FederUnacoma, a thriving organization
This year's annual general meeting sees the manufacturers' federation celebrating its 80th anniversary. With its ever-increasing range of activities, FederUnacoma is one of the most structured and dynamic organizations in the Confindustria system
The Italian association of agricultural machinery manufacturers (FederUnacoma) was founded in 1945 with just ten founding members, and today is one of the largest organizations in the Confindustria system. Throughout its 80-year-long history – celebrated today in Bologna as part of the annual general meeting – the association has experienced every phase of Italy's economic history firsthand, and has developed a particularly widespread system of services for its associated companies. “Our organization has grown steadily over this period of time,” explained General Manager Simona Rapastella, “but in recent years, activities have accelerated significantly, as demonstrated by some statistics in the last ten years and, above all, reports from the last five years”. From 2015 to the present day we have had 164 new associated industries, which have brought the current membership base to 360 companies - said Rapastella - the EIMA trade fair has gone from a total of 236,000 attendees (2014) to 347,000 (2024), and the Agrilevante exhibition from 58,000 (2013) to 95,000 (2023), confirming the Federation as one of the most accredited organizers on the international trade fair scene". Each sector of activity shows significant data, if we consider that as part of its foreign market campaigns the Federation is involved in missions, collective exhibitions and promotional activities in over 80 countries, that it currently presides over 65 technical groups at the European CEMA committee and international regulatory bodies, and that in the statistical sphere it assesses and monitors 9 sectors and 100 product categories. In the field of communication, the Federation has organized over 1,300 events in the last ten years, including press conferences, workshops and conventions. In online and social communication, it operates 18 websites and 11 social media accounts. And its training courses have seen participation from over 4,500 employees of associated companies over the decade. Along with services specifically designed for companies – the General Manager stated – a large amount of the organization's activity is that of institutional relations, at the national, European and international level. As early as the 1950s, the manufacturers' association was a key player in the creation of the Revolving Fund for the purchase of agricultural machinery, in the preparation of the Vanoni Development Plan for the mechanization of agriculture, in the definition of common customs tariffs after the establishment of the European Common Market, and continued representation of the sector's needs throughout all the decades thereafter. “The goal of recent years – Rapastella stated – has been above all to promote mechanization as a decisive element for the innovation of the agri-food and agro-industrial supply chains, and as a successful sector for Made in Italy products”. The Federation was center stage last year at the Agricultural Exhibition in Doha and at the G7 Agriculture and Fisheries meeting in Syracuse, and at this year's Expo in Osaka, as well as at institutional events of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests such as “Agricoltura è” and “VinItaly”. “The role of agricultural mechanics is now strongly present in institutions and political fora - concluded Rapastella - but this sector has also made space for itself in public opinion, which looks at our vehicles, equipment, highly automated technologies and robots that work in the fields with growing curiosity and interest. This achievement is also something to be proud of".
