Innovation, professionalism and passion are the keywords of success. HP Composites confirms itself as a leading exponent in the Carbon fiber Racing and Automotive applications.
HP Composites, a leader in the Motorsport and Automotive sector in the production of advanced composite components in carbon fiber, continues to be talked about. The company that is part of the French group, Everspeed, does not decelerate but rather continues its race towards growth and a consequent enhancement of the territory.
A delicate moment when one thinks of the current political tension between Italy and France, which, however, does not seem to interest the company from the Marche that continues on its path, thanks to the wealth of skills and professionalism that it has meticulously constructed in recent years.
A journey that began in 2014 when the current president Jacques Nicolet, a gentleman driver and car enthusiast, decided to renew his entrepreneurial confidence by entering the field personally alongside a completely new management, in a strongly regressed territory compared to the rest of Italy but in which he saw great potential. It must be borne in mind that the French presence in the national territory is important, for about 20 years France has been "shopping" for Italian companies, in fact, there are 1,925 large and small companies operating in different sectors, controlled by French owners for a turnover of nearly 100 billion euros.
In recent years, HP has managed to conquer the podium in a sector niche still considered, that of advanced composite materials in carbon fiber, and to reinforce the value of made in Italy in the world, despite the constant battles to be sustained in a rich area of problems and inconveniences due, in addition to the economic crisis, to the consequences of the earthquake of two years ago.
But the tenacity and the will of the management have allowed the company to start building the foundations of what is today called the "Piceno Carbon Valley".
A winding road full of obstacles, which however did not frighten HP Composites, which continued its expansion in terms of square meters and human resources employed. Until last spring, in fact, there were only two production plants but within a few months the third plant was set up and the negotiations that had just begun in the autumn of 2018 are leading to the acquisition of a 4th production plant that will bring company to cover about 18,000 square meters; all this will make it possible to complete what is called "product verticalization" in technical jargon.
Important numbers if we consider that the daily work is mainly manufacturing and it is precisely the resources employed that over time have made the difference. In recent years the number of employees has risen from around 60 to 585 and the prospects for the next quarter are to reach 650 employees. A mini-world characterized by the color pink, in fact there are about 170 women employed in the company and not only the average age of the staff employed is around 23 years, this makes it clear that the company's will is to focus on everything and for everything on the new generations.
An important contribution to the Marche Region and specifically to the Ascoli area, despite the new and more stringent rules on temporary and stable employment relationships, introduced with the Dignity Decree, which in some way hold back the labor market.
However, the positive trend also regards turnover, 2018 in fact ended with an overrun of 33 million euros with an increase compared to the previous year of 23%. Also the data concerning production are comforting: from the beginning of 2018 there are about 4000 pieces produced weekly, while as regards only the number of frames produced, the figure exceeded 1300.
HP Composites confirms itself as the flagship in the world of composite materials applied to the Automotive and Motorsport sector, making its presence felt in the most important world competitions, from the 24 hours of Le Mans (2018) where about 35% of the cars in track is produced in the Ascoli factories, on the podium during the 2nd stage of the season of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship at Sebring, without forgetting the 24 hours of Daytona last January which saw HP Composites climb, for the second consecutive year, on the podium together with Lamborghini Squadra Corse with which it is linked by a partnership until 2020, but not only, different companies operating in this sector such as Dallara, Spark Racing Technologies, Tatuus, Michelotto and Ligier Automotive have chosen the company Ascolana as an official partner.
The company will be the protagonist at the next Geneva Motor Show where there will be around 8 models of cars from 6 different customers with components branded HP, without forgetting the 87th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans which will take place in June 2019.
HP Composites is therefore honoring the territory and as General Manager Ing. Abramo Levato explains: "The secret of our success? Having built a large family over time, despite the large numbers, we always try to involve our employees in extra work activities that allow us to stay together and strengthen ties. All this is then reflected on the daily work, a mix of humility, professionalism, help and mutual respect. Our added value is the people ".
Human resources and their training are key points: the attention paid to the Education sector is dictated by the desire to curb if not to eliminate the so-called "brain drain" from a territory that today offers few opportunities. The training school, Ecodime Italia and TCA (The Composite Academy), always part of the French Everspeed Group of which HP is a member, has created a specialized training offer both in the Automotive and Performance fields. The TCA training courses are preparatory for inclusion in the company; There are several employees who have joined the HP staff starting from one of these courses. We need a period of didactic training and then practice to really understand what composite materials are and the consequent processing techniques.
This priority is also reflected outside: a Post Diploma Course for the training of Technicians with highly specialized knowledge and skills in the composite materials supply chain, and of INDUSTRY 4.0 organized in collaboration with the Recanati ITS that will be held at the IIS “Fermi - Sacconi-Ceci” of Ascoli Piceno, which officially kicked off on February 7th and a Specialization Course, for students with a three-year degree in science, on Composite Materials Engineering organized in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Marche and the Composite Materials Hub started in November 2018. In addition to these two projects, a degree course on Composite Materials Engineering was activated at the Polytechnic University of Marche, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, which will take the start at the beginning of March 2019.
The future goals are clear: to maintain market leadership through process industrialization, increasingly promoting the use of advanced composite materials in the automotive sector, a real future world challenge.