How a Family-Owned Tooling Company Competes with Global Giants (Includes Video)

63 percent of technology startups will likely fail in the first five years, with poor product and market fit according to a 2024 study by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics¹.

D’Andrea, an Italian company known as a world leader in the production of high precision accessories for the CNC machine tool industry, defied the odds by embracing new technologies for continuous innovation to meet the changing needs of its customers. What started as a small family-run business is now an internationally recognized manufacturer, exporting 70 percent of its products worldwide.

Established in 1951 by Marino D’Andrea, the company started the production of its first manual facing head, addressing a problem in the machine tool industry like many small business startups. D’Andrea invented and manufactured the world’s first facing head that enabled performing turning operation on a milling center. A standard boring head could not be adjusted to specific increments for precision and required the machine to be stopped to adjust the cut, so D’Andrea’s product was an industry-first innovation.

The key to D'Andrea's longevity and competitive advantage has been its embrace of continuous innovation. The latest example—digitalization. By using a comprehensive software to run their end-to-end manufacturing processes, they have transformed into a digital company, enabling D’Andrea to innovate faster, boost efficiency in production, and successfully compete with much larger companies.

Precision Engineering with Global Impact

Operating from two factories in Lainate and Molise, Italy, D'Andrea specializes in two main product lines: facing heads and tooling. These products serve machine tool builders globally, ensuring precision and efficiency in machining applications. However, like many machinery manufacturers, D'Andrea faced challenges such as reducing time-to-market and ensuring manufacturing precision with minimal waste.

What enabled D’Andrea to tackle these challenges was using digital manufacturing solutions. By integrating advanced software with their expertise in precision tooling, D’Andrea redefined its production process, achieving faster turnaround times, higher efficiency, and greater flexibility in meeting customer demands.

Seamless Design and Manufacturing Integration

In the past, the production process – from design to shop floor – was disconnected. Sharing the critical data across teams was one of the major challenges. Now, with digitalization, this process is connected and highly efficient.

The process at D'Andrea begins in the design phase, where the designers model the components and define the assemblies using NX CAD from Siemens. At this stage, the engineering team also embeds the product and manufacturing information (PMI) data, including tolerances, surface finish and materials specifications into the 3D model. This data is stored in Teamcenter, a PLM platform that enables seamless collaboration across departments.

By leveraging a seamless CAD/CAM integration, NX CAM directly reads PMI data from 3D CAD files, allowing CAM programmers to automatically generate toolpaths based on precise design specifications. This tightly integrated process using tools from the Siemens Xcelerator software portfolio not only ensures consistency across manufacturing but also reduces errors that could arise from miscommunication or outdated data. D'Andrea's commitment to digital manufacturing has allowed them to streamline production workflows, optimize machining operations, and maintain their reputation for innovative products for the machinery industry.

Machining Excellence with Siemens NX CAM

D'Andrea's shop floor is equipped with a wide range of advanced CNC machine tools, including double-turret lathes and five-axis milling centers capable of simultaneous machining. These machines require comprehensive CAM programming capabilities and precise toolpath control to maximize efficiency and accuracy.

Ihor Tymoschenko, CAM programmer at D’Andrea, says, "NX CAM is a comprehensive system that doesn't require extensive preparation. The ability to program both turning and milling in the same software allows me to visualize all tools and operations within a single environment." 

The feature-based machining functionality in NX CAM automates CNC programming by recognizing part features and applying the optimal machining strategies, cutting tools, and machining sequences. The shift from manual programming to automation enables the company to handle high-mix, low-volume production using standardized processes. With productivity as the key differentiator for D’Andrea, programming time was reduced by up to 50 percent.

Beyond programming efficiency, the accurate machining simulation in NX CAM speeds up set up, reduces waste and maximizes machine uptime. The digital twin simulation provides full visibility into the machining process before actual production, helping engineers detect potential collisions and optimize toolpaths. Optimizing machining strategies in a virtual environment helps D'Andrea reduce machine time, improve cutting efficiency, and prevent costly production errors. By integrating NX CAM into their workflow, D'Andrea has achieved significant improvements in efficiency, accuracy, and sustainability to maintain its leadership in an increasingly competitive market.

NX and Teamcenter: A Connected Digital Thread

D'Andrea's key to success is eliminating fragmented processes by adopting a connected digital thread.

Instead of working with isolated design, manufacturing engineering, and production silos, they have created a unified workflow where every department – from R&D to the shop floor – operates from a single source of truth. Alessandro Castellini, R&D Manager, highlights a key reason behind this transformation: “The use of a unique software system is one of the basic aspects to increase our efficiency and also to reduce the possibility of error,” he says.

With NX and Teamcenter integration, manufacturing engineers can seamlessly connect design, machining, and product lifecycle management (PLM) into a unified workflow. Centralized data management enables collaboration across departments, ensuring that R&D, engineering, and production teams work with the latest and most accurate information. This seamless integration offers several advantages:

• Improved Collaboration – Engineers, designers, and machinists can access the same data in real-time, reducing errors and miscommunication.
• Efficient Data Management – Teamcenter helps track part families, manage product variants, and streamline configurations, making it easier to standardize and customize products.
• Reduced Design Effort – With parametric modeling, a single part can be defined once, and multiple size variations can be generated by adjusting a few key parameters.
• Higher Level of Automation – The integrated capabilities not only allow for the capture of design intent using PMI, but also automate manufacturing processes such as CNC programming and CMM inspection programming.

By leveraging a connected digital thread, D'Andrea has transformed its production capabilities, ensuring consistency, reducing lead times, and increasing overall efficiency.

A Future Powered by Digital Manufacturing

Digital transformation can redefine traditional manufacturing to help companies innovate faster with greater confidence and sustainability. By integrating the digital manufacturing solutions from the Siemens Xcelerator software portfolio, D’Andrea optimized its operations, improved collaboration, and significantly reduced time-to-market targets. With faster turnaround times and improved internal coordination, D'Andrea can respond more effectively to customer demands and supplier needs. Delivering a customer solution can now be accomplished in just 48 hours versus weeks, demonstrating the power of digital manufacturing with efficiency and agility.

Today, D'Andrea continues to invest in digitalization to maintain its competitive edge. With access to advanced AI and cloud-based software from Siemens, the company is well-positioned to tackle new challenges, expand their capabilities, and further strengthen its reputation as a leader in precision tooling.

Digitalization allows D’Andrea to compete with much larger companies on a global scale, such as exporting machinery equipment to China. Through innovation and technology, D'Andrea has proven that even a family-owned company can compete with industry giants. Their journey showcases how embracing digital transformation is not just about modernization – it's about securing a future of continued growth, sustainability, excellence, and success for the next generation of D’Andrea products.

Hear firsthand from the D’Andrea team about how they've cut programming time by 50% and reduced production cycles from one week to just 48 hours using Siemens technology. Watch on YouTube

¹Howarth, J. (2025, February 23). Startup Failure Statistics (2024). Exploding Topics.