EXTENDED COMPETENCIES – THE CRUCIAL ASSET FOR BUSINESS COMPETITIVENESS

22 March 2021

Italian players in the sector of complex lines for plastic materials transformation.

Competence in command: a refrain coming from far away. Expressed by industry players as well as from citizens and addressed to politicians, aimed at solving complex issues - connected with the pandemic too.

A plea to make competent subjects the actual decision-makers – a successful approach to be borrowed from the world of labour and business that has become an essential requisite of the increasingly complex market and relations among institutions, as well as public fund investments (recovery fund to be mentioned first) and policies of territory.

Italian plastic material industry in general, and the packaging converting sector in particular, are examples of success stories – extended competencies have launched a nationwide industrial district with distributed excellences (line manufacturers and converters and manufacturers of cutting-edge packaging solutions), acknowledging top quality brands in Europe and worldwide.

My opinion is based on my in-depth knowledge of the whole industrial base – made of intellectual prowess and organization skills proven by line manufacturers (companies from the converting sector included) besides the innovation strength of packaging manufacturers.  All those elements underpin my point of view and let me say that, as of today – in 2021 - there is still a lot to be done in supporting the great potential of packaging manufacturers who today, more than ever, need top quality suppliers/manufacturers.

Among manufacturers, amazing stories about fulfilling performing goals tell us of Italian families with actual business leaders and super-efficient partners/employees.

I have been working with them for long and I managed to learn their key characteristics: tenacity, perseverance, initiative, unconventionality, and great dynamism combined with a DNA imbued with desire for innovation.

I want to mention a few names, among the many on this market, with whose skills individual companies as well as the entire sector have grown, and with some of them I have had the opportunity to collaborate:

  • Gotti’s business acumen in thermoforming and blowing sectors, where German companies are leaders;
  • Milani’s open mind in the recycling sector;
  • Previero’s far-reaching projects;

(please consider that as of today, the above companies are led by the mentioned families and manage the majority of orders for top future recycling)

  • Bugatti’s tenacity in the injection field;
  • Bandera’s innovative technical ideas to legitimize PET and to become world leader in agricultural applications;
  • the highlander Macchi’s fairy tale, whose brand is globally renowned;
  • Piovan’s internationalization beforehand anyone else made the company grow like a multinational business;
  • Caccia’s dynamicity in creating alliances and reaching synergies;
  • Comerio’s outstanding technology – to remind us that plastics industry is rubber as well - in which Italians speak the same language of their multinational Japanese customers;
  • ongoing new services and accessory equipment developed by Anceschi, Grassi and Martena families;
  • Fare’ and the art developed in noble synthetic fibres, the flagship of fashion industry and, during the pandemic, the core to manufacture meltblown intended for the production of protective face masks;
  • Moltrasio’s innovation and commercial strength in the accumulation head blowing machines;
  • finally, I do not forget the unrivalled management lines from the moulding and laminating machinery world, such as Uteco and Nordmeccanica, whose customers are predominately foreign global players from the plastic packaging converting sector.

All of them share creativity, organization skills and audacity to address challenges in international markets. Above all, they have the competence, a crucial element to keep the business competitive in the plastic material transformation sector.

They are all firms grown to medium-sized companies over the latest 50 years. Limited corporate size is one of the weaknesses of Italian industry and prevents Italian players from becoming super competitive at a global level.

And all of them are aware of operating in a competitive market. How much competitive? Extremely competitive.