ITT Motion Technologies and Ferrari F430

ITT Motion Technologies works on developing new platforms, providing support for major automotive companies throughout the world.

“Every time we face a new challenge, and every solution we can provide to meet the ever more specific needs of our clients is, clearly, an enormous fount of satisfaction for all of us – says Piero Bruno, ITT Mo.Tech. Private Transportation Director - however, there are times when our work offers satisfactions which are quite unique, such as when we work on a product with particularly complex characteristics, or when we offer a product to a new and highly prestigious client”.

This year, these two conditions occurred simultaneously when we worked on the handbrake of the Ferrari F430.

This was a very unusual application, as it is a brake for ceramic disks, and has to be able to stand temperatures that are much higher than with standard disks. The friction material therefore has to have a stable performance over a wide range of conditions of use, and in temperatures which are more severe than standard circumstances.

ITT Motion Technologies was able to develop and produce a specific material for ceramic applications, and one which performed better than those proposed by other competitors. We were thus able to replace a competitor for this application which concerns just the handbrake.

From the second quarter of this year, we passed on to the production stage – a recent developments of new platforms. A great satisfaction as we knew that our commitment had produced tangible and much-appreciated results for the client in a particularly short time. The development phase had lasted approximately a year, while it usually takes about 18 months for a similar project. In addition, we were extremely pleased to be once more working with Ferrari, for whom we had previously developed the F131 platform.

ITT Motion Technologies wins a prize for the Ostrava project

ITT Motion Technologies has been recognized by Profiles in Diversity Journal’s 2009 “International Innovation in Diversity Awards” with an “Award of Excellence” for the Ostrava Project.

The project has been considered an outstanding example of global diversity in action.

As you know in 2007 ITT Motion Technologies identified the need to expand its production capability to meet the growing demand of its customers, and decided to open a new plant in Ostrava (Czech Republic). The HR and the Operations teams worked to implement a program targeted to achieve three objectives: effective transition of skills and process knowledge, timely on-boarding of new hires to meet production and retention of talent during and after the start-up.

The program consisted of four strategic action areas: orientation for new employees, theoretical operations training, on-the-job training program in Barge and Termoli and employee integration program, including cross-cultural training and language classes for both Italian and Czech employees.

The Italian plants hosted a total of 70 Czech Republic colleagues in training. The Czech employees spent from one to nine months in Italy. The employees’ training plan included 128 hours of theory, and depending on an individual’s role, from 140 to 500 hours of on-the-job instruction.

As a result, Motion Technologies was able to open its facility in early January 2009, providing an opportunity for this business segment to expand and capture new customers while fostering process improvement and lowering operational costs.

As of today, employees hired at the beginning of the project are still with the company with few exceptions. This is an exceptional retention rate as the unemployment rate in October 2007 was the lowest in 9 years, as a result of more new job opportunities and a stable labor market.

Mando and Renault visit ITT Motion Technology plant in Barge, Italy

During last weeks Barge headquarters received a visit from some exceptionally important guests. Accompanied by our Korean agent representatives from MANDO, the top producer of brake calipers, and a company which is currently an important player in the Asian market, came to visit us. They had the chance to meet our project managers in Barge and to discuss issues regarding research and development, the solutions proposed by ITT Motion Technologies, and our most promising product lines.

MANDO had contacted the main suppliers with a view to working with them on their projects with a SOP date in 2012:

J92-X67 Marocco (a low cost vehicle to be produced in Marocco)

W10 (a new electric vehicle)

X52 ed X98 (the new Logan and the new Clio, respectively)

The challenge represented by the chance to work on and develop a new project, for us MANDO also represents a potential opening up towards the east, just as for them ITT Motion Technologies represents an opening in the European market and – above all – an important source of information and technical knowhow which will enable them to work again in the market of the old continent.

For ITT the potential geographical expansion towards the east holds a not-to-be underestimated strategic importance. A year ago, ITT opened an agency in South Korea, believing that the development of local producers of braking equipment meant we should have a presence in the area. After 12 months, it is clear that our initial analysis was accurate and that we made the correct decision.

Moreover, as the Korean constructors continue to pay more and more attention to the European market, it is extremely important that they should be familiar with ITT Motion Technologies in order to confirm our position of area leadership and to develop relationships which could result in our becoming their partner at a global level.

Also RENAULT management met our project managers a few weeks later, with the purpose of giving the guests the chance to get to know our company, and to focus their attention on our developing markets (Asia, Latin America). “Meetings of this kind – says Piero Bruno, ITT Mo.Tech. Private Transportation Director – are an important opportunity for the exchange of opinions and of technical know-how. They are always extremely interesting - whether they involve a new client who is currently not dealing with our company, or whether they are with older clients who can give us ever-more detailed information on the needs which we are trying to satisfy”.

Moreover they are the signal of a recovering market and a renovated interest in new platform development.