History

1976

In 1976 Bimec was founded by Luciano Bottoli and his then business partner.

The first Bimec factory was in Cardano al Campo, a small town in the province of Varese.

In these early years Bimec primarily produced commissioned orders, designing and tailor-making machines to customer specifications.  Most of the early Bimec machines were rewinders and machines for processing plastic films.

During these years, the first Bimec slitter rewinders are built:  the models STB/75, STA/528, STB/529, STE/530.

1981

In 1981 Bimec starts to cooperate with the Italian commercial trade company Italwork who promote and sell Bimec machines in many foreign countries until 1991.

1983

In 1983 Bimec begins to collaborate with company Web Dynamics (Directors Keith Gillard and William G. Fox) as the official reseller for Australian and New Zealand market; this relationship continues today.

Thanks to this strong relationship based on esteem, mutual inspiration and support, Bimec slitter rewinders become a very popular brand in the Australian market

1986

In 1986 Bimec create their new logo which is still in use today.

1987

Bimec become more and more known in the area and the rest of Italy and sales orders increase.

Bimec relocate to a new and larger location in San Macario di Samarate.

The company acquire strong know-how in the design and construction of slitter rewinders for conversion of plastic films, paper and laminates used in the flexible packaging market.
The main models are the duplex type, with central rewinding on two shafts; from their original slitter rewinder models Bimec develop new ones:

• The STB40 that has the main feature to have unwinding and rewinding on the same side; this model becomes then the STB45 (predecessor of the current STM50).
• The model STC531 and the manual and economical STC535 which becomes a popular success among customers, especially among convertors.

1988

In 1988  Bimec build the first slitters with center surface rewind, models  BTC60  and  SW602.

During these years Bimec take part for the first time at the “huge” international exhibition of printing and graphic arts DRUPA in Düsseldorf.

1991

In 1991  the cooperation with Italwork ceases; Bimec start managing their sales worldwide through their own sales department and create a solid network of local sales agents.

1992

In 1992  Elena Bottoli, daughter of founding partner Luciano, begins working for the company.

Elena helps in managing the sales department, followed by marketing and communication roles.

In the same year, Bimec take part for the first time, at the big international show focused to plastic processing, Kunstoff, in Düsseldorf.

Bimec starts to cooperate with company Protecnic, Mr Juan Carlos Cerda, who will promote and sell their machines in Spain.

1993

In 1993  Bimec  become  s.r.l. company

The STB45, an evolution of the STB40, is first introduced to the market.

The Bimec  STB45  quickly becomes Bimec’s best selling model thanks to its compact single-face design and easy to use automatic controls.

In the same period the model BTS arises as evolution of BTC model.

Bimec starts to cooperate with Mr John Varlas for the promotion and sales in Greek market.

1995

In 1995  Luciano Bottoli’s co-founding business partner leaves the company

The same year the first  BDM, the Bimec bidirectional inspection machine, is launched on the market.

Mr Michel Aubry, based in Belgium, becomes the Bimec agent for Benelux countries, and Mr Franco Cernic become their agent for Serbia.

In 1998, at K show, the first slitter rewinder with shaftless unwind stand is shown on the stand.

1999

Bimec slitter rewinders are more and more internationally recognised, they are requested both in the Italian market and worldwide thanks to their innovation, technology, ergonomic design and ease of use.

The export percentage exceeds the internal sales on the Italian market.

The brand becomes synonymous with reliability, durability over time and quality after-sales service.

Bimec’s increased orders require larger facilities both for productions and for offices: the R&S department and the sales department are enlarged to take on more staff and improve the Bimec service.

Bimec move to Vanzaghello, in the province of Milan (the north part), very close to the Malpensa International Airport.

2000

In year 2000  Davide Bottoli, son of Luciano, enters the company as an industrial engineer who takes on the management of logistics and production.

2000 also sees the development of the model  TCA, the Bimec duplex turret slitter rewinder, that quickly becomes one of the core models of the production range.  Bimec have installed 80 TCA turrets worldwide, valued for their compact design, ease of use and high productivity and performance.

2000 is also the year in which Mr Vicky Hebbar (now Scanvik Packaging) will start promoting and selling Bimec machines in Indian market.

2001

2001 sees Mr Kurt Polegek become Bimec’s agent for Austrian and German market, and the cooperation between Bimec and Armand Trading for the Iranian market.

2005

In 2005,  series STB is renamed the series STM and includes  STM43, STM63 and STM83

The first automatic core-cutter TMA is launched on the market

The first duplex turret slitter TCA84 with rewinding up to 800 mm of diameter is sold

Mr Hassan Akef of company AKEF Trading starts to promote and sell Bimec slitters in Egyptian market

2009

Year 2009  Bimec introduce for the first time the TBS narrow web slitter

2010

Bimec again require more workspace so between 2009 and 2010  Bimec starts the construction of a second building of 2600 sqm  that will be used as secondary location; 50 mt away from the primary site.

2013

In 2013, on the occasion of K show, Bimec re-release their classic STB series, the model STB560; this model offers flexibility and a full package of options at a very competitive price

2014

In year 2014, another model is launched on the market: the BDM-L, large version of the BDM model

During these recent years Bimec enter into other important cooperations for the promotion and sales of their slitters: company Wantzen for UK and Ireland, company Grupak for Turkey, and Mapril for Portugal

2016

In year 2016  Bimec celebrate the 40^th anniversary of their business by proposing innovations at two important and established international shows: Drupa 2016 and  K2016.

Bimec is now ready to face the challenges of the future!