February 2000 saw the start-up of a new company in the glass processing machinery sector in Italy: Bimatech. The new firm was founded jointly by Luciano Paci and Marco Tamburini, together with the Ita…
February 2000 saw the start-up of a new company in the glass processing machinery sector in Italy: Bimatech. The new firm was founded jointly by Luciano Paci and Marco Tamburini, together with the Italian glass machinery manufacturer Bottero, which owns a majority of the shares. Paci and Tamburini were the original co-founders of another important player in the Italian glass machinery industry, Intermac, but left the company after ten years in 1997. In January 2000, they were contacted by Bottero with a view to creating a new company, following the expiry of an agreement with Intermac not to engage in competitive activity. Based in Pesaro, on the country“s east coast, Bimatech has premises of 2,000 square metres and plans to be operating fully by September, in time for Glasstec 2000 in Dsseldorf, Germany, in October, according to managing director Luciano Paci. In the intervening period, the company intends to take on approximately fifteen new staff, in addition to the five people already employed since February. Bimatech will manufacture CNC machinery and equipment for the processing of both glass and stone, though Luciano Paci points out that priority has been given to developing a range for glass. “Very shortly after the company was founded, we designed the machines, which will all have numerical control, and at Glasstec we will be presenting two models: one for shaped grinding with polished edges and another for shaped engraving, in a stand of 150 square metres,” Paci explained. The managing director underlines both his own 14-years“ experience and that of his co-founder, Marco Tamburini, now Bimatech“s technical director, who will be supported by his son Paolo in the role of partner and design planner. “Bimatech is really a continuation of our past experiences, we are not starting from scratch here,” he points out. “Marco was also previously a designer for a glass processing machinery manufacturer, while I ran the company and took care specifically of software, sales and customer service. The way of working in the glass processing industry has totally changed thanks to the work we did together, and the level it has reached today is the starting point for Bimatech.” The company“s immediate objective, according to Paci, is to develop, in the next two years, a complete high-quality range of CNC machines for grinding, engraving, bevelling, drilling and other types of processing for glass in a sector that Bottero has decided to enter with this joint venture. At the same time, Paci says, the aim is to acquire a 30% share of the world market by 2002. To achieve this, Bimatech will make use of Bottero“s sales and customer service network, though Paci says the company has complete autonomy as far as sales, after-sales service and development are concerned. However, the opportunities for synergy with a large, important group like Bottero will be used to the full. “The Bimatech team is highly motivated by this new challenge. We will work a lot on improving the reliability and productivity of the machines, but our main strong point is the attention and respect we pay to the customers, most of whom we have already been working with for the last ten years.”