The roots of the Metecno group do not lie, as one might easily think, in the tradition of the metallurgical industry, but in that of building and structural work.

The first Company belonging to Metecno was Metecno S.p.A established in Milan, Italy, over 58 years ago – namely in 1961 - via the constitution of a small engineering company known as Metallotecnica Italiana s.n.c. .

Metallotecnica Italiana s.n.c. was in fact founded in 1960 as a service company for realising works in buildings with the traditional “sandwich” system.

Using standard production plate and sections, the filling of the surfaces was accomplished in four different stages; the laying of the first plate, then the spacers, the insertion of the insulating material (especially mineral wool) and finally the laying of the second plate.

The growth of demand led the company, which in 1961 had become Metecno SpA, to begin research and studies aimed at the realisation of a single, prefabricated product which could make this type of building more effective, safe and quick to erect.

In the same years, the use of a particularly versatile polymer was gaining ground in Europe; this was rigid polyurethane foam, able to ensure both efficient thermal insulation and excellent, firm adhesion to plate. It was thanks to the intuition of the possibly synergetic uses of these two materials that Metecno, first in the world, decided to invest in the realisation of an automatic system for the continuous production of insulated panels.

In 1965, at Tribiano plant (close to Milan, Italy), the young engineer Giorgio Tognelli, the leader of the three founders of the Company, settled up the first continuous-production line for insulated sandwich panels

 A real revolution that led to the birth, not of a product, but of the “panel system” that Metecno and its partners were to spread all over the world.

Success boomed: as matter of fact, the launch of a prefabricated panel on the building market, at that time, ruled by the traditional assembling – external metal sheet, insulated mattress, inner metal sheet – on site represented a revolution in terms of cost, time saving, efficiency.

After few years, the worldwide expansion became a reality.

This was achieved establishing new production companies before in Europe (France, UK, Turkey) and later on in US, Latin America, Asia and Australia but also taking over important competitors throughout the world.

Today, Metecno represents the most well-known panel trademark in the world.  producing in Germany, Spain, Bulgaria, India, China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and South Africa.