About us

The Federation is made up of 34 associations and product groups, and has over 1,000 member companies, including those with the greatest expertise in their respective production sectors:

employees 225,000
sales €54.5 billion
exports on sales 57.1%

ANIMA’s strategic goals include providing companies with skills, knowledge and services of high added value.

Macrosectors represented

Construction equipment, machines and products

Goods handling and logistics

Technologies and equipment for food and water products

Machines and plants for energy production and for the oil and chemical industry

Technologies and products for industry

Machines and systems for personal and environmental safety

Our mission

We protect the interests of the mechanical engineering industry in general, promote our member companies and their products, both in Italy and abroad, and support them in resolving their technical and economic problems.

In Italy

ANIMA is a founding member of UNI (Italian standardization body). ANIMA Confindustria is also the majority shareholder of ICIM Group, a holding that includes ICIM SpA, OMECO, Consorzio PASCAL, TIFQ, TIFQlab.

In Europe

At the European level, ANIMA is a founding partner and an active member of Orgalim (The European Federation of Mechanical Engineering).

Perché associarsi
Why to join

The reasons to become an ANIMA member.

1. Create synergies with other member companies

Becoming part of a network of 1,000 companies operating in the mechanical engineering industry, representing the realities and interests of 60 different sectors, allows you to:

  • make your voice heard with greater political influence by the technical bodies (UNI, CEN, ISO, and the European Associations and Committees) and institutional bodies (Confindustria, Ministries, and the European Commission)
  • obtain greater media visibility on the topics and initiatives affecting the sectors represented by the ANIMA Federation
  • participate in opportunities to meet and gain updates on issues of strategic interest for companies operating in the mechanical engineering industry
  • take advantage of all the benefits offered through Special agreements with our partners.

2. Promote the mechanical engineering industry

The ANIMA Federation offers opportunities to:

  • gain business visibility, in order to bring greater value to your products and human capital through the reference association
  • attend business meetings in Italy and abroad organised by the Federation and/or the association
  • use access or consolidation channels for the most dynamic and promising foreign markets

3. Business information

  • Regulatory and legislative developments at the domestic and international levels
  • Market trends
  • In-depth technical analysis (safety, environment, energy policy, industrial policy, counterfeiting, Made in, market surveillance, corporate financing, tax breaks, etc.)
  • Updates on training courses and events

4. Services and consultancy designed for mechanical engineering companies

  • Tailored training
  • Training funding
  • Certification
  • Customs services
  • Consulting

5. Play an active role in the market’s development

By supporting the needs of the various reference sectors with the decision-making bodies and by interacting with the domestic and EU institutions on an ongoing basis, we’re able to:

  • seize upon expectations and prospects
  • share experiences and good practices in order to promptly update your expertise.
Anima - Storia
History

ANIMA was founded on 14 February 1914 by an industrial committee led by engineer Camillo Olivetti.

From the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century, alongside the large industrial companies, a form of “miscellaneous” mechanical engineering of extraordinary value for the country’s economy had spread throughout Italy. Some examples include: agricultural tractors, cutlery, precision scientific instruments, radio equipment, small metal parts, and locks.

1914

The 33 companies that founded the National Association of Mechanical Engineering and Related Industrialists” aimed to establish a “specific body to study, sponsor and promote everything of interest and utility to mechanical engineering and related industries, and, above all, to protect their common economic interests.” The Association drew the attention of major figures from the emerging industry. The Founding Partners included: Agnelli, Augusta, Braibanti, Breda, Fiat, Marelli, Macchi, Necchi, Olivetti, Riva, Salmoiraghi, and Tosi.

In the first years of its existence ANIMA carries out an action aimed at having a customs tariff adopted that would defend national mechanics from foreign competition, given that the protection policy made the purchase of raw materials extremely onerous and therefore the Made in Italy products not very competitive.

1945

On 25 May 1945, in the aftermath of World War 2, ANIMA resumed its journey with 53 companies reconstituting the Association of Italian Metallurgical and Mechanical Industries (A.I.M.M.I), which was later renamed ANIMA. On a functional level, the Association became a national representative organisation for mechanical engineering companies, thus serving as a reference point for the entire sector nationwide, protecting its interests, while at the same time promoting growth, development and technological updating.

The 1960s

From 312 members in 1950, ANIMA grew to include over 500 members in just 10 years, and went on to have approximately 1,000 member companies.

1988

ANIMA changed from a “Business Association” to a “Federation of Associations and Unions” within the framework of Confindustria: a decisive step that placed a modern “system” for achieving new domestic and international goals at the disposal of its member companies, which boasted over 60 different production specialisations.

2014 

We celebrated our centennial to commemorate the Federation’s constant commitment to Italy’s mechanical engineering companies.

ANIMA in figures
ANIMA in figures
  • 34 associations
  • 1,000 member companies
  • 60 product sectors
  • 55.5 € billion in sales
  • 60% exports on sales
  • 222K employee
Orgalim
Orgalim

The companies represented by Orgalim employ 10.3 million employees. The industrial sector that it represents accounts for 28% of the European Union’s total production and one third of its exports. The former president of ANIMA, Sandro Bonomi, served as president of Orgalim from 2012 to 2016.

Orgalim Member Federations / Associations

FMMI - FEEI (Austria), AGORIA (Belgium), BASSEL (Bulgaria), DI (Denmark), The Federation of Finish Technology Industries (Finland), Alliance TICS - FIEEC FIM (France), VDMA - WSM - ZVEI (Germany), BEAMA - EAMA - GAMBICA (Great Britain), IEEF (Ireland), ANIE - ANIMA - FEDERMACCHINE (Italy), Association of Mechanical Engineering and Metalworking Industries of Latvia (Latvia), LINPRA (Lithuania), ILTM (Luxembourg), Norsk Industri (Norway), FME/CWM - METAALUNIE (Netherlands), Federation of the Economic Chambers of the Electromechanical Industries (Poland), AIMMAP, ANEMM (Portugal), GZS-MPIA (Slovenia), CONFEMETAL - SERCOBE (Spain), TEKNIKFORETAGEN (Sweden), and SWISSMEM (Switzerland).

Functions

  • To guarantee members updated information regarding the activities of the European Union and the European institutions of specific interest to Orgalim.
  • To collect and coordinate the opinions of European industry and to influence the decisions of the European Union’s political bodies and other international bodies.
  • To promote relations between the member Federations and the Associations.