Fire & Rescue Industry Leader | Platforms, Systems & Transformation
Fabio Ferrari brings more than fifteen years of senior leadership experience in the global Fire & Rescue and Fire & Safety equipment industry, with a unique track record across product leadership, system architecture, and multi-brand platform management.
His journey in the sector began in 2010 with Akron Brass, where he entered the heart of the apparatus ecosystem — working at the intersection of nozzles, monitors, and waterflow performance, and learning first-hand how specifications, OEM relationships, and firefighter preference shape real purchasing decisions in North America and Europe.
This foundation in best-of-breed product strategy evolved into a broader system and platform perspective as he took on progressively larger leadership roles across the IDEX Fire & Safety portfolio. Over the following years, Fabio led commercial and operational responsibilities across Akron Brass, AWG, Godiva, Hale, Class 1, HURST, LUKAS, and Vetter, building a rare end-to-end understanding of the Fire & Rescue value chain — from apparatus water systems to technical rescue and extrication tools.
By the time he was appointed VP Fire & Safety – Europe Managing Director, Fabio was no longer managing brands — he was managing architectures.
Between 2019 and 2025, he led the full European Fire & Rescue platform for IDEX, overseeing manufacturing sites, sales organizations, and dealer networks across multiple countries. His mandate went far beyond growth:
- Repositioning IDEX in Europe from a component supplier to a system partner, aligned with the strategic reality that value in Fire & Rescue increasingly sits at the platform level, not the product level.
- Driving dealer governance and pricing discipline in a market structurally constrained by tenders and standards — turning channel complexity into a margin and resilience lever.
- Leading the European response to regulatory and technological shifts — from PFAS-driven foam system transitions to the rise of battery-powered rescue tools and enhanced scene safety requirements.
- Aligning European strategy with the North American system model, ensuring that the region contributed not just revenue, but higher-quality EBITDA consistent with the expectations of global boards and investors.
Across these roles, Fabio developed a strategic fluency that few executives in the sector possess:
he understands in detail how platforms like Madison Fire & Rescue and Safe Fleet compete, how OEM pull-through works in North America, and how governance, compliance, and channel discipline determine success in Europe.
His career uniquely bridges:
- Product depth (waterflow, pumps, controls, rescue tools),
- Platform strategy (multi-brand portfolios, bundling, cross-sell),
- Market mechanics (spec influence, tender logic, dealer economics), and
- Value creation logic (EBITDA mix, margin durability, exit multiples).
From Akron Brass in 2010 to VP of IDEX Europe in 2025, Fabio Ferrari has not simply worked in Fire & Rescue — he has helped shape how the industry moved from products to platforms, and how leaders now compete not just on equipment, but on system architecture, governance, and long-term value creation.
