One of the most debated topics of the recent decades of the history of woodworking machinery and technology is certainly the small size of our companies. Except for some cases, the production scenario – even if it can reach levels of excellence in every part of the world – consists of small and medium businesses. This means to be flexible and extremely proactive on one side, but it also causes some problems when you need to make some investments in research and development or for the development of marketing or post-sales operations. And this is the situation where the benefits and the need for cooperation and sharing are more patent.
If you also consider the efforts it takes to face the global economic crisis, you can imagine the importance of the news concerning Giben, Masterwood and Viet. The three companies – with a consolidated experience and expertise in different industries – have decided to work together. Well, this is an example many people should or could consider with more “openness”. A common page has been opened – mainly for sales activities, at present – by companies which, in fact, have some “similarities”: all three companies have a story of over fifty years and they are all renowned for their product quality and excellent operating capacity and – obviously – their strong presence in global markets. A presence that now has to be extended further.
To sum up, these are the goals that have brought the companies to create WoodTech Alliance, which is mainly targeted at enhancing their presence in important global markets in order to be more effective than in the past yeas, and provide customers with an improved service and – why not? – a complete product range.
The details of this initiative were presented during the recent open house in Pianoro (Bologna), at the headquarters of Giben International, an event which directly involved Masterwood and Viet as well. This is a kind of touring Hausmesse, which will be held in turn by the three companies that formed the WoodTech Alliance.
Piergiorgio Benuzzi, ceoof Giben International, opened the event in Pianoro: “We are here to tell you about the near future in our vision, with a huge change in the organization of our companies. This is because the world around us has changed: the business system has changed and this is forcing us to be more present, more aware of the fact that the scenario we will have to face will be different. I’m generally optimistic, but there is no use denying the big recession caused by the collapse of global finance. From a certain point of view, this might be even good, because it may ultimately convince the powerful people of the world that it’s time to change the rules of the game. All this, however, might bring to an inevitable downsizing, due to the fact that finance will be more cautious in the next years: our customers will always be interested in adopting new technology, but they will have to face a much stricter banking system.
The goal of this meeting is to show you what we have conceived to provide a useful alternative to the groups created during these years – which have achieved important dimensions and results proving to be very strong and capable. We have simply tried to create an alliance”. A very important step. Acimall – the Italian woodworking machinery and tools manufacturers’ association – has been promoting such operations for years, trying to convince companies that if they do not increase their size and do not reach a suitable critical mass to face the global markets, they risk to neutralize all efforts to be competitive and innovative.
“After these considerations – continued Benuzzi – we sat around a table and we asked ourselves if we could share the solutions of some problems. And we said, yes. So, seven or eight months ago, we started to organize some joint initiatives. We have all made a lot of things in the past thirty or forty years. Some of us have invested in marketing and sales, others in research and development, others in different aspects. However, we all believe we have to consider very important points that we cannot underestimate. We are all companies specializing in specific areas: this is a key factor because, unlike other big companies, we have provided complete solutions ranging from the smallest machines to the most important plants”.
Where do we have to work more intensely? On the international markets, where we can have a suitable critical mass allowing us to organize and implement more effective initiatives. “This – concluded Benuzzi during his speech – is the main goal. Now there are thee of us, maybe there will be four later on. WoodTech Alliance is just this: it is not a merger, neither a takeover nor a joint venture. It is just an alliance, a partnership between complementary companies”.
Three different stories
Giben, Masterwood and Viet. Three companies that – at a certain point of their history – have decided to join and create a strong alliance with specific and detailed goals.
But let’s examine them. Giben International – with headquarters located in Pianoro, as we have already said, and with almost 65 years of experience – started with the production of standard woodworking machines, but it immediately followed its vocation, that is developing a new cutting method for wood operations. “As Giben – explained Benuzzi – we cover several industries. Obviously the most important industry is the woodworking segment and, in particular, the furniture industry, but we are operating also in the plastics, composite materials and light alloys industries. We have a prestigious history and everybody appreciates it, but today we have to face a changing world, where there are no more borders between countries and thus we need to be very careful. Our mission is to be present in a global market, where we want to continue to be a specializing company and to provide high quality products. Without forgetting that the future will have to be focused not only on quality but also on price”.
Today Giben distributes its products all over the world through agents and retailers with the support of subsidiaries located in Brazil (where it also has a “historical” production facility), Spain, Canada, the United States, Australia, Scandinavia, and there are good prospects for the creation of Giben China. These are absolutely interesting results, especially for the Brazilian subsidiary which the company is particularly proud of, also for the two For Mobile awards we have won for three years in a row (2007, 2008, 2009), contributing to Giben’s reputation as the most renowned brand for panel saws in the Country: “Brazil represents a very important market,” continued Benuzzi. “The Football World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 will take place in Brazil, and this will imply very important investments for the country accounting for 100 billion euros approximately”.
“The world has changed, the world is changing and I hope that the idea to join forces and work together can help us face the better periods that will arrive after this dark moment”, this is the opinion of Giancarlo Muti, the owner of Masterwood, located in Rimini, 150 employees and approximately 490 NC machines produced only in 2008. The company was founded in 1990 from a merger between two historical companies born in the Fifties: Muti (specializing in the production of chisel and mortising machines) and Zangheri & Boschetti, specializing in the production of automatic multiple drilling machines. “All over the world – explained Gianluca Tichi, sales manager of Masterwood – we have delivered more than 6,300 NC machines and our turnover is increasing: Masterwood ranks at number eight or nine in terms of turnover among the top fifty Italian companies in the woodworking machinery industry. We sell about 20 percent of our products in Italy, 50 percent in Europe and 30 percent overseas. Within our range, there are two main product categories: NC working centers for doors, windows and stairs, and NC working centers for the machining of furniture and panels. We have a range covering all market segments, just like Giben and Viet: from entry-level machines for initial investment to machines with up to 4 or 5 axes for big production batches”.
The word, then, went to Ettore Vichi, nephew of the founder of Viet, the company located in Gradara (Pesaro Urbino) created in 1953 and specializing in the production of calibrating and sanding machines. “From the beginning we have always tried to be innovators,” said Vichi. “The market does not allow us to slow down and, for this reason, during the past five years we have tried to focus on innovation and technology as much as we can. For us, the most important market (29 percent approximately) is Italy, but we also sell in France, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Finland and many other countries. And now we rely on Woodtech Alliance to approach new regions effectively”.
Like Giben and Masterwood, also Viet can provide a wide range of machinery extending vertically from solutions for small companies up to large organizations. This allows to cover the whole market demand offering machines for each specific customer requirement.
“We are three different companies – this is how Vichi concluded the presentation of the WoodTech Alliance – with specific features but sharing the same goals: win in the market, have more and more appeal, and offer an alternative. The differences between our companies provide further benefits because each enterprise is focused on its core business, on its specialization, and this differentiates us from any other organization: big groups tend to become flat and undifferentiated, while we don’t. This is not only a guarantee for us, but also a guarantee for our customers“. (l.r.)
