Andreas Hohmann, currently Vice President of Dürr's NEXT.assembly division, is the new CEO of the company, succeeding Massimo Bellezza, son of Gianfranco Bellezza, who founded the company in 1967. The handover was made official on July 7 during a family day for employees, who were able to visit the Beinasco plant and meet the new management. "I am proud to take the baton from Massimo Bellezza, who has led CPM's growth over the past few years. It is indeed an honor for me to take over the responsibility for this company," emphasized Andreas Hohmann. "CPM has become the Center of Excellence for Dürr's final assembly business, and I am charged with leading this business into the future. It is a fascinating task with great potential, and I look forward to strengthening synergies with the Dürr network and developing new markets and customers.”
His words were echoed by Bruno Welsch, President and CEO of the Paint and Final Assembly Systems Division of Dürr Systems AG, who recalled that he first met Massimo Bellezza in 1998, when he was part of the project team for the first Twin Trolley System in automotive assembly. That experience was followed by others during the development of Flex Decking and the important orders they worked on together, starting with the one that marked a real leap forward in CPM's growth and work on a global scale overseas. "I have worked closely with CPM and I can say with certainty that they are one of the best teams in the world, capable of expressing strong technological leadership," emphasized Welsch. "Trust and friendship have always been at the heart of our collaboration, and it is with these sentiments that I greet Massimo Bellezza today, congratulating him on his achievements and wishing him all the best for the future.
In a day crowded with employees' families, there was no shortage of memories of employees and those who have contributed to CPM's development. The most intense moment, however, came from Massimo Bellezza himself, when he retraced the steps that have marked the growth of a company that is now considered a world benchmark in the design of production plants for the automotive industry. After reminding those present of the acronym CPM (Costruzioni Prefabbricati Metallici), Bellezza emphasized the partnership with Dürr: "At the beginning, many were skeptical, even Cantarella, then head of FIAT, told me in good Piedmontese that '50-50 companies never work'. After 25 years, the joint venture between CPM and Dürr has proven its success in practice. It is thanks to the people who have been able to continuously develop new technologies in these companies, as well as relationships based on trust, that everything has worked out in the best possible way".
Denny Monti, Business Development Director, spoke on behalf of the 200 CPM employees when he presented Massimo Bellezza with a scale model of a Maserati Levante resting on an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle CPM). There were three words associated with the tribute and representative of the figure of Massimo Bellezza in the history of CPM: Technology – Vision – Style. First, Technology stands for the indomitable will to express excellence and technological research, an instinct for supremacy, for investing in research and in first-class "brains". Second, the Entrepreneurial Vision as a talent, even when he led the family business to the agreement with a colossus like Dürr. And finally, the Style that has always characterized Massimo Bellezza, both as a man and as an executive.
Founded in 1967, CPM's core competence is the assembly of the body-in-white with all the mechanical parts of a car. Holder of numerous patents for innovative handling and production systems, CPM has provided turnkey solutions for the world's leading automakers. An industrial excellence that today extends to the field of electric vehicles.
The entry into the Dürr galaxy dates to 1999, a strategic choice that allowed the company to accelerate growth in international markets and to exploit synergies with the parent company to develop new technologies that would become established on a global scale.
Recent projects include those for the Lotus (Emira), Maserati (MC20) and Stellantis (500 BEV) assembly lines, using ProFleet AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles): among the first autonomous shuttles designed for the automotive sector. The year 2022 saw a record number of orders with sales of around EUR 100 million.
