The History of Accuma
The story of Accuma, operating on the market with the actual name from 1959,
goes back in 1925 when Innocente Gibellini, father of the current president
Folco, founded the company AIES – GIBELLINI.The company was specialized
in the production of industrial technical devices in thermosetting material
(hard rubber and bakelite): among these insulator for magnets, for radio transmitters,
metallic parts envelops for chemical industry and for electrical car equipments.The
huge amount of competences gained by AIES was used to put on the market, in
1946, the first hard rubber sets (box and lid) for automotive batteries and
for large dimensions containers for lead acid batteries used for power supply
in electric engines for submarines. Up to that moment industries of accumulators
used, as containers, bituminous compound that needed expensive and complex manufacturing.It
was a real explosion. The whole industry of automotive went for the new product
that will be used till the end of 60’s. In that period comes to the batteries
market a thermoplastic revolutionary product: the polypropylene.Progenitor of
a new family of polymers, polypropylene is produced by Montedison Italia with
Ziegier plants. Discovered and produced in 1954 at the Politecnico of Milan
by Prof. Giulio Natta, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963, the new plastic material
will revolution the industry in Italy and in the world.
A completely new sector
was born: the plastic injection moulding. The change from hard rubber, not recyclable
material, to polypropylene, recyclable thermoplastic material, is revolutionary.
The effect on the industry is fast.Companies have to develop new manufacturing
technologies, new machines, new moulds and new devices. Italian companies have
the advantage, thanks to Montedison technology, to drive the development of
this new sector affecting the world markets.
The evolution milestones
AIES gradually abandons ebanite to get ready to manufacturing of products in thermoplastic
material.In 1959 AIES acquires Accuma specializing it in the construction of moulds for injection
moulding with great investments in research, development and technological
resources. From that moment on Accuma S.p.A. replaces gradually AIES in all the activities and future
entrepreneurial, becoming an industrial company.
- 1962
Accuma opens a production plant in Monza, near Milan in the north of Italy, on an area of 3.000
m2. Employees
are 20 and the company starts producing lids and jars for stationary with
a new transparent plastic material called SAN substituting what, up to that
moment, had been produced in glass.
- 1965
Market of components for electric accumulators is fully alive; automotive
industry asks for substitution of many components with plastic material. Also
batteries industry goes for it and request for plastic battery sets is very
high.
- 1967
The company relocates in a bigger plant, again in Monza, of 15.000 m2. Now
the employee goes up to 60.
- 1970
Accuma releases on the market its automotive battery set produced in polypropylene
and decides for a specific industrial strategy: remain in the thermoplastic
injection moulding for batteries sector. Differentiate product lines would
be too dispersive and irrational; time will confirm goodness of decision and
rise of company is constantly growing.
- 1972
The company buys an area of about 65.000 m2 in Ghisalba, near Bergamo in the
north of Italy, forecasting
the growth in the subsequent years.
- 1975
Starts production of lids and containers in polypropylene according to DIN
and BS standards for traction, to be installed on forklifts. Manufacturing
of these batteries contributes heavily to the development of automatic materials
and products handling in industrial and services industries.
- 1978
Accuma Plastics Ltd. is founded in the United Kingdom, for production of automotive
battery sets. Some years later opens a second production plant, connected
to the first one, and begins production of traction BS series for English
market. There are at the moment 50 employees and the area is about 20.000 m2.
- 1983
In company choices, the belief that to be winning you need to have all the
necessary know-how to be able to supply a complete service to customer, has
always been leading. Hence the decision to establish Accuma Tech in Cologno
Monzese (Milan): the technical department in the new company designs products
and moulds with CAD/CAM software and the workshop is fully equipped for construction
of moulds for all the group companies. There are 20 employees and the area
is about 2.000 m2. Up to now more than 1.800 moulds have been produced.
- 1985
Accuma establishes Accuma Corporation in North Carolina (USA) for production
of BCI standard automotive and traction battery sets. There are about 90 employees
at the moment, on an area of 60.000 m2.
- 1994
Accuma Plastics Ltd. is quality certified according to ISO 9002
standard.
- 1995
With the idea of always being closer to the customer, Accuma establishes a
second company in USA. In Nebraska, in the middle of the States. Currently
there are 20 employees on an area of 40.000 m2.
- 1997
Accuma S.p.A. transfers all facilities and offices from production unit in
Monza to Ghisalba, building new offices and plants for stationary. A new completely
automatic warehouse with 8.000 pallet capacity is also built.Total area is
now 65.000 m2, 35.000 of which covered.
- 1998
Accuma Corporation is certified according to QS9000 quality standard.
- 1999
Accuma S.p.A. is certified according to ISO 9002 quality standard.
- 2000
Accuma S.p.A. moves to ISO 9001 certification.
Acquiring a new area of about 35.000 m2, bordering on the old one, the total
area becomes about 100.000 m2 in Ghisalba. Employees are about 160 and moulding
machines about 80, 90% of these supplied with robot and devices to assure
an automatic and quality controlled work cycle.
- 2001
In april Accuma S.p.A. gets ISO TS 16949 certified.
- 2002
New revision of ISO 9001:2000 is adopted in Accuma S.p.A.
- 2003
Is established, in Germany, the new company Accuma Deutschland GmbH for production
of automotive and traction battery sets. Employees are 10 and the area about
40.000m2. Forecasted production is about 5.000.000 sets per year. Geographic
position of the plant allows to be in strategic position to supply, with low
transportation costs, the German market and many countries in East Europe.
- 2005
Accuma Corporation is certified according to ISO 9001:2000 quality
standard.