Rooted in the past, focused on the future

ROOTED IN THE PAST,

FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE

The Forgital Group can be proud of its very long history, having been established in 1873. At the same time, as Barbara Rossi discovers, this highly specialised rolled ring forging company keeps an absolute focus on innovation, so as to be able to maintain its competitiveness, even in fast-growing markets.

The Forgital Group is led by the fifth generation of the founding Spezzapria family and is headquartered in the Vicenza area of north-eastern Italy (specifically in Seghe di Velo d’Astico). Its size and structure keeps on growing and it currently includes a series of production and commercial companies, through which it produces and distributes forged and laminated rolled rings of rectangular or shaped sections. Various materials are used for this activity, mainly carbon steels, alloy steels, stainless steels and aluminium, as well as a nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, and copper and titanium alloys. Forgital offers an extremely wide range, used in applications in a large number

of industries. The main sectors served are aerospace, oil and gas, transmission, power generation, and general mechanics.

The structure of the group is subdivided into operational sites and a sales network, with a couple of its companies crossing these boundaries. First of all, there is Forgital Italy, the first and main player of the group. Totally focused on innovation, the company makes important investments in research, has modern production facilities and takes special care of people and the environment. The constant exchange that it has with its customers is a real asset in terms of keeping at the cutting edge. It can boast of having three hot-working lines, a complete range of over twenty furnaces for heat treatment, and an extended machining capacity, as well as holding all relevant certifications issued by the most important international bodies.

Then there is France based Forgital FMDL, acquired by the group in recent years. This is one of the most important European manufacturing units specialised in small and medium-sized rolled rings weighing up to a maximum of 14 tons. As well as this specialism, FMDL also has unique experience and know-how in terms of open die forging. In France, the group is also manufacturing thanks to the work of Forgital Dembiermont which, having been founded in 1881, is almost as old as the parent group. One of its three rolling mills is actually the most powerful in Europe, and thanks to these facilities the company produces a very wide variety of rolled rings, whose weights range from 10kg to 40 tons, and whose diameters span from 300mm to 8000mm.

In terms of machining, the group can count on Forgital Rimach, Forgital Sumec, Fly and Visual. Forgital Rimach, a subsidiary of Forgital Italy, based fairly close to its parent company, deals with mechanically machining rings with diameters between 500mm and 2000mm, while Forgital Sumec is the machining unit of Forgital Italy SpA and specialise in the rough, semi and finish machining of medium-sized rings whose diameters are between 900mm and 3100mm. Its drilling capacity (and in drilling) reaches diameters of 50mm. Again the company is based near Forgital Italy. Fly is a machining centre opened just over three years ago in northern Italy, and is equipped with the latest generation of lathes and measuring machines. It is able to finish the group’s products for the most demanding clients. In addition to this, Forgital is now a shareholder of Visual, based in north eastern Italy, a dynamic company active in mechanical and electronic construction, as well as retrofitting and servicing of lathes.

Winning contracts

At research level the company can avail itself of RTM Breda, a research centre based in Milan. Through the centre, the group can test and independently certify products, as well as providing testing of instruments and carrying out research and development. Furthermore, it acts as a contact point with the university world. Moreover the group now also includes TS Coatings Italy, which was set up in relation to a research project aimed at developing anti-wear coatings to improve the surface performance of materials. Research is particularly important because Forgital operates in such a specialist field that it is hard to find external people who have the right know-how for its techniques. A significant percentage of its staff are research engineers.

The sales network is composed of various foreign based subsidiaries, namely Forgital USA, Forgital South America, Forgital

Germany, Forgital UK, Forgital East Europe and Forgital India. The US and South American subsidiaries are active at the operational level, respectively making own products and acting as heat treating and machining subcontractors. The opening of Forgital India and Forgital South America is a clear sign of how the group has responded to the increasing importance of fast-emerging markets, while Forgital UK has also marked a milestone in the group’s development. Through it the group has signed a long-term agreement with Rolls Royce for the production and supply of titanium forgings for the Fan Case Module of the Trent XWB engine which will power the new Airbus A350 XWB aircraft family.

Thanks to its range of companies the group is able to provide clients with a unique and compact supply chain, offering them a fully tailored service, including scientific know-how of materials and forging, design and engineering of products, support during assembly and testing. Thanks to the “operational excellence team”, excellence is guaranteed at each stage of the whole production process. Today, the official mission of Forgital is that of providing complete solutions in order to improve and simplify the production process through an integrated system of technologies and services. Remaining at the cutting-edge, guaranteeing high product quality and valuing the human resources are the pillars which will support Forgital’s future.

Recently the group signed a major contract for several years in the aerospace industry with Techspace Aero, a Belgian member of the Safran Group, specialised in building modules for aircraft and aerospace engines. Forgital will supply Techspace with external shrouds for the Boeing 787 and Boeing 747 engines. n