New ZCS hi-tech hub in Tuscany
More than 25 years ago, Zucchetti Centro Sistemi (ZCS), a company based in Terranuova Bracciolini in the Valdarno area of Arezzo, invented the Ambrogio cordless lawnmower – a revolutionary product for its time. Today, professional robots for gardens, hotels (where they provide room or restaurant service) and warehouse logistics occupy an entire factory inaugurated today, 30 September – the fifth facility within the ZCS innovation hub, which is also active in automation, artificial intelligence, software and renewable energy.
The new building, named Palazzo del Futuro, covers 5,000 square metres (plus 2,700 square metres of underground car park), is fitted with a 180-kilowatt rooftop solar panel system, and required an investment of 14 million. It will house robot production, research and development, and offices, with the aim of reorganising and expanding the business of the group founded (over 40 years ago) and led by Fabrizio Bernini, who holds a 50 per cent stake (the other half is owned by the Lodi-based Zucchetti group). This year, ZCS expects to achieve a turnover of 240 million euros (+10 per cent) with 850 employees. The group (comprising 19 companies with offices in 11 Italian regions and five foreign countries) is investing heavily in robotics: 16 million has been allocated to the creation of new professional robots that have just been launched on the market.
“In a landscape characterised by economic and geopolitical uncertainties and the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence,” emphasises Fabrizio Bernini, who is also president of Confindustria Toscana, “we want to continue to grow so that we can act as a bridge between research and the market, between in-house expertise and new sectors such as collaborative robotics.”
Growth will be driven by both internal and external expansion. By the end of the year, Zcs plans to finalise a further three acquisitions of long-established software companies, following those completed over the last two years. In 2027 – Bernini announced – the human resources management software companies will be merged into a new company, Zcs People spa.
Meanwhile, this year Zcs has taken on a further 30 staff, with an average age of 34, and is stepping up the appointment of managers to head up the various divisions. Also in the Valdarno area, production has begun on large-scale photovoltaic inverters for the storage of renewable energy, ‘which translates into the creation of value for the economic and social system surrounding the company’, states Zcs.
