Marchesini Group closed 2019 with a consolidated turnover of 441 million Euro, a repeat of the performance in 2018

Marchesini Group closed 2019 with a consolidated turnover of 441 million Euro, a repeat of the excellent performance in 2018.

During the current year, the Marchesini Group has continued its production activities as steadily as possible, despite the sharp slowdown in the Italian and international economy caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Notably, between February and June more than 50 virtual tests were carried out, which made it possible to respect the machine delivery times and maintain a stable economic outlook for the company. In the same period, a series of initiatives worth 500,000 Euro were also launched to ensure employee health, including sanitation measures, serological tests, safety devices, additional insurance and home educators and babysitters.

Investments required for safety in the workplace were accompanied by those to develop two new stake holdings and an acquisition in the Italian mechanical and automation supply chain.

The first company in which Marchesini has a stake is the Pianoro-based Carlo Corazza S.r.l., a historic brand that specialises in precision machining and special processes, with which Marchesini boasts a solid partnership. Founded in the ’70s, Carlo Corazza has developed over time and currently employs 23 people, with a turnover of 2 million Euro.

Marchesini has also acquired a stake in FVM S.r.l., a Tuscan artisan manufacturing company (Monteriggioni, Siena) that has been producing small automatic machines and components for the pharmaceutical, diagnostic, cosmetic and food sectors since 1992. With its entry into the Marchesini Group, FVM – which employs seven people and has a turnover of 800,000 Euro – will consolidate its existing collaboration with the Corima Division of the Marchesini Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of packaging for drugs such as vaccines and anti-cancer drugs.

Auteco Sistemi S.r.l., a software company in Lombardy (Pavia) that was founded in 1985 and develops solutions in the field of automation, process control and workflow digitalisation, has joined the Group. The AI project (dedicated to Artificial Intelligence and Industry 4.0) was launched in 2017 when SEA Vision became part of the Marchesini Group, and it continued with the acquisition of Proteo Engineering in 2018. These operations are part of the increasingly crucial strategy of interconnecting mechanics with robotics and software, as well as manufacturing with digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. The objective, which is one of the key elements of the Industry 4.0 philosophy, is to transform production lines to allow centralized production control, internal and external tracking and sharing of quality data and, finally, predictive maintenance operations.

According to Pietro Cassani, CEO of the Marchesini Group, “these operations will enable the companies involved to increase their market share and put Marchesini in a position to further strengthen  two of its essential business segments, namely automation and production process control. These two sectors will always be our priority because they allow our customers to achieve maximum benefits in terms of the performance and quality of the product lines”.

Maurizio Marchesini, Chairman of the Marchesini Group and newly elected Vice-Chairman of Confindustria responsible for Supply Chains and Medium-Sized Enterprises, outlines the medium-term scenario: “It is essential, for us at Marchesini and for Italy as a country, that the entire supply chain of Italian companies is consolidated in order to ensure growth, both in terms of size and geographical coverage. It is a precious, but fragile ecosystem that must be supported with more efficient business processes, constant and sustainable investments, improved technical and managerial skills and a guarantee of correct ethical behaviour in economic relations. We shouldn’t forget the restructuring of incentives linked to Industry 4.0 so that technology becomes available to all companies”.

As regards its increased presence in foreign markets, Marchesini Iberica (stemming from the spin-off of the pharmaceutical packaging branch of the historic STE company), which conducts commercial activities in the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb, and Marchesini Packaging Mexico, which focuses on the Mexican market, were also established in 2019.