Key facts
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| Full name | Davide Maternini SpA |
| Year of foundation | 1947 |
| Founder | Davide Maternini (1911, Malnate) |
| Arrangement | Malnate, Province of Varese, Lombardy, Italy |
| Ownership form | Family business, 3rd generation |
| Number of employees | 45 |
| Annual turnover | ~$12.7 million |
| Specialization | Equipment for the production of abrasive wheels |
| Press range | 60 — 5000 tons |
| Rotary machines | 4–12+ workstations |
| Directions | Bonded wheels, vitrified wheels, coated abrasives (новий) |
| Global presence | Europe, Asia, Latin America, Middle East |
| Supported languages | 9+ (IT, EN, FR, ES, PT, DE, TR, RU, AR, CN) |
Company history: from workshop to world leader
The history of Davide Maternini SpA is inextricably linked to the history of Italian industry in the 20th century. To understand how a small workshop in a Lombard town became a global brand in abrasive engineering, you need to go back to the very beginning - to the man who gave the company its name.
Key development milestones
Maternini is unique in that it combines Italian craftsmanship with industrial precision. Each press, each rotary press is designed and assembled with the attention to detail that characterizes the best traditions of Italian engineering. Family ownership means that every decision is made with an eye on the decades ahead, not the next quarterly report.
Mission and values
Behind the numbers and dates are always people and principles. Maternini is one of those rare companies where the mission is not carved on a marble plaque in the lobby, but is lived every day in the workshop and at customer sites around the world.
Family continuity — three generations of quality
Davide Maternini SpA has been a family business since its first day. Three generations of the Maternini family have managed the company, maintaining the principles laid down by the founder in 1947. Franco Maternini, a representative of the current generation of managers, personally oversees strategic partnerships and key projects.
After-sales service worldwide
One of Maternini's key principles is continuous after-sales service and prompt assistance to all customers worldwide. The company maintains an agent network in the Far East, Brazil and other regions, providing local support in key areas.
The company's website is available in nine or more languages - Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Turkish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese. This level of language support demonstrates a serious attitude towards each market and each customer.
Equipment for cutting and grinding wheels (bonded)
Production of organic (Bakelite) bonded cutting and grinding wheels is Maternini's main specialization and the company's widest product line. The equipment covers all stages: from component dosing to final testing of finished products.
The heart of the production line is the press equipment. Maternini offers two fundamentally different approaches:
- Traditional hydraulic and electric presses with forces from 60 to 5000 tons - suitable for a wide range of tasks and sizes
- MDM series rotary (carousel) machines with 4–12+ workstations — for high-performance serial production
The latest model MDM 250-2C-R24 (130 tons force) deserves special attention. It is a universal rotary machine capable of producing cutting wheels, grinding wheels and depressed-center discs. It supports three fiberglass mesh inserts, top and bottom label installation, sleeve pressing and working with a wide range of thicknesses.
| Production stage | Maternini equipment | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Dosage and storage | Batching systems | Automatic component feeding |
| Mixture preparation | Mixers of various capacities | Mixing abrasive grain, bond, fillers |
| Resin dosage | Liquid resin blocks | Accurate dosage of bakelite bond |
| Pressing (traditional) | Hydraulic/electric presses | 60 — 5000 tons |
| Pressing (rotary) | MDM rotary machines | 4–12+ stations, up to 130 t, 3 layers of fiberglass mesh |
| Quality control | Testing machines | Balance, weight, breaking speed, cutting, grinding, side load |
| Auxiliary | Conveyors, manipulators | Automation of movement and stacking |
Equipment for vitrified wheels
Ceramic (vitrified) wheels are the second major direction in the Maternini product line. This is a technologically more complex product that requires a special approach to shaping and finishing.
For molding, the company offers specialized molding presses, designed taking into account the specifics of the ceramic bond - which is more fragile compared to Bakelite and requires a different pressure profile.
Lathes for processing ceramic wheels deserve special attention:
- One line processes circles with a diameter of up to 560 mm and a thickness of up to 300 mm
- The second line - circles with a diameter of up to 1200 mm
- Recent software update enables machining of precision gear grinding wheels with alpha angle and E dimension control to hundredths of a millimeter
New direction: equipment for coated abrasives
For decades, Maternini has specialized exclusively in equipment for hard abrasive products - bonded and vitrified wheels. However, in recent years, the company has made a strategic turn, introducing a line of machines for the production of coated abrasives (abrasives with a flexible base).
Coated abrasives are abrasive belts, sheets and wheels on a fabric or paper backing with coated abrasive grains. The market for these materials is huge and continues to grow. Entering this segment demonstrates Maternini's ability to evolve and find new growth points even after 75+ years of operation.
