One of the most striking things about Merlo is the large number of components that it manufactures on one site — not just taking in sheets of raw steel to be cut, bent and welded into a chassis or boom, but also creating its own hydraulic fittings, moulding plastics and developing electronics. We take a tour of the expanding site at Cuneo in north west Italy.

KEEPING IT BRIEF

  • Although Merlo has been in existence since 1911, the industrial business we know today was founded by Amilcare and his sister Natalina Merlo in 1964. Silvia, Paolo and Andrea are now in charge of the family business.
  • Last year Merlo manufactured over 8,000 machines (around 6,800 of which are telehandlers), and it plans to do the same in 2025.
  • As well as various types of telehandlers, Merlo currently manufactures waste compactors, self-propelled cement mixers and has recently returned to the dumper market that, incidentally, was the product it started making in 1966.
  • A large number of components are made in house including transmissions and axles as well as electrics and hydraulic items.
  • Italy accounts for about 16% of production. The big three export markets are France (18%), Germany (15%) and the UK (11%). Merlo claims a 14.2% share of the telehandler market in Europe, 9.0% worldwide.
  • There are eight Merlo-owned subsidiaries around the world.
  • Employs around 1,700 staff, a figure that has increased by over 20% since 2019.

The driving force behind Italy’s best known telehandler, Amilcare Merlo, may have passed away in 2022, but the family-owned business has not slowed down. Far from it. Rather than shrink, the firm is currently expanding its factory at Cuneo in north west Italy.

The Cuneo plant is where Merlo not only makes its telehandlers (both agricultural and construction) but also a range of attachments as well as the Cingo and Tremme tool carrier vehicles that are shipped around the world. Just a few kilometres away there is another Merlo factory that builds waste compactors. In all, the company produced around 8,000 machines last year (770 bin lorries and about 6,800 telehandlers) although the plan is to increase the overall figure to 10,000 in the coming years.

For automated cutting there’s a range of machine options — five laser (up to 20mm), two plasma (50mm) and one oxy (300mm).

Actual manufacturing

But Cuneo isn’t just an assembly line. Merlo reckons it manufactures around 92% of its needed components in-house; that includes the usual steel fabrication you would expect to find, and also hydraulic rams, gearboxes and axle production. 

And here is that big metal, a substantial lump of steel plate 200mm thick, measuring 2,450mm long and 1,800mm wide. This is used in the bigger handlers and rotators.
Axles and transmission housings are machined on site and then assembled before being sent for painting in the familiar green.

It has also started making its own plastic parts, which, when you think about the total amount of packaging and shipping involved in moving these lightweight components, is a big win in reducing waste. 

This shows the range of plastic parts that are being made on site. This not only saves on shipping but also the waste packaging when bought in.

Lastly, there’s the electronics division, with Merlo also developing its own telematics system on-site.

Marketing and communication manager at Merlo, Mattia Bodino, was our guide for the day. When he started with the company in 2006, Merlo employed 700 staff; today that number has grown to 1,700. “Ten years ago, there were no robots in the factory; today there are 25 robots.”

Mattia Bodino shows the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of the hydraulic piston. Last year, Merlo produced over 72,300 rams.
The weld point is different on the boom for each model to allow neutral axis bending. Using different types of steel allows Merlo to reduce the steel thickness, which, in turn, helps with the lift capacity, especially on the bigger machines. It’s all about the weight.

Not only are these machines carrying out welding and milling work but also loading the press brakes and taking away the folded steel components. And there were more robots being added to drive for greater efficiency and precision.

Swarf can consume a lot of space, so it is compressed as it leaves the milling of cutter into thesepucks which are then sent for recycling.
Mattia Bodino, marketing and communication manager at Merlo, talks us through the manufacturing processes such as this automated handling system for the 400t press which has a 4.5m wide bed. Like telehandler makers, press manufacturer PPEB uses a functional model name, this is the 400/45. There is also a 1000t, 8.1m press for folding the boom sections.
One of the engineers at Merlo realised that by positioning the chassis vertically, instead of horizontally, they could save valuable space in the paint plant and maximise efficiency.

On top, and down below

On a clear day you can see the Alps from the factory, which is making the most of those clear days. The rooftops are adorned with solar panels, with another 840kWh added last year to bring the total to 2,240kWh. This will allow Merlo to produce a handy surplus of electricity.

But it is not just above ground that things are happening: there is around 18,000m2 of factory space below ground level (40,000m2 total). There is also a rail system for moving steel and parts, with a multi-level parts store used to hold items needed for the assembly line.

There is a massive network under the factory floor used for moving components and steel. This helps to free up valuable space.
The various cut plates for the chassis come together and are loaded into a jig. They are tack welded manually first, before robots complete the job. Today there are 25 robots in the Merlo factory.

Spare parts for retail are stored in separate buildings: the first was built in 2015 and this was then doubled in 2020. Here there are over 40,000 spaces in the fully automated picking system, which has electric lifts that move along rails and pick from the 80,000 boxes. This system applies to around 90% of the parts, but anything bigger than 350kg or 1.0m in physical size is stored separately for manual handling.

Two robots work together to line bore the various holes in the chassis to make sure everything lines up perfectly and minimise stresses. The correct tools are automatically selected from a carrousel. Installed in 2020, these are able to process a chassis in 20 to 60 minutes depending on the model. A second pair of robots to share the workload and deal with expansion is being installed.
Engine and cab assembly is carried out separately, with these components being married up with their chassis.

As mentioned, work is already underway to expand the eight telehandler assembly lines. This will add more stations but means less work has to be done at each one, boosting overall output to help meet the demand for more Merlos.       

There are eight assembly lines, which are in the process of being extended to allow more stations. By having more stations, less has to be done at each one. It’s all about keeping things moving.
As the units move along, you can see the machine come together. Though the vast majority of machines are green, there were also red and, as here, blue Merlos on the line, which are mainly produced for rental companies.
Finished machines await their turn for around a 20min run-up in the test bays, going through various boom cycles to ensure the machine is functioning correctly before being moved to the dispatch area.

Mervyn Bailey

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