premium Italian products
double-glazing production lines, and straight-line edgers. Among its recent innovations: the pads on the conveyors of
its straight-line edgers are made of a double-patented material that lasts longer; an option for its straight-line edger machines facilitates installations in out-of-plumb situations because it can take a glass sheet perfectly to square or even take it out-of-square with precision; and an option for its glass washing machines saves up to 70% in electricity costs by automatically employing either one or both of its two blowers as needed.
Solid as a Rock
As co-owner and CEO of a stone-cutting machine company, GMM SpA (Toce, Italy;
www.gmm.it), Corrado Franzi has his fi ngers on the numbers that make his fi rm successful. Since GMM, a $1.4 billion company, started 18 years ago it
has produced more than 6,500 machines, with 1,001 of them exported to NAFTA countries. About three-quarters of those are in the United States.
“The United States is a great country for us,” says Franzi. GMM opened a location in North Carolina in 2001 because the number of machines in NAFTA countries required a stronger presence.
“If you don’t provide after-sales service in real time and with
professional people, you lose your reputation in the market,” Franzi says. “You have to give up some gross margin [to afford a North American presence].” “This is the only way to grow.” GMM is a member of Italy’s trade association, Confi ndustria Marmomacchine, representing the Italian marble and stone machinery industries which currently has 180 members, among them makers of machines, tools and equipment for extracting and working natural stone.
The natural stone machinery-manufacturing sector in Italy was a $1.6 billion industry in 2013, according to the Confi ndustria
Marmomacchine study center. Worldwide exports in 2013 were about 14% greater than in 2012, at $1.3 billion, with $123 million (almost 10%) of all exports going to NAFTA countries. The largest share of those NAFTA exports was to the United States, at 63%. Exports to Canada were 20% of the total, and Mexico’s share was 17%.
Changes in economic conditions and competition from manufacturers in China, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and Japan have been game changers for Italian stone machine manufacturers in recent years. “Nowadays, because of the recession and broadened competition from foreign makers, the primary factors are the real needs of the customer and, above all, price,” according to emailed comments from the Confi ndustria Marmomacchine study center. “Demands from customers all over the world are now very precise and you’ll sell only if you offer the customer exactly what he wants, no more and no less, at the lowest price.” Despite the changing market, Italian stone-handling machinery manufacturers continue to focus on a high degree of innovation, superior technology, good post-sales service and a suitable price/ quality ratio.
“One of the most important improvements in last few years has been the development of new CNC (computer numerical controlled) centers that offer users the possibility of multiple and complex machining operations,” the study center said in an email. “And in recent years, also to be stressed, is the Italian makers’
growing attention to environmental concerns and their consequent design of ‘green’ machines using recyclable resources, smart materials and bio-energy sources.”
Printing & Folding
Although a German invented the printing press, the Italians have made it their own.
“The most important companies for fl exography (relief plates)
Omet (
www.omet.it) machines print labels and fl exible packaging.
1-888-italtrade
33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54