Ten Years of Growth and New Offices

The celebrations for R+W Italia’s tenth birthday coincided with the presentation to the press of the new offices in Cinisello Balsamo, near Milan. During the event, the milestones of a decade of uninterrupted growth were recalled and the importance of a well-structured online presence to ensure brand recognition was highlighted.

by Silvia Crespi

In 2008 R+W Italia, the Italian branch of the German multinational specializing in the production of couplings, officially began its activity. On April 12th, to celebrate the 10th anniversary, the trade press was brought together in the new offices in Cinisello Balsamo, just outside Milan. Davide Fusari, Country Manager, recalled the milestones of a decade characterized by uninterrupted growth.
Among the main events: the “turning point” in 2012, when revenues for the first time went beyond the million euro mark. In the same year, R+W entered the heavy industry market launching the ST range of torque limiters; from this moment on, the range of industrial couplings never stopped growing, in 2013 it was the turn of disk pack couplings, and so on… The broadening of the range was accompanied by the publication of new catalogues. In 2017 the growth in terms of volumes, revenues and employees created the necessity for new offices, with more room available. Today R+W Italia has a workforce of six employees, a sales force of seven agents and revenues adding up to 3.3 million euro: “This success – Davide Fusari stated – was achieved especially thanks to the great passion that each one of us dedicated, and keeps on devoting, to our jobs. If the first ten years were used to conquer a leadership position on the Italian market of precision couplings and torque limiters, now we are working to consolidate our position even in the power transmission market”.

The importance of the web for the brand’s recognition
Another important milestone for the branch’s growth was the web marketing strategy enacted, as from 2015, by the company’s Marketing Manager, Marco Benvenuti: today marketing activities have grown to include web communication and the launch of the company’s social media. Marco Benvenuti explained the importance of the company’s online presence. A strategy which focuses on the synergy between the social pages and Internet website which is providing excellent results.
“The traffic on our website increased tenfold – he stated – going from 150 visits per month (datum recorded in March, 2008) to over 1,500 visits recorded in March, 2018”.  The success of social pages was highlighted: followers on Facebook and Linkedin are growing, and the blog is increasingly successful. The later was created as an information and sharing tool aimed mainly at company managers with articles on market trends and the evolution of regulations in target industries; it was recently broadened to include in-depth technical articles interesting for industrial designers. Even the corporate newsletter, now in its 20th edition, experienced a marked increase in the number of registrations, while the 2018 advertising campaign, with the “safe designs” theme, includes a series of initiatives aimed at designers who will be able to use a series of tools made available, free of charge, by the company: software, handbooks, guides and above all customized consulting provided by R+W’s professionals, to contribute to ensure success for their project. “This fully-fledged strategy goes beyond the world of specialized operators – Benventi concluded – and is definitely contributing to increase awareness for the R+W brand”.

High specialization in the coupling segment
The event was also attended by the Group’s Managing Director, Frank Kronmueller, who provided a brief history of the brand recalling that, with its 9 branches in 17 countries, R+W is one of the most renowned coupling manufacturers worldwide.
As from 2011 the brand is owned by the German group, Poppe & Potthoff, a concern which for over 90 years has been on the market with its components for the automotive and other industries. Kronmueller also highlighted the importance of research for the constant evolution of its projects and outlook. Among the most important steps there is the opening of branches and sales offices worldwide. Here are some figures: 65 official agents; 250 employees; 600,000 items produced per year; 35 million euro in revenues.
Kronmueller also announced the start of construction work of the new plant in Klingenberg, to meet the demands for greater production capacity and explained that relocation is envisaged in 2019. Finally Steffen Herter, Managing Director of the German company, expressed his satisfaction for the Italian branch’s performance: “One of the smallest in size – he stated – but also one of the most promising ones in terms of its evolution”.