50,000 tools a month

MPK Kemmer PCB Tools opened its entire range of products to the Italian market in June of 2003. "With Cipel Italia, we have picked a powerful marketing partner, one who has been supplying the Italian circuit board industry for 15 years and has an outstanding knowledge of the market", comments Dieter Schabel, General Manager at MPK Kemmer PCB Tools GmbH.

"We cannot properly serve the Italian market from a German base" says Schabel, who concluded the partnership contract with Cipel Italia a few weeks ago. He had been looking for a partner who was well established in Italy and who had the appropriate contacts in the circuit board industry. Additionally, Cipel Italia has large warehouses, permitting it to maintain supplies through the swings in demand that are typical for this sector.

The company, whose headquarters is in Cigliano (near Turin), sells about five million tools a year in Italy and Switzerland. "With such potential, we wanted to join the contest, in which a high proportion of the other competitors are German. The plan is to be selling about 50,000 tools each month in Italy by the end of the year."

"This target", says Schabel, "is certainly realistic, as we will be offering the full range of our products, from drill bits through milling cutters to groove cutters, in addition to a variety of services." Sales staff from Cipel Italia have been trained at MPK Kemmer PCB Tools to provide them with detailed product knowledge about materials, manufacture, quality, precision and suitable applications.

Cipel Italia and MPK Kemmer PCB Tools have already made one successful appearance together: in June, our Italian partner organized a technical conference for existing and potential customers. This was our first opportunity to present ourselves as a partner to Cipel Italia.