Gestione SILO srl, founded in 1950, is one of the historic companies located in “Optical Valley”, as the territory near Florence which has for years made applied optics a source of pride as well as its business, is often called. With its initial endowment of skills and technology, Gestione SILO made its name in the precision optics sector as a top producer of components and systems for surveying instruments and lenses for projection equipment and cameras. In the 1970s, the company expanded its scope, acquiring new design capabilities and restructuring its organization. Activities were organized by departments, each corresponding to a manufacturing technology area: mechanical processes, optical processes and assemblies departments, coatings department for deposition of metallic and antireflective coatings, quality testing department, technical office handling design, optical calculations, and engineering, and sales department. Later on, following organization by departments and purchase of new, cutting-edge machinery and instruments, the company expanded its scope and moved to its current 1000-square-meter premises near Badia a Settimo.