In an increasingly changing and competitive global economic context, the companies that truly grow are not only those that know how to defend their position on the market, but those that know how to question themselves, broaden their perspectives and renew their positioning. Evolving a company does not just mean introducing new technologies or expanding turnover margins: it above all means making sensible and constructive decisions.
Several studies in recent years have shown how essential the ability to apply multidisciplinary logics is in the growth of businesses. According to research by World Economic ForumFor example, critical and creative thinking represents one of the top three strategic skills for today’s and tomorrow’s business leaders. A clear example of how these principles can be embodied in a concrete reality is the story of Inglas, a Tuscan company that has been working glass in an extraordinary way for over fifty years, combining craftsmanship and innovation, manual skill and technology, intuition and method.
Curved glass and perspective: the history of Inglas
The history of Inglas began in 1974, when three partners (Giuseppe Romagnoli, Ivano Pratelli and Nedo Buzzichelli) decided to found a small artisan glassworks in the heart of the province of Pisa, in Ponticelli, a hamlet of Santa Maria a Monte. The context is that of an Italy that is growing rapidly, where manufacturing makes space among European excellences and where craftsmanship, if well guided, can transform itself into a strategic lever. From the beginning, the company’s goal was not simply to “make glass”, but to give shape to a different idea of a product: personalized, durable, of superior quality.
The first technological breakthrough came in 1988: Inglas was one of the first companies in Italy to produce heated curved glass, an intuition that changed the trajectory of the company, projecting it towards design, commercial refrigeration and interior decor. The machinery evolves, the quality grows, but the approach remains artisanal: each glass is a unique piece, designed and made to measure. Over the years, the company’s reputation consolidated: Inglas works for large commercial chains, designs glass partitions and stairs, creates counters for pastry shops and ice cream parlors, supports architects and designers in their most ambitious projects.
But it is in the nautical sector that it finds one of its boldest and most brilliant expressions. The curved glass for boats is a masterpiece: the curvature of the glass, which requires millimetric thermal control and extreme precision in the moulds, becomes the company’s distinctive feature. Inglas glass is starting to appear on the most prestigious yachts (Azimut, Ferretti, Riva) and to dialogue with naval architecture in a balance between beauty and resistance.
Meanwhile, the team grows, the skills expand, and the management passes into the hands of Graziana Abbruzzese and Giacomo Romagnoli. Abbruzzese started in the company as an employee and built a leadership based on dedication, passion and long-term vision, while Romagnoli, a man of vision, was able to combine talent and passion in every project linked to Inglas Vetri. The closeness of both to the company mission translates into a constant commitment to enhancing innovation and guiding the team towards increasingly ambitious goals
A growth that also passes through cooperation
At the heart of Inglas’ growth there are not just numbers, patents or machinery: there are people. This is the real lever, the silent but powerful engine that has allowed the company to consolidate, diversify and tackle new markets. In a sector like that of curved glass processing, where manual precision meets high technology, internal cooperation is essential: each step is the result of a dialogue between different experiences, between those who have known the curves of the material for thirty years and those who have mastered the most up-to-date design software.
Inglas is made up of a cohesive and multidisciplinary team that shares the same vision of doing business: one supported by competence, mutual trust and the desire to build something that lasts every day. A concrete and precious example of this vision is the path of Fabrizio Del Brina, who joined the Inglas staff in the 1980s, when he was around 15 years old.
Serious and mature for his age, he immediately worked alongside the previous cutter, observing with concentration and seriousness the job he would be taking on. In all these years he has always perfected his knowledge, he has always put himself on the line, giving his contribution in improving the product but above all in facing new challenges, keeping up to date and studying, for example, CAD software, when the machines have become more technologically advanced and thus also covering a technical role, without forgetting to perfect his manual skills to work on glass with a unique cut.
His career path was characterized by a lot of passion and a correct working approach that allowed him to develop self-esteem and satisfaction in what he achieved. All this over the years has made him become a true professional and master of his craft. And behold: stories like his tell much more than a simple CV. They talk about how Inglas’ identity is based on trust in internal talent, on the ability to make people grow from within, leaving room for continuous training and the valorization of skills.
A look at the future
Today Inglas is a national point of reference in the curved glass sector. The company continues to produce solutions for furniture, construction, commercial refrigeration and interior design, but has particularly consolidated its position in the nautical sector, establishing itself as a trusted partner for some of the most important Italian and European shipyards.
Inglas glass can be found on board luxury boats, in the single-brand stores of the most prestigious fashion houses, in highly personalized architectural contexts where transparency, resistance and aesthetic quality make the difference. Their creation requires a unique combination of engineering knowledge, artisan sensitivity and consultancy skills. In fact, the company does not limit itself to producing to specifications: it actively collaborates with architects, engineers and designers to design the most suitable solutions, contributing right from the preliminary stages to the choice of materials, curvatures, surface treatments and thicknesses.
The prospects for the future remain oriented towards growth, but in the wake of coherence. Inglas focuses on technological innovation without betraying its artisanal soul: it invests in internal training, in increasingly precise machinery and in experimenting with new couplings and materials. At the same time, it works to strengthen its consultancy function, especially towards technical firms and private clients looking for personalized, high-performance and safe solutions.
The objective is to maintain its identity while broadening its horizons, in the name of growth that remains, like glass, solid and transparent. In this balance between attention and vision, between memory and future, lies perhaps the simplest and rarest secret of Inglas’ success.
