A good start for the supplier of extrusion and foundry equipment

If on paper it appears to be a very young company, Cometal Engineering SpA has experience and know-how well beyond the date of establishment under its belt. The name of the new company, founded in October 2009 and brings back the historical brand Cometal, the company created by Bruno Mancini in 1980 and subsequently sold to a group of investors. Today Cometal Engineering belongs to the ITT Group, also headed by Bruno Mancini. ITT brings together several companies in the engineering and provision of innovative technologies sector. Within the Group, Cometal Engineering deals with the provision of turnkey plants and machinery for aluminium extrusion and recasting of aluminium alloys. We had a long conversation with Bruno Mancini, who is the majority shareholder of the company, to talk about the early times and especially about the future and goals of Cometal Engineering. The conversation started with an overview: “The activity of Cometal Engineering is divided into three main divisions: one devoted to extrusion presses, one for handling and heat treatment furnaces for extrusion and a third division involved in the foundry sector, that is melting, casting and homogenization lines including the handling equipment. We employ technicians and personnel which come largely from the former Cometal and therefore provide the contribution of thirty years of know-how and experience built over years of mutual cooperation”. The new company has been on the market for just over a year, but it is already possible to make an initial positive assessment: “The market has appreciated the reappearance of Cometal in the sector”. In 2010 the main European extruders ordered plants and machinery from us. Among the major customers are the Sapa Group, the Alcan Group, LT Alluminio, Impol, Egyptalum, Aluminium du Maroc and other Italian and foreign operators. For us the customer is the most valuable asset and it is also in the wake of this philosophy that in June 2010 we took over some orders from the former ATC, enabling us to guarantee the continuity of technical support to well established customers. In the first year of operation, the turnover was €15 million and we already have a significant order book that allow us to be very hopeful for 2011. The consolidated financial statements for the subsidiary in China was €35 million in 2010 and we expect to reach €50 million in 2011”.
An important pillar of the Brescian company is the engineering and research component. “A part of our technicians are dedicated to the research and the engineering of innovative solutions. In this case, for extrusion the innovation is focused on energy savings, systems reliability and the development of innovative solutions for handling and packaging. The foundry division research is aimed at developing highly energy efficient and environmentally friendly fusion lines, homogenization lines with highly automated handling capabilities, and the development of multifunction casting tables able to also enable the production of alloys outside the standard 6xxx family. We have a team of engineers supporting the technical department, with the result that all machinery is the result of thorough study, carried out with advanced computer systems and adapting it to the needs of each customer. I think that in the last 10 years the industry has pushed too much for the sophistication of systems, probably exaggerating at the expense of ease of use and reliability. Customers demand low investment costs but at the same time require high productivity flexible systems, able to allow rapid production changes and high repeatability of quality standards, such as those required by the automotive and transport sector”. New solutions are being developed for the extrusion of hard alloys, where Cometal Engineering has solid experience.
As previously stated, the company is working very well both in Italy and in Europe, but those are not the only markets in which we are doing well. China is the foreign market par excellence, especially since in June 2010 we concluded the takeover of the entire ownership of FTCIM in Guangzhou, the largest European base in China in the extrusion industry. “With Foshan we cover the entire Chinese market, which is rapidly expanding, and we also target India, which, although with different growth rates with respect to China, is a very promising market for us. We follow the Russian market with interest, which after a setback is recovering, as is South America, Brazil in particular, and Africa, a market that will grow a lot in the medium-long term. In Europe, in contrast, the bulk of the work comes from revamping, automation, rationalization and energy-saving improvements rather than installing new systems”.
Cometal Engineering is moving actively within the extrusion sector also participating in major international exhibitions. The last exhibition they participated in was ARABAL 2010 in Luxor, Egypt, where a report setting out the parameters affecting the return on investment in foundries and extrusion plants was presented. In the paper the criteria related both to the product and to the market, to fastest return on investment are explained. This report is useful for managers in finding the best type of investment, as Mancini explains: “We are not only suppliers of machinery, but also partners of the different customers during the selection of plant types and the best solution. This is also part of our philosophy based on the customer; we are convinced that the purpose of our work is the customer’s complete satisfaction, even if this sometimes leads us to a lower financial return. It is in this way that a lasting and consolidated relationship is built”.