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How we got here

The history of SMW‑AUTOBLOK goes back for over 75 years. From our beginnings in Turin, Italy, we have grown to become a worldwide multinational with a presence on all continents. Here is a timeline of the events that made SMW‑AUTOBLOK what it is today.

1950-1960

FOUNDATION

Autoblok is founded in Turin in 1942 by Domenico Bronzino. In 1946 the company begins making chucks, at first manual and later power operated.

1950-1960

Autoblok moves from a workshop to fully-industrialized production. The company becomes the leading maker of chucks in Italy. The 1960s sees Autoblok's first sales of its products abroad, at first through agencies and later through joint ventures and branches in France, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Brazil and Japan.

1970-1974

Autoblok opens branches in strategic European markets: France, UK and Germany.

AUTOBLOK OPENS IN THE USA

With the advent of new numerical control technologies, Autoblok can develop ever more sophisticated and specialized products, even reaching the USA at a time when very few Italian companies managed that feat" - Walter Bronzino Autoblok greatly widens its horizons by entering a new market where the rules are very different from its home country.

PULL-DOWN

CHUCKS

To meet the highly sophisticated requirements of the customers, Autoblok developed a new generation of pull-down chucks with floating jaws.

SHAFT CHUCKS

WITH FACE DRIVER

For turning shafts fully finished in only one operation, Autoblok developed the GSA chucks with retractable jaws and central face-driver

INDEXING

CHUCKS

Innovative technology and Autoblok's strong commitment to R&D enables us to design and implement new and more advanced products. That's why our motto is "always a step ahead". The AXN chuck is indexable and guarantees automatic positioning of the workpiece on multiple axes, be they 4x90°, 8x45°, 6x60° or 3x120°.

1990S

SMW‑AUTOBLOK enters the oil & gas sector with its BIG BORE® products, conquering a position in an industry that will quickly become one of the group's predominant sectors, together with automotive. SMW‑AUTOBLOK's products for the oil market are state-of-the-art for oil extraction companies.

1993

ACQUISITION OF THE GERMAN SMW SPANNSYSTEME

The union of SMW brand and AUTOBLOK brand has given rise to SMW‑AUTOBLOK brand, recognized worldwide as an index of reliability and high quality.

ACQUISITION OF OML AND MARIO PINTO

With this strategic acquisition SMW‑AUTOBLOK consolidates its presence on the Italian market. Mario Pinto is a leading maker of manual chucks and is building an excellent market position with its live-tooling equipment and toolholders. OML is a leading maker in Italy of static products, vises, and blocks.

2005-2015

SMW‑AUTOBLOK opens branch offices in Mexico, China, India, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, the Czech Republic and Sweden, establishing a strong presence in these important markets.

2017

AWARD: 100 SITES OF INDUSTRY 4.0

In Stuttgart, SMW‑AUTOBLOK receives a major award from the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg for being one of the "100 Sites of Industry 4.0".

ACQUISITION OF TELBROOK

Innovative highly sophisticated workholding systems have been developed by Telbrook for manufacturing aircraft engine parts in the UK. With the acquisition of Telbrook these important technologies are now available to all SMW‑AUTOBLOK customers around the world.

2018

NEW PRODUCTION SEAT IN ITALY

SMW‑AUTOBLOK opens a new production seat in Petacciato- Italy for static workholding

2018

NEW SUBSIDIARY

Established SMW‑AUTOBLOK Poland

2019

NEW SUBSIDIARY

Established SMW‑AUTOBLOK Turkey

2020

TOBLER ACQUISITION

The range of SMW‑AUTOBLOK expanding standard and special mandrels becomes the most complete on the workpieces clamping market.

2021

NEW COMPANY FOUNDATION MAG-AUTOBLOK TECNOMAGNETE

The recent acquisition of Tecnomagnete by the SMW-Autoblok group completes the range of clamping systems for machine tools with high-tech magnetic systems.