Fonderia Di Torino

1927 Words8 Pages
CASE CONTEXT Francesca Cerini, the great-granddaughter of Benito Cerini, is the managing director of Fonderia di Torino which was founded in 1912. The company’s main line of business is the production of castings for the armaments industry. The company expanded into the automotive industry by the 1920’s and as Benito Cerini foresaw the future demand for precision metal casting, he instituted changes that would allow the company to meet the demand. Fonderia di Torino’s specialization is the production of precision metal castings needed by the automotive, aerospace, and construction industries. The company excelled at this and was awarded because of the quality of its products. These products include safety parts like crankshafts, transmissions, brake calipers, axles, wheels, and various steering-assembly parts. One of Fonderia di Torino’s competitive advantages is its mainly European customers who were original-equipment manufacturers (OEM). These OEMs demanded quality products and since Fonderia can provide these, they gave preferential treatment to the company. The confidential market-demand information that Fonderia di Torino receives from the OEMs help increase the precision of production scheduling. In addition, the company receives relatively long-term supply contracts from these manufacturers. In November of 2000, Francesca Cerini was faced with the decision of investing in an automated molding machine called the Vulcan Mold-Maker. Purchasing this machine had a lot of implications not only on the quality of Fonderia’s products but also on its labor force. The sand molds currently used to make castings were prepared in a semi-automated process, which means it needs the extra labor force. The semi-automated process was also labor intensive for the workers that it requires training and retraining to meet the consistency in mold quality. The

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