CMS Italy to Build Integrated Industrial Center

Jun 16, 2014

 

We here at CMS North America are excited to announce some big changes with the Italian arm of our company.

The following comes directly from CMS headquarters in Zogno, Italy.

Why Expand?

With the agreement between C.M.S S.p.A. and the company CMS REAL ESTATE, the new industrial centre that is ideally suited to incorporating the activities of CMS has been established in Zogno, in the area that already accommodated one of the Group’s production facilities. A large development operation aimed at optimizing every aspect of organisation and governance, and creating a unique centre where the best possible welcome can be given to customers from all over the world. The dialogue between CMS and the territory which gave birth to the company has always been a rich and vibrant one, even when we expanded our horizons internationally, which has never made us lose sight of our origins. In 1969 we established the first nucleus of the enterprise in Brembilla and, a few years later, when we were looking for new premises, we transferred to the ex-Falck industrial area in Zogno. We continued to maintain the principal production facility of CMS here, and it was on this same patch of land that we have now decided to build our new facility. The project has already entered the final working design stage, and it will enable us to optimise our production chain as well as our commercial dialogue with visiting customers. The issue of space and the need to rationalize our logistics have been constant themes in the history of CMS. We have always sought to expand the production spaces in Zogno, but a number of bureaucratic problems have meant that it has taken us 17 years to finally avail of the further 30,000 m² of land from the ex-Falck industrial area.

Enthusiastic, Ready for Growth

In the past, this has affected our development and forced us to look beyond the Brembana Valley. In 2007, indeed, we inaugurated the Levate facility with a view to incorporating several units into a single structure (including Tecnocut and CMS Plast), since our positive market results and our ability to create machines for a variety of industrial sectors constantly forced us to look for new spaces and resources. Mergers and acquisitions made it all the more necessary to have a centre for research and production activities, without having to fight for space on a daily basis, and also where an optimal welcome could be afforded to our customers. When production began in Levate, the buildings and spaces there seemed oversized, but just over a year later space already was at a premium! But after 2008, although the global economic crisis recommended caution, we have had the strength, determination and capacity to grow even in the worst industrial crisis of the last 50 years. This only fed our enthusiasm further, and convinced us to kickstart also our plans to extend the facility. We are reminded on a daily basis of how irrational it was to divide our enterprise into three separate locations (with the acquisition of the Balestrini trademark, we also have the production unit in Seveso). In particular, synergies between people were unduly restrained and impeded, and this dispersion of energies has made it difficult to have customers appreciate the sheer size of CMS and its whole range of offerings. This led to a growing awareness on our part of the necessity and desirability of resolving the problem for once and for all. But the question was: where? To combine everything in Leviate or in Zogno? Zogno was decided upon. There was also the consideration that most of our staff live in Val Brembana and many people working in the Levate facility arrive from Zogno. In addition, CMS Zogno is deeply rooted in the social fabric of the territory – certainly to a greater extent than in Levate. This is so not only for historical reasons but also due to the characteristics of the company system, which is in constant dialogue with the local community. After careful consideration, therefore, we gave the green light to the project “new general headquarters”, which involved newly-constructed as well as upgraded facilities on an area of about 24,000 sqm. The new headquarters will enable us to accommodate within a single structure all the activities of design and assembly of finished machines. Technical and commercial staff as well as process experts and testing personnel will have their operations based there, but – crucially – this is where the entire staff can afford an ideal welcome to visiting customers. In practical terms, we will have a “super showroom” built by the company itself! The works for the new headquarters commenced at the end of July; naturally, the whole project has already been approved at the political, administrative and institutional level with significant support from Zogno Commune and from the Mountain Community. The transfer will occur progressively over time. Levate will slow down its production activities while those at Zogno will be augmented. Our aim is to ensure that the production departments are ready at the beginning of 2014, while the offices will follow soon after.

A Company Looking to the Future

It should be emphasized that creating a single general headquarters does not mean relinquishing one of our most strategic elements of added value: we wish to confirm our operational flexibility while continuing the separation between the Business Units, maintaining independence in developing and selling the product, and in after-sales service. This new business project shows that we are still investing in “our” company which is the heritage of all – now more than ever. While the effects of the economic crisis can still be seen and still generate uncertainty, we believe that consolidating our company with an investment of this magnitude is our best way of demonstrating our belief in the future – first and foremost for the families of all our employees. Conscious always of our workers’ well-being and peace of mind, we have envisioned and devised a new general headquarters which is at the cutting edge architecturally and technologically, with spaces and environments that are liveable and healthy as well as beautiful. Spring 2014, therefore, is the key rendezvous, when a new phase of our history is inaugurated. And we are convinced that this will represent not the endpoint of a long journey but, rather, a new beginning.

The dialogue between CMS and the territory which gave birth to the company has always been a rich and vibrant one, even when we expanded our horizons internationally – which has never made us lose sight of our origins. In 1969 we established the first nucleus of our enterprise in Brembilla and, a few years later, when we were looking for new space, we transferred operations to the ex-Falck industrial area in Zogno. We continued to maintain the principal production facility of CMS here, and it was on this same patch of land that we have now decided to build our new centre. The project has entered the final working design stage, and it will enable us to optimise our production chain as well as our commercial dialogue with visiting customers. One should recall that the issue of space and the need to rationalise our logistics have been constant themes in the history of CMS. We have always sought to expand the production spaces in Zogno, but certain bureaucratic problems have meant that it has taken us 17 years to finally avail of the further 30,000 m² of land from the ex-Falck industrial area.