Founded by business partners Gerald Cummings and Jack Allard in 1974 Century Tool started out as a shop with a few manual machines that produced small dies and fixtures in Fenton, Michigan, USA. It just so happens, FIDIA was born the same year. With the help from workers Mike and Kevin Cummings, Century Tool started to work actively in all stages of manufacturing. ‘Hands on Management’ is a hallmark of their business ethic. Through the years, the company has developed into one of the biggest Compression Mold Builders in the country. Century Tool performs everything as a one stop shop: from the complete tooling design, machining, assembly and try-out, working for customers such as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Peterbilt, Volvo, Mercury Marine, Kenworth. We’ve interviewed Mickey Gukian, Production manager engaged with the company since 1985, asking him to tell us about the positive and long lasting collaboration with Fidia.

Continued technological innovation and ongoing expansion in the reference international markets with high development potential are Fidia’s strategic objectives. Today, Fidia develops milling systems used mainly in the mould-making, aerospace and energy sectors, providing integrated, customized and high-performance solutions. Considerable investment to strengthen the strategic network of international branches has achieved the objective of offering clients ongoing and dynamic support, both to ensure effective and prompt after-sales service and to consolidate relationships built on trust, dialogue and technological partnership with the most prestigious companies in the various reference sectors. An extensive international presence allows for close strategic and operational support in France, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Russia, Poland, the United States, Brazil, China, India and South Africa.

Starting life as a machine shop in 1956 through the expertise and skill of its founder, Pietro Fontana, the company – which later developed into the Fontana Group – is now a successful multinational constructing dies and producing car bodies for the automotive sector. The company started working with Fidia in the early 80’s when it had just one production facility at Calolziocorte, and then successfully built on this enduring mutual relationship setting up Fontana Kalip, in Istanbul, where the milling machines are today equipped with fifteen Fidia C20 CNCs. There we met the Plant Manager to discuss challenges for the future, note the progress of a large retrofitting programme and gather initial impressions of the application of the new Fidia ‘Velocity 5™’ software.

“Good design is innovative, it interprets new technology.” This is how Roberto Piatti, CEO and founder of Torino Design begins his book ‘Il car design verso nuovi orizzonti’, published by Silvana Editoriale to celebrate the first 10 years of the design centre he created and named after the city that symbolises the Automobile. More than 200 models have been created, an intense design activity encompassing dream cars and standard models, in both the private and commercial sectors, and focusing on strategic markets such as India and China. Following our last interview, published in Fidia InForm in 2003 when he was still Managing Director at Stile Bertone, we caught up with Roberto Piatti to ask him about his new entrepreneurial adventure and the philosophy behind it. A sailing enthusiast, a fan of classic roadsters and a lover of beauty understood as an identity and means of expression that is not defined by fashion trends, Roberto Piatti welcomed us in the luminous offices at Moncalieri where he heads a team of 60 engineers, stylists and designers.

Fidia offers machine tools specifically designed for the machining of light materials and models.

The machine tools have a modular, lightweight structure and are available in a wide range of axis travel.