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ITALY
CIMA Impianti – 6 Decades and Still Growing
These OTR tyre presses are part of a contract and are heading out to a mining operation in Chile
in – and then, emphasises Daniela Fanti, only the best will do.
Often, when visiting a manufacturer, the factory tour is limited to the areas prepared for the visit. At CIMA, the visit was to an operational plant with all the noise, dust, machinery movement and the buzz that said this was business as usual. Every part of the construction process was evident, from cutting sheet steel, through welding, milling, machining, construction, painting and finishing. When CIMA say they build equipment that is exactly what they do.
The company grew by developing its technology and it is still doing that today. Whilst the majority of the modern machines CIMA has ever produced are still in service today, the company has a practice of continually upgrading and improving. So that whilst a modern hot cure press may ostensibly look the same as one they built 20 years ago, today’s press is much more efficient, easier to operate, uses less energy, and operates on a quicker cycle, has a Q.M.C. (Quick Mould Change) System and is easier to service and maintain.
Of course, as the market has developed, so too has the production and whilst the OTR sector has come to the fore in terms of importance in retreading, CIMA has matched this development by manufacturing hot cure presses (completing the “RP” line with the models RP10, RP11 and RP14) and a line of CNC controlled peeler/buffer/groovers (CI-MAXI line) and CNC controlled extruder builders (CI- MASTER line) for the largest of OTR tyres. The smaller range of presses was completed years ago with the models allowing the curing of even the more recent tyre sizes, such as high performance car tyres and SUSI’s in the truck segment.
CIMA’s latest range of presses come under the EcoLine banner and these are designed to reduce heating costs by as much as 20-25 per cent. They have a quicker heating time and the design of the insulation directs the heat where it is needed, to the tyre. The level of insulation is such that the outer casing of the press can be safely touched during operation.
Daniela Fanti adds, “All the wear parts on these presses can be replaced and the moulds are designed to minimise flashing on
the finished product, both cutting costs and ensuring a high quality end product. Like any other CIMA press, they obviously also have a centralised greasing system, so that there is one single lubrication point from where the grease will be distributed to all sliding parts, making it very easy and user friendly to keep the equipment well lubricated. Another unprecedented advantage of this new line of presses is the flexible cavity. Imagine to have been using different brands of presses in the past and wish for one press where you can put all your segmented cylindrical moulds. Cima has what you need: a press that can run your existing moulds without having to modify them permanently.”
As specialists in the tyre sector CIMA manufacture moulds to clients’ specifications using the latest generation 3D drawing system, CNC lathes and a 5 axis milling machine to create the customized sidewall engraving. Moulds are obtained starting with a casting produced at CIMA’s own aluminium foundry at the rear of the plant. Massimo explains, “We use the foundry to manufacture mainly blanks for our moulds and other components, but we also use our capacity to pour non tyre business related parts, although our main focus remains the mould production. The manual input into the production of the moulds is high in order to get the quality we demand.”
Asked if the mould manufacturing was under threat from the mass production of the Chinese factories, Massimo responded, “We operate in a niche market with the retread moulds; considering that each mould is a unique piece and that in most of the cases it is produced starting from the buffed casings that we receive from our customers, the volume and the effort required is not enough to make it a realistic proposition for the Chinese. We also offer after sales support in the form of servicing, repairs, reprofiling. We work with all our clients to the budget that they have for their moulds.”
CIMA sells all over the world directly from the head offices in Pistoia with the only exception of the North American continent, where the distribution is done through Central Marketing Inc. located in the area of Richmond,
One can rarely visit a quality retread operation in most markets in the world without coming across some form or other of CIMA equipment.
CIMA is an Italian family business based in Pistoia, Tuscany since 1953. It has been involved in manufacturing retreading equipment for two generations and started out with some rudimentary repair and retread tools supplied to local retreaders in Italy. Company founder, Floriano Capecchi still retains an overview of the business as Honorary President.
Over the years the retread process became more sophisticated and as it developed so too did CIMA’s
of CIMA; he is supported by his sales and marketing team composed by Daniela Fanti, Alessandro Vignolini and Manrico Diddi.
The round table discussion covered the basic history of the business and then touched on the range of products, from moulds for hot cure retreading and precure moulding, to OTR hot cure presses and OTR buffers and builders.
The key element in almost every aspect of the business being that virtually all development and construction of CIMA equipment is an in-house operation, from designing the moulds, creating the model, die casting the tread inserts,
This 63 inch buffer and builder is part of the same contract as the two OTR tyre presses destined for Chile
capability to manufacture ever more effective equipment for the retread and new tyre markets. Today, CIMA is a globally recognised brand and one of the first stops for anyone looking at investing in quality plant and machinery.
Massimo Capecchi is the President
machining all parts of the moulds all to suit the clients’ needs. At the other end of the scale the frame for the OTR buffer builder is manufactured by CIMA, its operation is engineered by CIMA and only specific components such as motors, gearboxes and extruders, for example, are bought
36 Retreading Business