 TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM MILLER / FEBRUARY 2022 Miller Magazine has engaged in an exclusive interview with Luca Celeghini and Martino Celeghini to learn a bit more about the company’s mission, future plans, and evo- lution of the industry. I would like to direct my first question to Mr. Luca Celeghini (LC). You have a successful career. Your com- pany has become a global player in grain logistics, grain and food processing. What triggered your ambition for this inspiring success journey? What is your philosophy as an entrepreneur? LC: I have been passionate about the design of grain storage silos and handling equipment as basic infrastruc- ture in developing countries since university time, and later as a technical manager, then the managing direc- tor in the family company in the early seventies. When I moved to Germany in the nineties as co-investor in the privatization of the former DDR state company PETKUS, I have contributed to modernizing the company struc- ture and expanding its product portfolio with conveying equipment, silos, steel structures, and continuous dryers based on my previous experience and technical knowl- edge. Finally, taking over the silo manufacturing compa- ny SIMEZA in 2016 the challenge was to improve their products to cater to the top level of the market, as well as to develop the industrial design of components and to increase the degree of automatization in manufac- turing in order to be competitive with the world leader in the branch. Quality and reliability of the components, as well as the architectural design of the industrial plant, was always the scope of my work, whereas transparency and frank cooperation with colleagues and clients was always my natural attitude. Petkus has become one of the largest seed and grain technology companies in the world under your and your partner’s leadership. Now, you decided to go individual ways. Why was such a decision needed? LC: Today’s business runs at high speed and requires strong specialization to deal with complex projects. The orig- inal strategic vision and the operative approach dating back to 1994 when I took over PETKUS with my former partner, are no longer valid. The design and the performance of an industrial grain terminal, particularly of a port grain terminal, as well as of a deep processing plant, have little in common with the design and the performance of a seed processing plant, therefore, we decided to split the company accordingly. CES- CO was created to focus on financing, design, procurement, erection, and commissioning of large industrial grain storage and processing plants, combining the high professional capa- bilities of the management and employees and taking good care of the customer as is typical for a family-run company.