Special gears find application wherever there is a need to transmit power, typically in medium to large diameters. Their production demands promptness and flexibility.

Small and medium-sized enterprises have always been the economic engine of our country. A diverse industrial fabric comprised of entrepreneurs who, in different ways, navigated the challenging last three years—some seizing it as an opportunity for growth and others passively enduring a decline in work, reduced orders, and turnover. Ceba Gears unquestionably belongs to the former group—those who displayed great foresight, reorganized effectively, and redirected resources towards projects improving not only production processes but also the management of their companies. This is especially true in the industry linked, more or less directly, to the field of mechanics, where concepts like “lean manufacturing” and “agility” have recently (in various forms) regained significant interest and attention. These concepts refer to streamlined production and concrete, timely responses—qualities not always easily reconciled when meeting high-quality standards amid increasingly demanding market dynamics.

Flexibility and process technology

In this context stands Ceba Gears, a company based in Carate Brianza (MB). Despite the challenging market situation, the company has responded by enhancing and optimizing its production process, adding further value to its operations. Established in 1969 by Giovanni Cesana as a third-party gear manufacturer, the company has evolved over time, specializing in the production of Klingelnberg bevel gears and gears for specific applications. This specialization is supported by a highly technological and consistently updated machinery park, ensuring prompt deliveries, high flexibility, and an equally high standard of quality.

“Promptness and flexibility,” confirms Fabrizo Cesana, the current owner alongside his sister Loretta. “We have sought to improve these aspects, drawing on the experience gained over many years. This experience allows us to maintain the high quality that our customers have always demanded from our products.” This operational focus, instilled by the late founder Giovanni Cesana, has been effectively passed down to his children. They now lead a productive structure with around thirty employees, and a turnover, expected to grow this year, reaching approximately 10 million euros.

Optimizing for growth in competitiveness

With the precise goal of consolidating its position in the sector and increasing competitiveness, the company pays great attention to its customers, primarily Italian but with a foreign share (currently around 30% of turnover) steadily increasing. This is to provide increasingly rapid responses, both in terms of service and product.

“For this reason,” Cesana continues, “for some years, we have reorganized all our departments, aiming to make order fulfillment even more streamlined and prompt, from initial quoting to delivery. A clear response to adapting to the changed needs that have shaped the market in recent times. New dynamics require companies to adapt to new production rhythms, a short-term process schedule that must still guarantee highly qualitative processing cycles.”

In this regard, to achieve these goals, the company has introduced a total product traceability system using barcode technology. This system allows for precise and immediate answers regarding the status of a particular process and the real timing of order fulfillment.

“Quick quoting,” adds Cesana, “constant knowledge of the status of each gear’s processing, and rapid responses in terms of possible operations. In essence, this is what our facility can offer and what the industry seems to appreciate.”

Uncompromising quality

Ceba’s gears find application in various industrial sectors, from sheet metal processing machines to rolling mills, to the more diversified and demanding energy sector. More generally, in areas where power transmission is required, the company manufactures special gears, especially in medium to large sizes, reaching up to 3,000 mm in diameter. This is not a standard production; it primarily involves the creation of unique and fully customized pieces based on precise specifications.

“Specialized processes,” continues Cesana, “that we can perform thanks to a well-equipped machinery park allowing us to execute, among other things, tooth profiles ranging from module 1 to module 30, with a minimum diameter of 10 mm up to 3,000 mm. We can also grind elements with a maximum diameter of up to 2,200 mm and module 30, using shape grinding.” Thanks to Oerlikon type Opal grinders, the company can grind internal tooth profiles from module 1 to module 12, with a minimum diameter starting from 150 mm up to a maximum of 1,200 mm. The machinery park also includes milling machines for straight and helical racks, thread milling machines, and splined shafts, as well as CNC lathes that can meet various processing needs.

“Always with a view to constant technological updates,” Cesana concludes, “a new horizontal hobbing machine will soon be operational. This CNC-controlled machine will enable us to extend our range of gear hobbing processes to gears up to 3,000 mm in diameter. An investment that aims to meet the current market demand for larger-sized gears.”

Uncompromising processing quality is assured not only in the grinding field (where onboard involute testers already allow a preliminary check of the helix and pitch), but for all performed processes. With a UNI EN ISO 9001 Quality Management System, Ceba also has a dedicated department where a 6-axis Zeiss center allows for total and comprehensive dimensional control of all processed gears.

---

Article published in Power Transmission World magazine, September 2016