This doesn't answer your historical question but...
I toured the main factory in Vicenza in July 1999. On the incoming loading dock were plastic bins full of crank forgings and chromed front derailleur cages that our factory guide said were made by outside contractors.
Among the things we were shown on the tour were the automated crank anodizing vats and overhead conveyers, the automated crank chainring hole drilling equipment, the automated chainring milling machines (stacks of chainring blanks having their teeth cut at the same time), and the decidedly unautomated station where the crank tapers were punched. At this station, each crank was placed in a machine (that looked like a large drill press) by a woman who looked to be in her mid-50s (sorry if this bursts anybody's imaginings... but who knows how many of us are riding Campy cranks with tapers made by this same woman!). The bit used to make the tapers was cylindrical on the bottom (to fit into a round hole in the crank) and had a square profiled top. This bit was punched through the crank by the machine and ended up in a bucket (with the shavings) underneath the machine. The woman would reach down and retrieve the punch from the bucket and replace it into the upper part of the machine for each taper to be punched!
Other things: cranks and hubs held by hand while being polished and buffed before being anodized; the logos being screened/stamped onto cranks (Record and Chorus arms were warmed prior to getting their logos to make them more durable; other models -- including the not-yet-released Daytona cranks we saw -- were not.); cassette cogs being stamped multiple times and finally punched out of large bands of steel by a large computer controlled machine; sealed bearings being placed by hand and pressed into hub shells one at a time, a computer controlled machine that sorted individual chain links into bins by precise size/length (hole location) before being assembled into chains on a "flatbed" machine that had, as its "pulleys" to route the newly formed chain, Campy cassette hubs with a single cog installed!
And, finally, some vintage bike content!... One of our group had brought along a toeclip pedal missing a dustcap and showed it to the guide at the beginning of the tour. Along the way, our guide handed the pedal to a fellow who worked near two medium-size, grey, steel upright cabinets (we were told that this was the extent of their vintage parts inventory!). On our way out, the pedal reappeared sporting a NOS dustcap, gratis. Now, that's customer service! No?
Lee Berg Palo Alto, Calif.
Tom Dalton wrote:
>
> I have sometimes wondered how many of the zillions of
> washers, fasteners, rivets, springs, bushings,
> bearings, cables, etc. in Campy products are ordered
> straight out of suppliers' product catalogs, how many
> are custom spec'd, and how many are made in-house.
> I've also wondered if certain parts weren't sourced
> from multiple vendors over time or even multiple
> vendors simultateously. Look hard at some of those
> little parts and soon no two look the same. I think
> about strange things I guess.
>
> Oh yeah, this reads like a statement, but I guess it's
> a question for the list. Any ideas?
>
> Tom Dalton