Elan Featured in the 79th Issue of S News.
Under the headline “ELAN: Putting Relationships at the Heart of Business,” we present the full interview with our Sales Director, Antonio M. Sciarrillo Brancalassi.
Since the end of 2024, you have been the new Sales Director of ELAN, a highly dynamic company with a long-standing history. What is it like working at ELAN?
I’m happy and proud to be part of this project. ELAN is a well-established business that has been present in the market for quite some time. From the very beginning, I noticed a strong tradition of specialization built over nearly 40 years of activity, which is still reflected today in the appreciation and trust shown by both professionals and customers toward our products. At ELAN, we place great emphasis on building strong relationships with our clients: the sales team I have the privilege to lead offers quick and professional support, along with a “five-star” customer service experience.
Throughout my career, I’ve always worked in the B2B sector and, regardless of the market, I understand the expectations of professionals who, when dealing with their suppliers, need timely and accurate responses to support their daily business activities.
What distinguishes your sales organization, then?
Ready availability, professionalism, and expertise. I believe these are the three concepts that best summarize our positioning in the market. Our organizational structure is unique and, like anything else, comes with strengths and challenges. The careful planning of internal processes within our sales department allows us to stand by our clients—even when they are over 5,000 kilometers away.
We chose to focus on added value by centralizing client touchpoints, rather than passing the costs of a territorial sales force onto the market. Getting in touch with ELAN today means having direct access to a dedicated professional with whom you can share opportunities and solve challenges together, almost as if sitting face-to-face. Each client can rely on a dedicated ELAN expert who understands their needs, desires, and—most importantly—is able to decode the specific nature of their business and provide the best possible support.
That said, geographic distance is precisely the main challenge I mentioned earlier. Business is, first and foremost, about relationships. That’s why I’ve placed particular emphasis on communication and on developing personal and personalized relationships between our organization and each client. I must say that the members of our team are doing an excellent job in this regard.
Could you explain this concept of communication a bit more? It seems to be a very important aspect.
Our clients must enjoy speaking with us; they should see us as a serious and reliable partner, someone they can engage with on equal footing. It is our responsibility to foster dialogue and relationships by always offering solutions that align with their expectations.
We aim to convey what I like to call the “partnership mindset”—that level of commercial relationship that goes beyond a simple exchange of products and services. It evolves into a close and trusted collaboration in which both parties place strong mutual confidence in each other.
Today’s market is particularly challenging for a Made in Italy manufacturer like us, as we face an increasing number of new competitors and receive requests that are often outside of standard parameters.
Despite this, we feel fully capable of handling the complex demands presented by these evolving national and international scenarios.
What are ELAN’s additional strengths?
We have the advantage of being able to carefully select our raw materials, choose our suppliers, and manage our production activities with great flexibility. Our large warehouse with ready-to-ship inventory allows us to meet even very specific customer needs, without compromising on quality or speed of service for our products.
Having a consistently high volume of stock gives us a significant competitive edge: on one hand, we retain the ability to develop new business lines, both in Italy and abroad, dedicating all necessary commercial and production resources to pursue new opportunities. On the other hand, we maintain a high level of perceived reliability among our clients, who know they can count on us for a positive response regarding the availability of nearly any product we manage—whether that’s certified fire-resistant cables, network cables for specific applications, or AGM and lithium batteries.
Looking more broadly at the market as a whole, what are the relevant trends currently driving it—and those you believe will shape its future?
At ELAN, we’re observing greater market attention toward increasingly advanced technological applications. The ongoing evolution is significantly contributing to the definition of new trends for special cable manufacturers like us, driving demand for data transmission solutions that are ever more reliable and adaptable to diverse installation environments.
Undoubtedly, network protocols based on TCP/IP are becoming increasingly widespread—even in the security and automation sectors in which we specialize. However, it’s also interesting to note how more traditional BUS-based solutions continue to attract strong market interest, largely due to their simplicity and flexibility.
The RS485 protocol offers numerous advantages, especially in industrial and automation environments, but also in civil applications such as BMS, home automation, and HVAC. Thanks to differential transmission, it ensures high noise immunity and reliable communication even over long distances—up to 1200 meters. The ability to interconnect multiple devices (up to 32 nodes in standard applications) on a single network makes it highly scalable and cost-effective, reducing wiring complexity and overall installation costs. Additionally, its simple hardware implementation allows for quick and robust integration into complex systems, where communication security and efficiency are essential.
ELAN’s RS485 cables stand out from the market offering for their robustness and durability, ensured by high-quality materials and effective shielding. Our double-jacketed models are also resistant to external agents, making them suitable for harsh environments. By combining high performance with an excellent quality-to-price ratio, they offer a cost-effective and reliable solution for automation and control applications across a wide range of uses.
Lastly, ELAN cables comply with national standards, ensuring compatibility with a broad array of devices and systems and making installation and integration into existing networks significantly easier.