The Italian hydraulic manufacturer Benvenuti S.r.l. consistently relies on MAPAL in its modern manufacturing – from tools to tool management to the customized turnkey solutions of the precision tool specialist. The production has been set up so efficiently that it is to be transferred to other locations of the parent company Casappa S.p.A. and Casappa Hydraulics Shanghai China.
Benvenuti S.r.l was founded in 1987 by the Benvenuti family and manufactures high-precision mechanical components, primarily for the fields of hydraulics, energy, and industrial mechanics.
In close collaboration with customers, customized projects from components to pre-assembled parts are implemented.
With around 70 employees, Benvenuti primarily produces hydraulic piston pumps, hydraulic gear motors, hydraulic blocks, and heat exchangers made of cast, steel, or aluminum. Batch sizes vary from single prototypes to series of 500 or more parts. The company manufactures around 3,000 different components from product families that differ in individual features. 57 horizontal machining centers are in operation around the clock in three shifts, seven days a week. Half of the machines are equipped with robot cells, while the others are connected in groups for automatic loading and unloading to an FMS system. Each operator can supervise three to five machines. 'For us, the combination of automated individual machines and the FMS system is the key to maximum flexibility and makes us very competitive,' explains Production Coordinator Riccardo Benvenuti.
In 2023, Benvenuti was acquired by Casappa S.p.A, a leading global manufacturer of piston pumps, gear motors, filters, and hydraulic systems. Casappa is also an Italian family business with 850 employees. With production facilities in China and India, as well as a global distribution network, the company is internationally positioned. 'At the company headquarters in Parma, we recently put into operation a modern logistics center with 10,000 square meters of space, from which we supply production at the Parma site as well as our distribution centers worldwide and directly to our European customers,' reports Roberto Bergamaschi, Operations & Supply Chain Director of the Casappa Group and CEO and board member at Benvenuti.
The hydraulic components are primarily used in construction and agricultural machinery as well as other commercial vehicles. The company produces more than 1 million units per year. In addition to the fluid technology-focused Casappa, the company Ikron for the filtration sector and Tecnord, specialized in hydraulic controls, belong to a common holding. They complement each other in the development and manufacturing of products for electrohydraulics, which mark a trend and will play an increasingly important role in the future.
20 Years of Partnership with MAPAL
The collaboration between Benvenuti and MAPAL dates back to 2006 when the first fine drilling tools were used. 'With these tools, we were able to significantly improve the production of our gear pumps,' reports Federico Neri, Technical Office Coordinator at Benvenuti. MAPAL's expertise in fine drilling was also required for machining cavities in an extremely precise hydraulic component.
Benvenuti achieved the highest accuracy ever attained in such a process.
The collaboration gained momentum in 2020, as Federico Neri reports: 'Here we began to look not just at individual tools but at the entire process with all the required tools.' MAPAL has assembled a complete range of tools for Benvenuti. This includes drills, mills, and reaming tools made of solid carbide, many of which were custom-designed. For aluminum machining, PKD tools from MAPAL were introduced, and the clamping devices now also come from the MAPAL group.
With the integration of an Italian clamping device manufacturer into the MAPAL group in 2024, Benvenuti now also has solutions for workpiece clamping that are designed for high productivity. With the comprehensive service portfolio, the tool manufacturer has become the preferred supplier and technology partner, whose expertise is used for the machining of a large part of the products.
Complete Tool Management 4.0
Benvenuti made a significant step with the introduction of MAPAL's tool management system. In addition to the tool dispensing system UNIBASE-M, it includes two UNISET-V setting devices. This allows Benvenuti to utilize the complete Tool Management 4.0 from MAPAL. 'The tool management continuously highlights optimization opportunities and has thus become a central topic at Benvenuti,' reports Sergio Masperi, Area Sales Manager MAPAL Italia.
By optimally pre-setting each tool, the quality and reliability of production are ensured. The UNIBASE-M tool dispensing system, managed via the c-Com software, ensures that all necessary tools for production are always available. For Benvenuti, this is a significant advantage, especially since there were occasional issues with the availability, quality, and handling of many tools from different manufacturers before the introduction of tool management.
