INNOVATION AND FAMILY TRADITION Increasingly sophisticated products, constant innovation and a strong belief in experienced, effective and long-term human resources are the driving forces pushing the growth of the ADR group, a world leader in terms of wide axle and suspension products. Barbara Rossi speaks to its CEO, Mr Flavio Radrizzani.
T
he ADR group comprises several companies and, while the official financial holding company is RPF, ADR Axles plays the main role, from its base between Milan and the Malpensa airport, practically acting as the holding company in management terms. ADR Axles was established in 1954 by the parents of Mr Radrizzani as a manufacturer of wheels for trolleys. Following in the footsteps of his brother, who entered the company in the early sixties and started
From the left: Mr J Westphäling certification components and systems TÜV SÜD, Mr Flavio Radrizzani CEO of ADR group, Mr S Frigerio, ADR R&D
30 Industry Europe
axles manufacturing, Mr Radrizzani joined ADR in the early 1970s, further developing the axle activity and starting the internationalisation process. The first foreign acquisition took place in 1989, when French company Colaert Essieux was acquired, followed by the purchasing of Polish ATW in 1996 and then British Tyremart. Since then joint ventures have been set up in both China and Brazil and now the company also has its own company in China, as well as having
created another the Brazilian company a 100 per cent owned subsidiary. Currently two acquisitions in Spain and South Africa have just come to a successful conclusion. Axles and suspensions for both agricultural and special transport and industrial machines are the group’s core business and the group is world renowned in both fields. However, ADR is also maintaining a small production of trolley wheels (for instance for car-trailer, gardening and airport trol-
