Artemio Affaticati

Italian container handling specialist CVS Ferrari plans to double its production capacity in three years.

The plans come on the back of new developments for the family-owned company. In January, Swedish group Cargotec Corp announced it would acquire CVS but last month put its plans on hold due to concerns raised by German competition authorities (Forkliftaction.com News #320).

CVS's new 39,000 square metre (419,793 square foot) factory, about 3km (1.9 miles) from its Roveleto di Cadeo headquarters, has been fully operational since July. The plant will consolidate manufacturing activities of the other facilities and eventually lead to the doubling of CVS's production capacity - 600 units in three years.

CVS has also appointed a new CEO to help double its production capacity.

Artemio Affaticati, 53 takes up the role of CEO and group managing director from September 3. Affaticati has 15 years' experience in the logistics industry. He was president of Siemens AG - Logistic and Assembly Systems' materials handling product division in Nuremberg, Germany. Before that, Affaticati was responsible for the global development budget of Siemens Dematic AG's materials handling division.

Affaticati tells Forkliftaction.com News the new factory will increase global production output in two ways: "by providing a more efficient work-flow to all fabrication and becoming the new assembly plant for our new product - the electric straddle carrier; [and] by shifting the metal cutting and forming machines from the main plant to the new factory. In this way we have doubled the space available for the final assembly of reach stackers, forklifts, tractors and container runners."

CVS now has 10 manufacturing units, all within a 50km (31.1 mile) radius from its headquarters dedicated to main components, while final assembly of forklifts, reach stackers, container runners and tractors takes place at the headquarters and straddle carriers at the new factory.

The new FSC 4013E electric straddle carrier, a 40 ton capacity, one-over-three stacking machine, will be delivered next month to the first customer, Eurogate terminal in Bremenhaven.

Another new product, the Ferrari container runner, will leave the Port of Hamburg in September for Virginia International Terminal, the first US customer to trial the unit. The machine has been tested in different European terminals - LSCT in LaSpezia and TDT in Livorno, Italy, and DUSS in Munich and Buss Hansa in Hamburg, Germany. All provided CVS with positive feedback.

Sales director Paolo Groppi says the container runner represents a revolution in the container handling world. The mini straddle carrier can stack one-over-one and is similar in function to the Kalmar shuttle carrier or Noell sprinter.

"The great advantage is the variable centre of gravity. Since the machine is designed with a frame able to lift up and down, there is no need of any hoisting and related rope and pulleys."

Actual production of the new machines will start in mid-2008. CVS estimates a production output of 50 container runners and 15 straddle carriers in its first year of production.

The company covers the Italian market from its Roveleto di Cadeo headquarters but has independent service centres in all main Italian ports.

"This is the secret of our success," says Groppi.

"We prefer to concentrate on manufacturing where our skills are [and] leave to specialists the task to understand the local environment and to translate the CVS reality for the different markets."

He adds that there are now over 100 Ferrari 400 series reach stackers, officially introduced last year in TOC Hamburg, working worldwide. Major customers include container handling equipment rental company Arrenda Line in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela (eight units), container terminal operator Buss Hansa in Hamburg Germany (seven units) and Salerno Container terminal in Italy (six units).

Affaticati says up to 10% of the company's turnover in the past two years have been injected into product research and development.

"This will be the year for our new electric straddle carrier and container runner while for 2008 we are planning to introduce the new 4x4 tractor and to complete the range of our forklifts by updating the F10-16 and the F42-45 [heavy lifting diesel] forklifts."