The energy sector is undergoing a major transformation, and public attention is focused on investments in generation, electrification, cogeneration, renewables, biogas, and storage. Less visible but essential for equipment operation, industrial oils and technical lubrication solutions remain a critical component of operational performance. Dan Gheorghe, managing partner of Gruppo Damidio, says that the Romanian market is a mature one, attentive to technical specifications and ready to offer solutions tailored to any energy applications, today or in the future.
How Gruppo Damidio positions itself in today’s industrial lubricants market?
Damidio is a company founded in 1994. From the very beginning, its goal was to establish itself in the industrial lubricants sector. The company’s core concept, back in those pioneering early days, was centered precisely on this field—a focus that, in a way, remains the defining characteristic of the company even today, after 30 years in business: our level of specialization.
When you focus—and I’m speaking now from the perspective of those 30 years—that level of specialization gives you the opportunity to improve through your interactions with the partners you choose or with people who join the organization and work with you to build that same shared dream.
What, specifically, does the shift from selling a product to providing a technical solution entail?
Lubricants emerged as a result of certain needs and requirements from equipment manufacturers. The product must meet specifications that are very clearly outlined in the technical documentation for industrial equipment. The equipment’s technical documentation is the primary reference when it comes to lubricants.
We quickly learned this simple concept: to listen very carefully to what the manufacturer of the equipment in question has to say.
You can make one of the traditional mistakes that we, too, have made over time, learning from them. You can compare products, but in fact, you must start, first and foremost, with what equipment is being used, what brand it is, and then how it is put into operation and what operations it performs.
How does the energy market look from the perspective of cogeneration applications?
Romania has a natural gas distribution and supply infrastructure that many other countries either already have or still hope to achieve. The availability of natural gas at controlled quality levels, meeting the required parameters, automatically leads, in the case of cogeneration units, to a different approach compared to other regions, because you have the certainty of the quality of the gas you use as the primary fuel in the cogeneration engine.
When we talk about high installation capacities, we’re talking about sustainability over a period of at least 30 years of operation. So you can create a truly coherent business plan: what types of engines can I install, and what are the specific requirements of each engine manufacturer. It gives you a completely different business approach and predictability regarding the results you want to achieve and deliver.
The industrial-level specifics of cogeneration units are also tied to the speed of response. You can activate them in a matter of seconds and feed electricity into the national grid on demand, based on the requirements at that very moment.
Is demand changing as the energy transition progresses?
In terms of volume, yes, I would say the outlook is for a decline. You won’t see the same volumes anymore due to the diversification of demand in the electricity supply sector. But at the same time, I believe that technological advancements will be a key driver for manufacturers, such as Q8, to develop lubricants based on entirely new, niche technologies.
Extending the oil change interval using synthetic products is one of the most significant benefits. The protection it provides during operation and the tangible reduction in wear over operating hours are factors that oil manufacturers will pay close attention to.
It is not a rapidly evolving field like IT or cutting-edge technologies, but it is a stable field where small steps truly generate significant benefits.
What distinguishes natural gas applications from those using biogas or landfill gas?
The formulas are directly tailored to the specific requirements of a gas-powered engine. Even the term “gas-powered engine” doesn’t truly reflect the reality on the ground: gas can be natural gas, which is excellent and the first choice, but landfill gas or biogas are also gases derived from other sources that, from the perspective of the analysis report, are less stable.
You cannot obtain the same quality of biogas every time. This is the first difference compared to natural gas, which is a controlled resource that consistently delivers the same quality parameters during processing.
Essentially, a different lubricant formulation is needed, one that accounts for the more “aggressive” nature—chemically speaking—of the biogas resource. As long as you have a high sulfur content and a high content of carbon derivatives, the likelihood increases that various chemically aggressive compounds—acidic compounds—will form through interaction with oxygen.
Is the Romanian market mature, or is it still dominated by price-driven decisions?
In the early days—I’m referring to the 1990s, basically up until around 2007, when Romania joined the European market—things were driven by the simple idea of keeping operating costs as low as possible. Everyone was focused on saving money in any way they could, from toilet paper to motor oil, which were all viewed as interchangeable.
Personally, I’ve noticed since around 2010 a shift toward more structured and refined discussions in direct interactions. Technical skills have their value and take precedence over purely accounting-based decisions.
I am convinced that this comes with clear accountability within companies, with results mandated for every department and every position in the organization.
How should the cost of industrial oils be viewed in relation to the value of the equipment?
There are calculations regarding the percentage breakdown between the total maintenance costs allocated to the equipment in question and the cost of lubrication. Generally speaking, even when using the most expensive solutions—by which I mean the technologically advanced synthetic lubricants—the cost does not exceed 2% of the total maintenance cost.
But we have to be realistic. Price is what you pay in the end, but value is what remains after the price has been paid.
What role will industrial oils continue to play in an increasingly electrified economy?
In the industrial sector, a real impact could come from the volume of lubricant used. But lubricant companies aren’t going anywhere! Electrification will expand, but I believe that in the end, no one will remain dependent on a single source.
Will there be fewer players left? Of course there will be, perhaps due to a lack of interest, because for some, the volumes generated will no longer be a measure of business performance, and profitability will no longer be the same. But there will be companies that will operate not in the same way, but adapted to market realities, and they will provide high-performance services, perhaps with specialized lubricants or perhaps developed according to certain formulas that we don’t even know about today.
What does consultative selling mean to Gruppo Damidio?
We are a company of 30 to 35 people, depending on the contracts we are currently handling, of whom 15 are part of the sales team that covers the territory—not based on geographical location, but according to the presence of our partners in specific areas.
For us, what matters is not just making sales now, but continuing to sell over the long term.
What kind of people are needed in a rapidly evolving tech market?
What would I say to a new colleague? Learn, man, keep learning, because that’s the driving force behind growth: a genuine desire to take in new things. It doesn’t matter that they don’t know everything right now. The company is willing to invest in people, and that’s what we’ve consistently done over the past 30 years, starting with professional development or training sessions with Q8 specialists.
All this information must reach people who want not only to listen to it, but to absorb it, to gain something valuable from every meeting they have.
In our company, the basic idea is simple: we want colleagues who meet two minimum requirements: curiosity and creativity.