History

At the ITMA fair in Milan, a new line of “IRON” cutting machines was unveiled, boasting an incredibly robust mechanical structure. These machines excel in delivering exceptional performance (especially in cutting very resistant fabrics with complex geometries) and offer remarkable operational reliability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

FKgroup grows both in terms of turnover and production where the aim is to reach one machine per day. In Frankfurt, during the Texprocess 2022, the patent for the FANUC robot that is enslaved to the cutting process is presented.

The imperious increase in sales generates the need for a further increase in production capacity in Italy. In September 2021, FK’s fourth plant comes into operation in Dalmine, with a new assembly and testing line for cutting machines.

The Covid-19 pandemic prompts FKgroup to create ‘Galeno’, a new line dedicated to medical non-woven fabric cutting for hospital uniforms and certified masks.

A special year for FKgroup, indeed. The company becomes a ‘PLC’ and its Modefinance-certified rating goes from ‘BBB’ to ‘A’. The internationalisation of the Group also continues with the entry of a minority shareholding in PGM System Inc, which provides its operating bases in Temple City (USA) and Shanghai (PRC).

FKgroup applies for the MEP energy protocol from TÜV and obtains an A+ GOLD result, with IDCL 100 at 5.9 kW and certified consumption up to 4 times lower than its competitors. The internationalisation of FKgroup begins with the opening of our headquarters in France. Thanks to the performance of the market, the support and demonstration location in Mulhouse is still active today.

FKgroup obtains ISO 9001-2015 certification from TÜV SUD and an excellent B1.1. public rating from Cerved Rating. The production hub in Osio Sotto (BG) is opened and the number of machines in production doubles.

The ‘Tecno’ cutting machine line for technical and automotive fabrics is designed. Twenty years after the ‘Biliardo’ model comes ‘Brutus’, created for static cutting of technical fabrics, such as carbon, Kevlar and fibreglass.

Due to the strong demand in the Asian markets, the production of the new ‘Top Cut 9’ for the automatic cutting of high-thickness knitwear begins and the ‘Super Jeans’ line of cutting and spreading machines is created.

The new ‘Top Cut 6’ and ‘Top Cut 8’ machines are produced. They feature new ISO 5011-certified filters which work to filter out the finest dust particles and the ‘Eco Power’ systems which significantly reduce average consumption. In addition, the ‘Freccia’ automatic cutting machine for mattresses up to 2.5 cm is launched in collaboration with SIEMENS, and the new ‘590’ spreading machine goes into production as well.

New important investments allow for the development of a new CAD, the production of the ‘490 PLC’ spreading machine and of the ‘Top Cut 3’ automatic cutting machine. The ‘WOW’ software is also created.

Sergio Gori, managing director of FKgroup and co-founder of Investronica Italia joins FK arna and FK systema. FKgroup is born.

FlashPlot, the world’s fastest pen plotter, is launched.

A new line of spreading and cutting machines dedicated to the Home textile sector is created.

The futuristic ‘Unicont’ series of computerised spreaders is created. It’s capable of programming and processing all the data required for the spreading, such as colours, steps, defect management and performance.

The ‘Biliardo’ model cutting machine with fixed table is created. The ideal machine for small to medium production runs in small spaces.

Start of industrial-scale production of the conveyor fabric cutting machine model ‘TP-3002’, which is still used by numerous customers.

In just 10 years after its founding, FK arna becomes the world leader in the manufacture of spreading machines, reaching the milestone of 1,000 units installed worldwide.

The CAD revolution begins. This now allows for Windows to be used and to take advantage of the performance of ‘TexWin10’ and the SQL Server database in a few years.

Flavio Cattini founds FK arna srl and continues the design and production of spreading machines.

Flavio Cattini, president of FKgroup, designs and builds the first CARON electromechanical spreading machine in Carpi (MO). The project continues in Zingonia (BG), where the world’s first drafting machine with electronic components was made.