Quality control systems
Quality control is not an optional addition, but a mandatory part of any modern abrasive production. Abrasive wheels operate at high speeds, and the slightest defect can lead to the destruction of the product with catastrophic consequences for the operator.
Maternini manufactures a full range of testing equipment:
- Balance and weight control machines - detect uneven mass distribution, which at high speeds causes vibration and premature wear
- Speed test / burst test machines - determine the maximum speed at which the wheel breaks
- Grinding and cutting test machines - objectively assess the performance characteristics of finished products: material removal rate, surface quality, wheel life
- Side load test machines - check the resistance of the wheel to abnormal loads in real operating conditions
The Maternini testing machine complex helps customers meet the requirements of international safety standards, primarily the European EN 12413 and related regulatory documents.
Global presence
For a company with 45 employees, Maternini has an impressively wide geographical reach. The equipment, designed and manufactured in Malnate, is used in abrasives plants on five continents.
Direct sales and agents
Maternini's distribution model combines direct sales and an agency network. In Europe - Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal - the company conducts direct sales through its own team. In more distant markets - the Far East, Brazil and other regions - Maternini relies on an agency network consisting of local representatives who know the specifics of their regions well.
| Region | Presence | Form of work |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | Direct sales | Own team (IT, DE, FR, ES, PT) |
| Far East | Agent network | Local representatives |
| Brazil | Agent network | Local representative |
| Middle East | Sales + service | Arabic language support |
| Turkey | Sales + service | Turkish language support |
| China | Sales + service | Chinese language support |
NovoAbrasive and Maternini presses
One of the companies using Maternini equipment is the NovoAbrasive plant. NovoAbrasive production lines are equipped with Maternini presses, which form cutting and grinding wheels.
Monthly production is over a million wheels, a result made possible by the combination of European raw materials and reliable Maternini equipment. Maternini presses provide:
- Stable pressing quality - each circle meets the specified density and geometry parameters
- Precise product geometry - minimal deviations from nominal dimensions
- High productivity— critical for production volumes of over a million units per month
Partnership with Delma (2025)
The fall of 2025 was marked by an important strategic event in the life of Davide Maternini SpA - the conclusion of a partnership agreement with Delma srl.
Who is Delma srl?
Delma srl is an Italian software company founded in 1991. For over 30 years, Delma has specialized in PLC (programmable logic controllers) control systems and industrial equipment supervision systems. Its core competence is the automation of machines and production lines, specifically in the abrasive industry.
What partnership gives to clients
The partnership officially launched on September 1, 2025. Franco Maternini commented on this event: “This collaboration will strengthen our working relationship and lead us to new goals.”
For customers, the partnership opens up several fundamentally new opportunities:
- Revamping (modernization) and implementation of control systems for presses of various brands — not only Maternini's own production
- The partnership's competencies extend beyond the abrasive industry and extend to equipment in various industrial sectors
- Owners of older machines have the opportunity to equip them with modern control systems, significantly extending the life cycle of the equipment and increasing its productivity.
Malnate is the capital of abrasive engineering in Italy.
To understand the Maternini phenomenon, it is necessary to know the place where the company was born. Malnate is a small town in the province of Varese, Lombardy, about 50 kilometers north of Milan. Located near the Swiss border, in the foothills of the Alps, this town has become a unique center of the abrasive industry.
The history of abrasives in Malnate dates back long before Maternini. Mole Ermoli, founded here, began with the extraction of grindstones and the production of millstones. Mole Ermoli later expanded its range and won a gold medal at the Turin International Fair, establishing Malnate as a centre of abrasive competence.
It is noteworthy that another company in the field of abrasive engineering, Abrapress, was founded in the same town in 1992. The concentration of such enterprises in one place is not accidental: decades of accumulation of knowledge, transfer of experience between generations of engineers and workers, a developed network of component suppliers - all this creates a unique ecosystem that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
Latest news (2024–2026)
- February 2026— a new laboratory mixer machine (Laboratory Mixer Machine) is introduced — compact equipment for preparing trial batches of abrasive mixtures for quality control laboratories and R&D departments
- September 2025— a strategic partnership was concluded with Delma srl, which opened up new opportunities in the field of automation and equipment modernization
- 2025— Software update for ceramic wheel lathes released: precision machining of gear grinding wheels with an accuracy of hundredths of a millimeter
- 2024–2025— the new MDM 250-2C-R24 rotary press with a force of 130 tons is introduced — a universal machine for the production of cutting, grinding wheels and discs with a recessed center
- 2024–2025— expansion of the line of equipment for coated abrasives
- 2024–2025— the number of personnel increased by 13%, which indicates an increase in the volume of orders and expansion of production capacities
- 2024–2026— increasing presence in Asian and Middle Eastern markets, where demand for abrasive equipment is growing at an outpacing pace