On Friday 8 May 2026, customers, retailers, partners and suppliers toured the 6,000 square metres of the new facility, gaining an up-close look at the production methods, proprietary automation systems and values driving the company’s new phase of growth
A day that tells the story of a journey spanning over forty years
Friday 8 May 2026 represented much more than an inauguration for GDA. It was a day designed to share with customers, retailers, partners and suppliers the significance of a new industrial phase, built on deep roots and a clear vision of the future.
The company, one of Italy’s leading manufacturers of carbide circular saw blades for wood, panel and aluminium processing, organised the event into three complementary parts: a guided tour of the factory, technical meetings in the office block and a convivial dinner within the production department.
The new site in Besenello, in Vallagarina, covers a total area of 52,000 square metres, with a production area of over 6,000 square metres powered by a 400 kW photovoltaic system, water recovery systems and integrated air conditioning.
A choice that, even in the figures, reflects the dual focus driving GDA: industrial development and a genuine commitment to the environment and people.
The guided tour: explaining the process, step by step
Accompanied by co-owner Gianluca Adami and Sales & Marketing Manager Nicola Pedrotti, guests visited the 14 stops on the tour, supported by a multilingual audio guide downloadable via a QR code.
A route designed in a logical and productive sequence, intended to explain not only what is produced at GDA, but above all how and with what technical expertise.
The tour of the company began in the showroom and entrance area, where the company mascot stands out: a hedgehog carved from century-old redwood, a symbol of intuition, strength and resilience, whose shape echoes the profile of a circular blade and whose spines resemble carbide teeth.
From here, passing through the areas dedicated to certified European raw materials – German steels, Ceratizit carbide teeth, and Brazetec tri-metallic solder with anti-vibration copper foil – the tour covered the entire production cycle: from the laser cutting of the blade bodies to the heat treatment furnaces, from the finishing of the bodies to the brazing and sharpening of the carbide teeth, right through to packaging and dispatch.
The most popular areas: proprietary automation
Among the highlights that attracted the most interest, guests were able to observe the in-house developed automated systems at close quarters:
- The fully robotised multi-blade department with scrapers, featuring two brazing lines, two oil-sharpening lines and an automatic cleaning line: a cycle that very few companies in the world are capable of managing with full automation.
- The washing-oiling plant, served by two anthropomorphic robots at the inlet and outlet, the result of an evolution that has combined traditional tunnel washing with the subsequent oiling phase into a single production flow.
- The patented, automated flatness control system with corrective hammering, developed in-house in collaboration with local companies and the University of Trento, is equipped with self-learning software capable of interpreting the behaviour of the blade body and applying corrections with great precision.
At the end of the production line lies the finished goods warehouse, which permanently stocks between 40,000 and 45,000 standard blades ready for dispatch, alongside a dedicated management system for special items developed in collaboration with our most strategic customers.
Technical meetings: production philosophy, partners and the market
Subsequently, technical meetings were held in the office building: in Italian on the first floor and in English on the second floor, to best accommodate the international presence of distributors and partners.
The opening: GDA’s history, values and vision
The opening presentations by Gianluca Adami and Nicola Pedrotti traced the company’s history – which began in 1982 in the Adami family garage under the name Immer (‘always’ in German), and became GDA in 1992 with the arrival of their children Gianluca and Donatella – and outlined the values that have guided its growth.
The core principle was clearly summarised: “high technology, artisanal methods”. A philosophy that translates into decades-long partnerships with suppliers, quality control on every single blade produced (not just on a sample basis), and a precise strategic choice: to compete in the high-end market, with a focus on multi-blade saws, panel saws and aluminium, leaving the universal segment as a complementary service for existing customers.
On the commercial front, the development objectives for the GDA brand were shared, centred on a network of loyal distributors already active in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Uganda, the Middle East, India and other countries, alongside a gradual expansion into new strategic markets such as North America and Germany, potentially through structured partnerships.
Ceratizit’s presentation: a secure European supply chain at a critical time
The data shared painted a complex picture: over 80% of global tungsten production is concentrated in China, which has suspended export licences since 2025; APT (Ammonium Paratungstate) has risen by 900% since 2022, and the price of scrap by 600% over the same period.
Against this backdrop, the response from the Ceratizit Group – which in 2025 celebrates 100 years of history in hard materials – is structured around three key areas: mining partnerships (including a stake in the Sangdong mine in South Korea), leadership in recycling (with a 91% recycling rate in 2024, an industry record) and responsible sourcing of RMI-certified 3TG raw materials.
For GDA, this translates into tangible benefits: dedicated pressing lines in Luxembourg, an automated distribution centre in Germany, the development of new metallurgical grades for high-end blades, and a certified Product Carbon Footprint attesting to a 42% reduction in CO2e per blade compared to E/F-class hard metal.
Finally, the two speakers highlighted the alignment of values between the two organisations: a family-oriented mindset – the Plansee Group is owned by a single family – and a shared long-term vision that makes the partnership with GDA much more than a simple supplier-customer relationship.
The Novotic presentation: four years of co-innovation
To conclude the series of presentations, Manuel Todesco, CEO of Novotic, recounted four years of technological co-development with GDA. A collaboration born from GDA’s decision not to seek a traditional supplier, but a true technological partner with whom to share a journey.
From this shared vision, three specialised solutions have emerged, now fully operational in the new plant:
- Q800 – Inline control system for blades from Ø 300 to 800 mm, dedicated to flatness and tensioning with AI-based quality classification.
- P800 – An evolution of the Q800 that combines real-time measurement and automatic correction, with direct feedback into the production process.
- S800 – A system for blades with diameters of 200–800 mm, designed for brushing skim coats and filling sound-dampening grooves, capable of autonomously reading cutting DWG files via an AI module and managing the tool path using a CNC head.
Todesco emphasised how the relationship with GDA has evolved into a genuine journey of co-innovation, concluding with a heartfelt wish: to continue growing and innovating together, towards new shared goals of success.
The dinner and the new corporate video: GDA’s identity on display
The event concluded with a dinner held within the production department, a choice that was both scenic and symbolic. During the evening, the new corporate video was screened, understated yet with a strong emotional impact.
The film celebrated the company’s journey, starting from its Trentino roots: ‘there are places that enchant with their beauty and history, and which in Trentino have shaped a community founded on commitment, integrity and hard work’, to recount the evolution from a small artisan business to Industry 5.0, with sustainability, people, the environment and the local area at the heart of the strategy.
The hedgehog, the company’s mascot for over twenty years, was reintroduced as a symbol of a family that continues to grow, made up of all the people who work at the company every day with passion, responsibility and dedication. A narrative that translated the company’s slogan into images: quality and precision as a daily choice, customisation as a method, reliability as a hallmark.
A new phase, a promise kept
For GDA, 8 May represented much more than just an open day. It was an opportunity to share a clear vision with its professional community: that of a company which, after over forty years of history, chooses to grow without losing its identity, maintaining the artisanal rigour that has brought it this far whilst simultaneously embracing the possibilities offered by automation, artificial intelligence and European partnerships.
As Gianluca Adami noted in his speech, ‘many things can be said about GDA, but one thing cannot be said: that we have not kept our promises’.
It is on this consistency between words and deeds, between tradition and innovation, between industrial ambition and a human touch, that the company’s new phase is founded. A promise that, from Friday 8 May, has a new 7,000-square-metre home from which to continue to be kept.
