Heavy lifting Bolzoni

HEAVY LIFTING

Based in the northern Italian city of Piacenza, Bolzoni has established itself over 60 years as not only the largest lift truck attachment producer in Europe but also a world leader in its field, writes Beverley Young.

Founded in 1945 and family owned until the 1970s, Bolzoni began its European expansion by opening branches in Spain, France and the UK. In 2001 Bolzoni acquired Auramo, a Finnish company, forming the Bolzoni Auramo group. This growth then continued in 2006 when the group acquired Hans H. Meyer GmbH, merging the high quality products of two leading companies to provide the best product range on the market for forklift attachments.

With seven production plants and 18 companies, Bolzoni employs more than 700 people, and its recent investments in China guarantee its future growth. It now has branches throughout Europe and on every continent and turned over around €115 million in the year ending 2011, representing a healthy 25 per cent rise in revenues.

But Bolzoni was not completely immune to the economic downturn of the past years as marketing director Carlo Fallarini explains: “2009 was, without doubt, a difficult year in our sector as forklift sales dropped to less than half that of the previous year as companies cut back on investment. Fortunately things began to pick up in 2010 and this has been further consolidated in 2011 which can definitely be seen as a year of recovery. 2011 also saw other success stories for Bolzoni and its reputation as a well respected industry, and one which its city of Piacenza is proud of, can be seen when, in July 2011, Chairman Emilio Bolzoni, was appointed President of Confindustria for Piacenza. Confindustria is Italy’s leading organization for the representation of its manufacturing and service industries and is present both locally and nationally.

“Our present growth,” continues Mr Fallarini, “has been mainly linked to our traditional markets, Europe and the USA, Germany being our biggest market while Asia and China are an investment for the near future.” So how did Bolzoni react to the downturn? “By looking to new, future markets in Asia and by innovating our products.” states Mr Fallarini.

Future expansion

2012, in fact, will be an exciting year for Bolzoni, the year in which their two new factories in China will open. The first, 200km outside Peking, is for the production of forks, and the second, 150 km from Shanghai, will produce more specialised equipment such as positioners, clamps, push-pulls, etc. These factories, which have been built at a cost of €10 million, will serve not only China but far eastern countries such as Singapore, Korea, Taiwan - all those countries in which Bolzoni foresees a major future expansion. I asked Mr Fallarini about this project.

“While Asia is already giving us positive results the two new sites we are completing in China, which will be operative in the spring and summer of 2012, are seen as a strong future investment for Bolzoni. It’s worth pointing out that the Chinese forklift industry is bigger than the European and American industries combined and as their industries develop and ‘refine’, needing more specialised equipment, so too will the sales of our forklift attachments.”

Constant innovation and research

To maintain its position as leader in its field, Bolzoni has constantly invested in research and technology, renewing and improving its lines continuously. “In the last two years,” continues Mr Fallarini, “we have up-dated approximately 60 per cent of our range and we are particularly proud of our latest innovation, the

i-MOVE (intelligent move). With this attachment – known as a white goods clamp – we have successfully improved an electronic system we introduced 15 years ago making it even more sensitive and able to handle extremely fragile loads, such as electrical appliances, without the risk of the slightest damage.”

When asked if he could pinpoint the reasons for Bolzoni’s success Mr Fallarini had no hesitation: “Our success stems from two fundamental aspects of our enterprise. The first is the high quality and technical characteristics of our product and the wide range of equipment we produce, fulfilling every industrial need as far as forklift attachments are concerned. This is proven by the fact that we are the official and exclusive supplier for the world leaders in fork lift production. The second aspect which has led to our growth and success over the years has been our ability to cover all the main global markets for forklift production. Our extensive network means that we can serve our clients in over 40 countries not just with our range of products but also with aftersales support which is second to none.” Where forklifts are used, then, Bolzoni’s presence is almost always guaranteed. n Since 1992 we are manufacturing mechanical precision components with hard competition, combining the advantages of cooperatives with those of professional level. We follow the drowing of ours clients to make various mechanical components using: lathe and mill C.N.C. and welding machine (TIG-MIG). Our cooperative gives jobs opportunity to those who are in need.

CONTACT Phone: 0039 0372 76345 Fax: 0039 0372 769084 E-mail: ilcalabrone.tecnico@fastpiu.it