GMM Group becomes a Festo Official Partner

GMM Group, a global supplier of solutions for the ceramics, food & beverage, packaging and biomedical industries, has become a Festo Official Partner. Officially announced during Tecnargilla 2018, the partnership is built on expertise, mutual satisfaction and the added value of a customised service, dedicated consulting and after-sales support.

The recognition, one of the first in Italy, certifies GMM as a value-added distributor of Festo products capable of providing excellent pre- and after-sales support and an in-depth knowledge of the product and its technology.

During the official announcement, GMM’s founder and chairman Attilio Milani gave a brief outline of the group’s history. “Founded in 1973 in Fiorano in the heart of the Sassuolo ceramic district, GMM offered its services in the distribution of high-quality mechanical components. After establishing ourselves in the ceramic sector, we expanded our business in Italy and abroad into other fields such as food & beverage, packaging and biomedical.”

GMM grew rapidly over the years and following the acquisition of BBM, a company specialising in predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, it opened a branch in the USA to support local ceramic manufacturers. The GMM Group also acquired Medici Soluzioni Industriali, a company that supplies PPE and professional operator equipment.

The Group’s CEO Luca Milani continued: “Becoming a Festo Official Partner is a source of pride and gratification for GMM as it certifies the quality of our value-added sales business. But it is also a starting point for a young group with a staff whose average age is 35 and who are looking to the future with enthusiasm and energy.”

Following the announcement, Bruno Cornigliani, Festo Italia head of distributors, explained the significance of the recognition for Festo. “Becoming an Official Partner as part of an international qualification process carried out by the parent company means having technical characteristics and a level of expertise that reflect our market approach as well as an ability to provide customers with a guarantee of added-value services, technical consulting and support that fully come up to Festo standards,” he said. “Along with outstanding technical expertise, GMM has also demonstrated a high level of specialisation in the ceramic industry, a sector that has always been very important for us and which we are looking to expand in the future.” The status of Official Partner “will enable our partners to stand out in the distribution market”.

Dario Lauria, Automation and Pneumatics Product Manager at GMM, explained that the origins of the partnership date back to about 15 years ago when “GMM was keen to expand and diversify its market offerings and FESTO was looking for a player capable of disseminating and marketing its products”. The relationship grew and strengthened over the years. Festo products “have many advantages, particularly in terms of the quality and variety of solutions capable of meeting customers’ needs and the development of applications with pneumatic, electrical and mechatronic technology. They also take account of topical issues such as production continuity and energy efficiency in accordance with Industry 4.0 principles”, Lauria explained.