Seventy years ago, in the
green Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, a company was born that makes school thanks to
a virtuous bond with the local technical institute. The profile of
Metalcastello as the world leader in gears for mechanical transmissions in many
manufacturing sectors, such as earthmoving machinery, agricultural tractors,
industrial vehicles and naval applications. Giampaolo Colletti interviews
Stefano Scutigliani, CEO of Metalcastello for FARE INSIEME
of Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
A torpedo in name and in fact. Pay attention to this word, namely torpedo, because in some way it is the
basis of what we are about to tell. Because the history of Metalcastello - an
Emilian company of excellence, today a world leader in gears for mechanical
transmissions in many manufacturing sectors, such as earthmoving machinery,
agricultural tractors, industrial vehicles and naval applications - starts
right from that torpedo. It all started in 1952 in Castel di Casio even if the
headquarters are closer to the centre of Porretta Terme, a town of less than
five thousand souls among the municipalities of the Alto Reno. We are located
in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, a very green area that is also very rich in
innovation. Ideas that know how to become a business have always flooded here,
managing to scale the world markets. Metalcastello has been producing gears for
seventy years but at the beginning it assembled parts of a motorcycle that was
called siluro (i.e. torpedo), built by Dem, one of the eighty-two motorcycle
brands existing in the Bologna area. The company remained the property of the
two founders, who left it to their children and then, in the last ten years, it
has been handed over to two multinationals: the first from India and the second
from Spain. Today CIE Automotive, a multinational industrial group, competes
globally in the components and assemblies sector, positioning itself among the
top hundred suppliers in the world. A strategic alliance that spreads those
Emilian roots everywhere. The Group operates in three different areas, it is
listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange and is present in 4 continents, with 80
facilities equipped with the most innovative technologies. The Bologna office
is developed over thirty thousand square metres and employs 300 people for a
turnover of 70 million euros. Most (95% of the production) is exported abroad
and the secret of success lies in being unique in the world. But for real.
«When it comes to gears, we are dealing with a huge field. But in our case they
are gears that go into the transmission parts of earthmoving machines. Let's
say that over time, in our small way, we have specialised in industrialising
the product on behalf of the customer. Foreign development has come over the
years: we detached ourselves from the mass production, crowded with many
competitors, and focused on a niche production of gears with a very high
technological content», explains Scutigliani. The skills are not limited to
technological excellence and to the engineering of serial components, but extend
to the design and implementation of complete and customised solutions that meet
the specific needs of each customer.
Doing
business and making school. A company that literally makes school. And never as
in this case has training become strategic and identity-oriented. First of all
because the two local entrepreneurs managed to establish this jewel thanks to
the existence of one of the best technical institutes in Italy. It is called
Montessori Da Vinci and is still the first source of talent for the company
today. «After all, it is a school born from the thrust of a large company that
at the time employed more than three thousand workers and produced mopeds and
motorcycles. We managed to transform a factor of weakness, namely being
decentralised with respect to Bologna, into a point of excellence. We started
from elementary and middle schools with an orientation path to technical
education that tripled the enrollments at the institute, becoming our critical
factor of success. And after five years we reaped the rewards of the investment
with about thirty young talents who joined the company», says Stefano
Scutigliani, CEO of Metalcastello.
Human capital. Gear manufacturing,
we said. There are those that go into transmissions and engine organs. «We
specialised in tractors and trucks and therefore in special vehicles, acquiring
customers, such as Caterpillar or Volvo. But we also take care of special
vehicles for fire-fighters», says Scutigliani. A lot is invested in research: 2
million euros every year. Here then is the value of a unique technology, which
is made such not only by human capital but also by personalisation that is the
company's signature, the famous "know-how". «The knowledge of our
people is the most important patent. Let me give you an example: an important
multinational client of ours put ten suppliers in competition. Four gave up,
but among the remaining only one bell remained welded to the tree, and it was
ours. The secret? We had an expert colleague in the heat treatment department
who, by modifying the hardening of the metal, made the welding stronger»,
Scutigliani recalls. "Complexity
made easy": this is Metalcastello's slogan, which can also be seen in
the company's future prospects. «We are opening up to the electric motor with
important orders. We focus on sustainability from an energy point of view and
we are carrying out a reconversion project in solar systems», remembers
Scutigliani.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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