Italian moldmakers alliance broadens its market reach

In Turin (Torino), Italy, a region where moldmakers and molders historically have played it very close to the vest, a new consortium is opening doors and paving the way to untapped markets and customers. 

Competition throughout the years for Fiat's automotive business has made regional moldmakers more adversarial than friendly. However, OEM demands for expanded service and the siren call of international opportunity led a year ago to the formation of Consorzio Export Mouldex (CEM), a consortium of seven Turin-area suppliers of molds, dies, molded parts, and metal stampings (see sidebar for a list of member firms). 

IMM caught up with CEM at its exhibit at Euromold in Frankfurt, where we spoke with Bruno Scanferla, president of CEM. Just being at the show, says Scanferla, was a big step forward that the member companies could not have taken individually. It is the market, he says, that is the driving force behind the alliance, and in particular the globalization trend. As their clients became more global, the moldmakers saw that they must follow suit, but were limited by the financial, technological, and production resources inherent in a small company. The natural solution was the consortium. 

The word export is prominent in CEM's name for a reason: The company's principal goal is to broaden the group's geographical reach and increase the amount of product delivered into other countries. The individual companies are already quite international, averaging 40 percent of sales outside Italy, but keeping up with OEM demand for more international services can be challenging. CEM helps bridge that gap. 

Any Type or Size 
Scanferla says that along with the ability to serve businesses with far-flung operations, CEM offers an advantage that might best be called "everything." That is, the consortium can supply as close to a full spectrum of molds, dies, and molding services as possible from one source. 

The member companies together have experience making very small molds for micro parts, large molds for auto body components, and every size in between. Multicomponent molds, special material molds for LSR and thermosets, hot runner tools, and high-complexity tools are also within the scope of the consortium. Experience in a variety of markets is also present and includes tools made for large and small appliances, telephony, computers, electronics, cars and trucks, housewares, and furniture. 

There are also a number of capabilities beyond moldmaking. Various members of CEM have molding facilities, metal stamping lines, prototyping capability, and a full spectrum of downstream operations. These diverse capabilities let CEM offer more to its clients. 

Equal Footing 
Each company is ISO 9000 certified and several have QS 9000. Each is experienced dealing with international customers and the necessary customs requirements, regulatory conformance, shipping, and so forth. They are likewise familiar with multinational clients, having worked for the likes of Bosch, Marelli, Valeo, and Volkswagen, among other big names. 

Tools made by the members have already been supplied all over Europe, South America, and to a lesser extent in North America. Particular emphasis is placed on advanced CAD and CAM systems for the design support and communication that OEMs require. In addition, all the systems communicate with each other to support parallel work to accelerate project development and execution. 

CEM collectively has more than 140 employees, nearly $20 million in revenues, and a long list of current-generation, high-tech moldmaking equipment. There is a lot of available machine time, plus experience compressing development and moldmaking times for maximum productivity. The consortium, says Scanferla, creates a completely different level of competence than any individual company could. Presenting those resources to international manufacturers is what CEM is busy doing right now.