On January 1 this year, Siempelkamp increased its shareholding in CMC Texpan from the existing 40% to 70%, gradually buying out the company’s president Dario Zoppetti, whose father founded the business known as CMC in 1962.
It merged with Texpan in 1995 to form CMC Texpan.
Siempelkamp acquired 25% of CMC shares from Texpan some years ago and the two companies have worked closely together ever since, with Siempelkamp gradually increasing its stake.
As Mr Zoppetti (62) looks to retirement in three years’ time, he has entered into an agreement with the German complete line supplier that it will buy his remaining shares in the business at that time.
In the meantime, CMC Texpan is becoming one of Siempelkamp’s globally distributed ‘regional engineering centres’ and taking on an increasing range of machinery manufacture in its two factories in Colzate.
New products for the company include silo extractors, metal removers, a new generation of gravimetric separators, glue kitchens and blending systems, while its ‘traditional’ products include oscillating screens, roller separators, chip cleaners, hammermills, dosing and storage bins and mat weigh-scales.
Of course the company has been famous for many years for its forming stations for both particleboard and MDF production lines around the world, often, but not only, supplied through Siempelkamp, and for other machinery for particleboard.
“We also make many components for existing Siempelkamp machines and are now their official representative in Italy and we intend to sell Siempelkamp plants in this country,said Mr Zoppetti. “And we will continue to expand our range of products.”
Siempelkamp also has factories in Blatnice in the Czech Republic and in Wuxi in China as part of that global regional engineering centre philosophy.
Wood size reduction machinery maker Hombak of Germany also joined the Siempelkamp group of companies when it was taken over in 2009 and CMC Texpan makes certain components to take some pressure off the Hombak factory. It also makes components for Siempelkamp short-cycle presses.
“There are many such interactions within the Siempelkamp Group,said Mr Zoppetti. “We are also cooperating in engineering. Our company PAN, near Milan, is a technical design and engineering office with a strong staff which also follows the erection and start-up team. That office also works closely with Sicoplan, which performs a corresponding function in the Siempelkamp Group.”
Texpan is also working closely with Siempelkamp Energy Systems in the area of biomass energy plants.
“We have a group of people who we call our ‘Storm Troopers’,said Mr Zoppetti, with a smile. “Among them are Mr Villa on sales and technology, technologist Mr Gattesco on R&D and sales manager Mr Steeger, who comes from Siempelkamp. There are also many others working in this group and visiting customers around the world, promoting both complete plants and individual components of the plants. This includes modification of existing lines as well as the supply of new lines.
“So we intend to be more and more present in the market, not just as a subsidiary of Siempelkamp, but as one of the team – as well, of course, as selling our products directly to customers.”
