Working at the high end of the market

There is no space for delocalisation in the future of Marzocchi Pompe SpA, as Mr Aldo Toscano, its Sales Director, explains to Industry Europe. Thanks to its high product quality the company is even able to sell its products in China, the market where several local competitors are based. Barbara Rossi reports.

Marzocchi Pompe SpA is still very much a family company – headed by Adriano and Paolo Marzocchi, two cousins whose fathers were respectively Stefano and Guglielmo Marzocchi, the founders of the business in Bologna, northern Italy, in 1949. Over the years the company expanded its activity, which had initially been focused on the production of high-powered motorcycle suspensions, so as to also include the manufacturing of hydraulic gear pumps and gear motors, used in various industrial fields. Eventually, in 1961, two separate companies were established: Marzocchi Pompe (the gear pumps and gear motors specialist) and Marzocchi SpA (whose focus was shock-absorbers). In 2006 the shock absorber business was sold, so that now the core business is entirely on external high pressure gear pumps and gear motors.

Marzocchi Pompe SpA is in fact a group, wholly owning other companies, as well as having a stake in a joint-venture. Lavin, wholly owned by Marzocchi, manufactures gears and its products are used in the manufacturing process carried out by the parent company. Montirone, the joint-venture enterprise of which Marzocchi owns a 35 per cent share, is an aluminium die-cast foundry, guaranteeing Marzocchi Pompe SpA a reliable supply of raw materials, as well as selling its products to other clients, especially in the automotive sector. The group also has a US based company: Marzocchi Pumps USA Corp, which offers the range of products of the parent company in the US market.

The production companies completely belonging to the group – Marzocchi Pompe SpA, Lavin, and Pompe Marzocchi USA – have an overall workforce of 200 people. The parent company, Marzocchi Pompe SpA, is now based in Casalecchio di Reno, on the outskirts of Bologna, where it produces high quality products, with a range of pressures up

to 300BAR. Most of the catalogue is made up of standard products, but Mr Toscano is keen to stress that “we are so focused on our product we never say no to a customer. We really endeavour to accommodate any requests, as long as the economic and technical feasibility is proven, adapting our products so as to fulfil clients’ needs. We create every year hundreds of new part numbers”

“We have recently launched a new product family: Elika. This is a range of gear pumps, offering considerable benefits in terms of low noise (with a remarkable noise reduction of up to 15 dBA), low pulsations and high performance, even at low revolution. The first batch of this family, with dimensions ranging from 7cm3 to 35cm3 is already available on the market and within a few months we will launch pumps of other engine sizes.”

A delocalisation-free future

“All of our range is Made-In-Italy, with our high vertically integrated production based in Casalecchio di Reno. This constitutes one of our main strengths, as it allows us to guarantee a high quality level. For this reason delocalisation has no place on our horizon, and this is why we only use suppliers based in Italy or in the rest of Europe, so as to make sure that we work with companies and components allowing us to guarantee, and even exceed, our high quality standards.”

There are plans for the expansion of the current production site in Casalecchio di Reno, mainly linked to new business development in the automotive sector. R&D is also carried out internally, at these same premises, using advanced equipment and programmes. All of the products are validated internally, through a demanding procedure in order to ensure high product performance. The company is ISO 9001 certified and, as Mr Toscano states “we love it when clients come to visit and audit us.”

Currently the company serves the general industrial sector; the mobile industry, defined as construction, earth moving, material handling and agricultural machinery; and

the automotive field, which as mentioned is currently growing. “The automotive sector offers us a particular scope for growth, partly due to the fact that our production of small high performing gear pumps is of particular significance for this industry.”

Italy is still an important geographical market, generating 35 per cent of current turnover, even in today’s economic climate. The remainder is achieved through export, with Europe – Germany and Scandinavia in particular – playing the main role. Outside Europe, leading markets are the US, China and Korea. Pompe Marzocchi SpA’s strong position on the Chinese market is particularly remarkable, as although the company’s competitors are based all over the world, China hosts a particularly high concentration of them. “We sell our products to Chinese manufacturers who export their products abroad and, for this reason, have to provide an excellent product quality level. We are chosen because of the high product quality that we are able to offer.

“I think that the balance of our geographical markets will remain by and large the same in the future, although because of our increasing sales in the automotive sector our position in Europe and the US will further strengthen. Obviously volume growth will mainly depend on foreign, rather than domestic growth. We also have and will carry on having an interest in niche applications, as they often require products of very high quality, such as the range that we provide.

“There are no plans for further acquisitions or joint-ventures. Future growth is expected to be achieved through an increase in volume sales. “Despite the current economic situation we are optimistic about the future. We will base our growth on product development, high product performance and the previously mentioned expansion with regard to the automotive sector. While many of our competitors operate at the low end of the market, our focus is on high range, high quality products; that is why we cannot and do not want to contemplate delocalisation.” n

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