Giampaolo Pesenti
In a world that continues to change and evolve in materials, techniques, and in the approach to work, which has become increasingly digital and frenetic, it is necessary to find fixed points in order to be able to paint a picture of what we are experiencing. And, at least as far as the world of Fapil tools is concerned – the company based in Zogno, a few kilometers from Bergamo, specializing in the production of tools – it is a cornerstone. 65 years (almost) behind it, a story closely linked to the Pesenti family who founded it, carried it forward and today, in 2024, is projecting it into the future, towards a new world, in a reality that – especially in the last 5 years, between Covid and everything that has followed and achieved and that we all know – continues to test people and companies. To tell you about Fapil and give you a precise picture of the sector, we interviewed Giampaolo Pesenti, the owner of the Bergamo-based company.
“We have certainly experienced a very positive season – Giampaolo Pesenti told us about the past five years – especially in 2021 and 2022. The post-pandemic recovery has been significant, rapid, and also the result of the policies put in place by the institutions, incentives, super bonuses. Certainly, important and evidently “extraordinary” numbers that have necessarily had to give way to a phase of settlement, with a drop that is physiological, especially in view of the many uncertainties and doubts we are going through at a “geopolitical” level: from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict to the Middle East, from the energy crisis to rising prices. Issues that have left and are still leaving a mark. Even in Fapil – Giampaolo Pesenti continues – we have experienced strong growth in the past three years, with double-digit percentages, and now we are going through a phase of contraction. Data in hand, compared to last year we are recording a decrease by 5 to 10 percent. The slowdown suffered by the automotive market – which in Italy is always a driving force and which obviously involves us as tool manufacturers – and wood, especially as regards machinery manufacturers, is certainly weighing heavily on this“.
How do you deal with uncertain times?
“With flexibility, with a structure capable of settling and changing according to the period and requests. Today, Fapil is looking to the future, and we are facing a small generational change. Not because we are “elderly”, don’t get me wrong, but because some key figures in our staff will have to leave. And we don’t want to be caught unprepared. We have invested and continue to invest in young people, and we are convinced that the mix of experience and freshness can also bring new ideas and continuity, especially in view of the recovery. Because there will be a recovery: after all, the market is a rollercoaster, and we know it well“.
We talked about “numbers”, but how did it go in terms of products and technology?
“At the product level, I can say that we are satisfied with the feedback that the market has given us, with the many requests. We have never stopped investing in technology and research and this certainly puts us in a position to be able to respond to the needs of the market and our customers. It is not easy, because over the years the requests have become more articulated: if once, until about ten years ago, 50 percent of work was based on standard technologies, today these numbers are totally different and it is “the tailor-made suit” that drives production, representing almost eighty percent of our work. As you can imagine, by no longer working on standard solutions, we are more subject to market trends. But we are prepared“.
In the aisles of the last Xylexpo and visiting the many realities of this sector, the most pronounced word we are hearing is multimateriality. A driving concept also for Fapil then?
“Let’s say that, for a tool manufacturer, multi-materiality is something that has been experienced daily for years, producing and developing products that then go on to work with the most diverse materials, from solid wood to carbon fiber, to review all the facets that there are within this range of products from the most natural to the most synthetic.
We have always lived it, as I said, and for some years now we have been producing composite products, thanks to the close contact and proximity with companies that work with different materials. In this context, it is precisely our customers who push us to look at the market at 360 degrees, not “stopping” at one material, but examining every avenue and working on different fronts. An important commitment for a company with dimensions like ours. This pushes us to adapt and continue to strive to be able to offer the best possible product. The quality of our work is the reason why we are, after 65 years, still on the market.
What will be the next choices in this regard? To continue to push, in addition to wood, on composite materials, which allow us to broaden our horizons and address more sectors. It will be necessary, a change of mentality and pace in proposing ourselves in a different way from the past, to make our long experience in these fields acknowledged. We are investing heavily in this direction, but we are sure that we will achieve our goals. After all, producing good quality tools and having good engineering have been and will always be part of our DNA“.
This year Fapil turns 65, an important anniversary for a company, because being able to always be present on the market in such a competitive world is a milestone…
“A goal, but also a starting point for the future. If we have come to celebrate this birthday we owe it to our commitment, especially my brother’s and sister’s, Giuseppe and Sara, because together we have been able to continue the activity of our father, who started this adventure in 1959, in a different world that – since then – has experienced many seasons of change. You see, the world of tools never remains the same, but lives in a slow and constant change. We started with some types of materials and processes, which corresponded to some tools, then everything changed. Technology changes, the approach to work changes, materials change and tools change. At first, some choices seemed like a gamble, but then they became everyday life, so we worked on their developments, we improved their performance and the levels of processing that can be done with these materials more and more. The progress of technology, both in production and use, has also made it possible to obtain results and production increases for those who use the tool that initially did not seem possible.
To give you a concrete example, in the past five years a lot of work has been done on durability and on some types of tools that allow for different performances, working on the characteristics of each tool to optimize it for the material on which it is to be used. Once upon a time we were, if I may use the term, more generalist, we tried to adapt what we had. Today, we realize that it is essential to know how to “be special” and create tailor-made solutions for every need. As I said, it is no longer the time for standards. At least not for us…”.
“Continuing to work on special solutions, always different and designed ad hoc, allows us to continue to innovate, to think about the future, about the evolution of our technologies,” continues Giampaolo Pesenti. “To give you an example, we are currently continuing to work on tools that have interchangeable inserts for spiral roughing machining. Inserts with very small diameters, contained and compact, which – I must be honest – are giving us a lot of satisfaction and for which we continue to have requests. This, allow me the end, is our niche. Special products, specially designed and which show the know-how we have accumulated over the years”.
“In the last two years,” he added, “we have developed even more products for green construction, such as houses, roofs and wooden beams, and we have made fairly important productions of some products also sold abroad, even overseas, where we make truly “special” products, with important values and requests. This green effort allows us to look to the future with optimism, aware that investments in this direction will be great, also given the path taken to reduce environmental impact by 2030.
Not only that, we produce tools for the most varied sectors, such as plastics and composite materials, where more niche products are made for the construction of components, among others, of wind turbines or car parts, which will always require an important study of green technologies“.
What do you expect for the future of Fapil and what will be your “keywords”?”
“It is not a simple question, because it is not easy to make predictions, given the uncertain situation we are experiencing. Honestly, I believe that in the near future we will have to get used to living and working among highs and lows. It will be even more fundamental than in the past to be able to seize the opportunities that arise in positive moments, trying to improve in the most challenging periods. From this point of view, I think there are three keywords: vision, performance and productivity.
In such a complex and fluctuating phase, it will be essential to have a “balanced” vision, which is able to mediate between the many changes and trends. It will be important to be able to grasp the signals of the market, the trends that we will see in the coming years. First of all, sustainability, which is becoming increasingly important and sought after in any sector, but which can never be separated from the performance of products. For this reason, each new solution must be green, but at the same time guarantee the same quality in processing. And then productivity. A concept that every company has in mind and constantly researches, especially in a phase in which we tend to be less open to investments and we need to optimize every process, the times and the costs that derive from it. Human, economic or energy “.
