A New Name, 140 Years of History
Within Avantium there is Cerim. Within Avantium there is Atom MB, created following Atom’s acquisition of Molina e Bianchi.
Three years have passed since Avantium was founded.
Three years of concrete work.
Three years of deep integration.
Three years of genuine dialogue, with no shortcuts.
Three years in which two companies that had been competitors for over 65 years made a rare choice in the Italian industrial landscape: to sit at the same table, share skills, experience, successes and mistakes, look each other in the eye and learn from one another. Without defenses. Without flags. With one shared goal: to build something greater.
They have not been easy years. The sector has gone through a complex phase, marked by a negative economic climate that has tested the entire supply chain. But difficulties did not slow Avantium down. On the contrary, they helped strengthen a solid, aware and well-prepared industrial reality. A company that has continued to invest, design, improve existing products and develop new ones, guided by a clear conviction: the future depends on the quality of Italian manufacturing and mechanical engineering.
After three years, a natural question arises: what is Avantium, really?
Avantium is not simply a new name. Avantium is a company built to last.
Within Avantium live all the products, all the experience, all the expertise, the skilled workers, designers and technicians of Cerim.
And alongside them live all the products, all the experience, all the expertise, the skilled workers, designers and technicians of Molina e Bianchi.
Together, these industrial stories bring with them 140 years of experience in the assembly sector.
Those who once chose one brand or the other are no longer forced to choose. Today, they can have both — not as a simple sum, but as an evolved synthesis: Avantium’s products combine and enhance the best of two industrial traditions.
Which other machine manufacturer in this field can claim such a heritage? The answer is simple: none.
This is not just another merger. It is a rare industrial story, built on real expertise, people, ideas, workshops, engineering and vision.
This is Avantium: a new name with a long history. A company born today, carrying forward all the value of yesterday to build the machines of tomorrow.
Our History
Cerim e Atom MB
Gaetano Pedretti founded CERIM (Construction and Repair of Machinery) following his experience at OR-PE and the 1954 industrial invention patent.
1955
Carlo Bianchi and Giuseppe Molina founded the company in a small mechanical workshop.
The K58 was developed, a hydraulic glue lasting machine that achieved great success.
1957 - 1958
First machine for sole bonding in the footwear sector.
Relocation to Via Cantù (600 sqm). Design of the K61 and K63, hydraulic glue toe-lasting machines.
1961–1963
With Sincron 3, a new production standard began to take shape.
1964
The vigevano exhibition
At the final Vigevano edition of the Footwear Exhibition, together with ORVI, a complete footwear manufacturing system was presented, from cutting to finishing.
A full-cycle technological proposal that introduced the industrial model of the sector to the global market.
Design of the K68, a hydraulic toe-lasting machine that extended lasting into the cavity, also using thermoplastic materials.
1968 - 1969
New production plant and industrial consolidation. A benchmark company in footwear lasting.
1975
A new structure for the same growth vision
Cerim and Molina e Bianchi became joint-stock companies.
Drawing on years of experience in pre-lasting machinery, Cerim developed the renowned K78. Over time, it became a symbol of reliability and innovation.
1976–1978
Development and consolidation of international presence.
Introduction of programming systems applied to lasting operations and integration of electronics.
1983–1984
Design of the Mark Line and microprocessor control with Sincron 4P.
Programming systems, automation, and expansion of processes (roughing, carding, trimming, nailing, bonding).
1996–1999
Acquisition of International, a company operating in technologies for the footwear industry.
Start of the partnership with BDF and creation of Molina e Bianchi Asia Pacific and MB Schuhmaschinen Pirmasens.
A path toward new solutions in industrial automation
2015–2016
In 2016, Molina e Bianchi became part of the Atom Group.
New machines for market needs
Development continued with the presentation of new advanced machines featuring strong technological content. The market appreciated the new results in edge and bottom processing of shoes and soles.
The K078LM was also developed and presented, a new high-end hydraulic pre-lasting machine, born from an idea by Luciano Mercalli.
2017–2022
In 2020, Atom MB launched Sincron TSX, a new high-end machine that became a benchmark in the pre-lasting machinery sector.
2023
Avantium is born from the merger of Cerim and Atom MB
A synthesis of mechanical tradition and advanced technological innovation.