"Since we started using the MAPAL system, we have not experienced any bottlenecks in our production regarding tools," assures Riccardo Benvenuti. The MAPAL specialists have real-time analysis of the c-Com software, providing an overview of inventory and consumption at all times. On average, every three weeks, the tool stocks in the UNIBASE-M tool dispensing system are replenished, and worn tools are collected. Reconditioning and resharpening of the tools largely take place at the Italian MAPAL branch in Gessate.
When it comes to new products or improvements in ongoing production, Benvenuti and MAPAL coordinate closely. Step by step, they go through each process step together, define the appropriate technologies, and determine how the project should be implemented.
This way, a first turnkey solution for the efficient and automatic production of aluminum pump covers was created several years ago. Special attention was also paid to the clamping device: a clamping device that can be rotated 90 degrees allows for the machining of two components from six sides in a single clamping.
With its turnkey complete solutions, MAPAL today offers a comprehensive range of services for the holistic planning and implementation of manufacturing processes. From project analysis to the design of tools and fixtures to commissioning and production support, all components are optimally coordinated and come – tailored to the customer's requirements – from a single source. This results in stable processes, high cutting values, and minimal piece costs.
In the solution for Benvenuti, MAPAL took over the complete tool package, including process design, while the machining program was created by Benvenuti. "It was a very complex project where all components had to be coordinated," reports Riccardo Benvenuti, emphasizing the benefits achieved in production. It took eight months from the quotation to the production start, exceeding expectations.
Another jointly developed turnkey project included prototype clamping devices and customized tools for machining oil pump covers for a new piston pump from Casappa. This machining was ready for use after just two and a half months. "We see the collaboration with MAPAL very positively and would like to implement further projects together," assures Riccardo Benvenuti.
The fact that MAPAL is now able to handle complete turnkey projects and offer tools, clamping devices, and all other process components from a single source is met with great approval. Benvenuti was one of the first customers in Italy to source clamping devices from MAPAL.
With the acquisition of Benvenuti, Casappa has strengthened its competitive position and simultaneously increased supply security by reducing dependence on external machining service providers and rebalancing the make-or-buy ratio. In the future, 60 to 70 percent of Benvenuti's capacity is to be used for the companies of the group (Casappa, Ikron, Tecnord), while 30 - 40 percent will be allocated to Italian customers, with whom long-term partnerships are being established.
According to Roberto Bergamaschi, Benvenuti plans a revenue growth of over 30 percent for the next two years and aims for around 12 million euros by 2028. In addition to involving Tecnord, the focus is on new customers outside the hydraulic industry. After 2028, the expansion from a national provider to an international partner is planned, which will act as a general contractor with competitive offers to European customers and will also utilize the supplier network of the Casappa Group for raw materials and surface treatments.
Investments in modern technology
To become more competitive in terms of costs and delivery times, the company has invested one million euros in TEM technology, thermal deburring, and lapping, and is further expanding automated CNC machining.
The goal is to automate more than 60 percent of the cells by 2028 and operate the remaining part via FMS systems. Modern tool and measuring technology is of great importance to Benvenuti, as Roberto Bergamaschi emphasizes:
"MAPAL is a very important strategic partner for us to realize tailored and automated solutions to increase efficiency and quality and improve cost efficiency. This is a central part of our strategy, which is based on a strong and competitive position in a broad product portfolio. MAPAL is a central partner for us as a supplier, which is beyond discussion."
The positive experiences gained with MAPAL's complete tool technology are to be utilized by Bergamaschi in other production sites of Casappa and Tecnord. With this strategic decision, Benvenuti has entered into a close, long-term relationship with the tool manufacturer, generating clear added value. "Casappa is currently not yet fully utilizing this added value; we are still in the process of building it up. For Tecnord, it is important to define the goals and a corresponding program for the introduction of MAPAL technology," says Bergamaschi. Tools and setting devices from MAPAL are already being used in the Casappa production facility in Shanghai. To reliably manufacture components with particularly high functional and production-related requirements, evaluated and ongoing machining processes were quickly transferred to China along with all necessary tools.
MAPAL's global presence and international manufacturing network offer Casappa advantages for its existing locations in China and India, as well as in relation to European and Asian machining partners, who are supported by a specialized team of application engineers.
The Italians do not rule out further expansions to the USA or Brazil. MAPAL is already internationally established and can support foreign locations in projects up to demanding turnkey solutions, where close cooperation among the involved partners is particularly important.
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