Index
Part I
CIFA. A Story of many stories 1
1. The narrative thread 1
2. Italy calling America 4
Formwork 4
2.1. Life changes. The work site changes 6
2.2. The 1930s: the beginning of the concrete era 8
2.3. A family business 9
Blow Knox 10
Works: The 1930s 12
Works: The 1940s 13
It happened tomorrow 13
3. CIFA and the industrial boom 14
3.1. CIFA and imports for reconstruction 14
3.2. The golden years of metallurgy 15
3.3. After the war and the “steel forms” 16
Mr Formwork 17
Works: The 1950s 18
It happened tomorrow 20
4. A concrete miracle 21
4.1. The arrival of the concrete era 23
4.2 A product-based history 23
Concrete 24
Batching plants 25
The first truck mixer 26
4.3. Managing transition 28
A key figure: Rafael Emdin 29
The businessman with a passion
for Toscanini: Paolo Ausenda 29
Works: The 1960s 30
It happened tomorrow 33
5. CIFA and the leap into the future 34
5.1. Innovative products 34
The first truck-mounted pump 36
The first mixer pump 37
5.2. Building the “Italy Network” 37
5.3. The human factor 39
5.4. The advent of suppliers 40
5.5. An army of engineers 41
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5.6. The workers. Factories and conflicts 42
The years of lead 44
Works: The 1970s 44
The evolution of formworks 48
The evolution of batching plants 50
A special formwork for the Tucuruì plant 51
It happened tomorrow 51
6. Formidable years. From Ausenda to Sopaf 52
6.1. Saving the company, a new lease
of life under the Ferruzzi Group 53
6.2. A courageous choice 56
The first sprayed concrete pump (Spritz) 56
The “L” valve and the “S” valve 57
Portable pumps 58
6.3. A new adventure 60
The evolution of the truck mixer 60
The evolution of the mixer pump 62
Works: The 1980s 63
6.4. Beyond borders: the Export sales network 65
It happened tomorrow 67
Works: The 1990s 68
7. CIFA in the new millennium 72
7.1. “This company is mine!”. The take-over by suppliers 72
7.2. Identity and the Future. An historical crossroads 73
Valme and the concrete piping business 74
Works: The 2000s 76
7.3. The Magenta Fund 80
The evolution of the truck-mounted pump 80
The evolution of the sprayed concrete pump (Spritz) 82
7.4. China calls Italy 83
7.5. From nightmare to success: CIFA on the Great Wall 84
Zhan Chunxin: A Self-made man with almond eyes 87
7.6. Yin and Yang: CIFA and Zoomlion
in the Chinese century 88
Towards the future 88
It happened tomorrow 91
Works: Work sites still open 92
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 Part II
CIFA in Zoomlion’s orbit 95
1. Introduction 95 10.1. From joint branding to production in China 130
10.2. Collaboration that breaks records 131
2. The acquisition 96
10.3. Value grows through patents 132
3. T
 he reference market during
11. Conclusions 132
the post-acquisition phase 100

4. C
 IFA seen through the analysis
of its economic and financial data 105
4.1. Introduction 105
4.2. Method used 106
4.3. The economic profile 107
4.4. The financial and assets profile 112
4.5. Productivity indicators 115

5. The Go Global policy: Chinese businesses

on the road to internationalisation 117
5. 1. Why investing abroad? 119
5.2. Acquisitions mean growth 120

6. Chinese investments in Europe: the Italian case 121

7. A new star of the Go Global era: Zoomlion 123

8. CIFA: an irresistible excellence 124

8.1. Efficiency and rationality of internal processes 125
8.2. The ability to innovate 125
8.3. Facing new markets 126
8.4. Critical success factors in production 126

9. Creating an international group:

the integration with CIFA 126
9.1. Integration in research and development 127
9.2. Integration in marketing 128
9.3. Integration in sales 129
9.4. The connecting force of communication 129

10. CIFA and Zoomlion:

the first joint achievements 130

XI

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