The roundtable at the Teatro Imperiale in Montecatini Terme, organized by Verinlegno in occasion of its 40th anniversary.
Internationalization, research and development, eco-friendly products, economy and finance were the topics which gave life to the roundtable entitled "The Paint Industry, innovation and global vision", organized by Verinlegno SPA to celebrate its first 40 years of enterprise. The main participants which joined the Verinlegno CDA in the debate, held on February 20th, 2015, were: Vittorio Maglia, economic analyst and internationalization from Federchimica; Matteo Aglio director at AVISA Federchimica; Federica Landucci, president of the industrial association of Pistoia; the professor Mauro Marchetti, director at the Biomolecular Chemistry Institute of the CNR in Sassari; the congressman Edoardo Fanucci, of the Chamber of Deputies. The roundtable was presided by Andrea Biondi journalist at "Il Sole 24 Ore.
Forty years of attentive creation of our products, of product innovation research, of adjustment to the changed parameters of both the economy and the society. Verinlegno continues to bring its excellence to Italy and to the world since its founding in 1975, and today it looks with confidence and renewed commitment to the future challenges of the marketplace. With this roundtable the company aimed to open itself to the context in which it operates and make the over 300 participants of the event (employees, clients, suppliers, Italian and international collaborators, local authorities and administrators) fully aware of it.
THE CONTEXT
Vittorio Maglia, economist at Federchimica, cites John Donne in saying that: "If no man is an island entire of itself, but it's a piece of the continent, a part of the main - as written by the famous English poet – imagine a business enterprise." Every company is part of the scenario in which it operates. A context that finds its best interpreter in the highest representative of an over 2000 years old institution: "We are not living an era of changes, but rather a change of an era." as stated by Pope Francesco, making everyone aware that we are experiencing changes from which we can never turn back. It's essential then, from the viewpoint of a company, to go beyond the geographic concept of globalization (the world as a marketplace) and thoroughly understand that: "Globalization has become an explosive phenomenon from the moment the time required for the exchange of information has been reduced. A chinese company today can have the same assets, information, technology and qualified manpower that we have." That makes it necessary - maintains the economist - to go from imitation to innovation: "Because if the life cycle of the products becomes very short, we need to move faster and faster, even to just remain still." In this situation, as written by Michael Porter ("The competitive Advantage of nations") the competition is not just among firms, but among countries. Because: "If a Chinese company and a German one have the same abilities, what makes the difference in working in China, Germany or Italy is the system of a country, the cost of energy, the infrastructures, the regulations at the European, national and regional level".
ECONOMIC TRENDS
Maglia continues by clarifying the analysis: "Today, after the epochal crisis of 2009, the primary balance between income and cash outflow of the Italian government is in the black, and we are the second country in Europe with an active balance on the public scale. Unfortunately we have the burden of interest. The effort to obtain the trust from the international institutions has been enormous and therefore, at job done, we can suffer less restrictions. We are in a pretty good situation. Favorable conditions also derive from the monetary politics of the European Central Bank, which has put more currency in the system, thus decreasing the value of the Euro. Add to this the favorable situation resulting from the oil price slump. There are therefore the conditions for growth", as shown by the balance of the commercial scale, in the black by 83 billion, excluding the cost of energy. After Germany, there is us. Timely analyses say that even our exported products are of quality, innovative thanks to the great effort for innovation, an effort that is no longer on a day by day basis but rather increasingly founded on research. Therefore, concludes Maglia: "We are able to seize growth." In this great challenge, he who has full awareness of the radical change of consumptions and consumers wins. In concluding his analysis Maglia quotes Giorgio Squinzi, current president of Confindustria: "We need to go farther to anticipate the clients' needs. And chemistry is the 'turbo' of the 'Made in Italy'." If method innovation is available to everyone, the industrial districts can only continue to grow with the innovation of products which comes from chemistry: varnishes, plastics, auxiliary products; this is why chemistry is the turbo of the Made in Italy.
RESEARCH AND PRODUCT INNOVATION
If product innovation is the main key for the future, who better than the director of the Biomolecular Chemistry Institute of CNR in Sassari can illustrate the state-of-the-art. "What's the use of public research – wonders in his premise the professor Mauro Marchetti – if it doesn't cooperate with the productive substratum?" And concludes: "It's not of much use; unfortunately this collaboration is not an idyllic one and all too often different languages are spoken." Instead it's necessary to enter into a new reasoning and learn to take advantage of the available high competences, those of the CNR as well as those of the University as demonstrated by the high recognitions from all over the world and from international publications: " We have, as CNR, scientific competences, important equipment, branches all over Italy and about 20000 researchers (10000 of whom in training)." It's imperative, according to Marchetti, to go beyond a logic that tends to copy the know-how studied and applied by others. "If we want to run twice as fast, know-how has to be created and applied at home, in order to grow in competitiveness. And above all, it's necessary to do it moving toward an eco-friendly chemistry. In this direction: "Now is the time to look into the paints – Marchetti continues – of the so-called chemical boxes capable of opening on command, measuring their release by time control, to improve the performance of the products, especially in terms of their noncorrosive capacity, but not only that. Some paints of this type, based on nanotechnology, are already known and in use, but many others are just waiting for somebody willing to realize them."
AVISA'S ROLE
Matteo Aglio, director of AVISA, an association of paint firms, has identified, in the current context, what AVISA's contribution could be. "We set out from an established assumption," Aglio says: "Running a chemical company is not easy. We need to be able to tackle over 2000 rules and also guidelines, regulations, decrees, newsletters. We need to be able to understand legislative recommendations, not always clear, often contradictory, that change from region to region, from nation to nation." All of this happens in local contexts in which "Negative preconceptions persist.
The chemical plant is often seen as a mysterious place, where it's not clear what exactly is being produced." Chemistry is negatively tagged even though, as Aglio says: "The chemical industry has had the least number of accidents in both 2014 and 2013... and has been the safest industry in years." Federchimica, which represents 1400 firms, with about 90000 agents and its 17 trade associations, such as AVISA, "is and wants to be, first of all, a team which safeguards all the associates' common interests, but it's also a place where one can find instant replies. This shows an ability to recognize critical situations that can be shared even with competitors because facing the same problems." And so AVISA becomes, according to Aglio, a point of reference able to offer innovative ideas and opportunities fitting the new era.
VERINLEGNO
Incentives, analyses and solutions offered at the roundtable are part of Verilegno's history, proof of a desire for innovation that was set up, in fact, since the beginning, as the company president and co-founder Antonio Bartoli says: "Verinlegno has never followed the road of mass production, but has always had a niche approach, with sales that tended to find solutions to its clients' problems, in wood painting. A choice – Piero Marchetti added – rewarded by the fact that we have always known paints very well, and still do; in fact we were born stained with paint and because of this the competition has regarded us with respect since the beginning, despite our small size. We couldn't put ourselves at the multinational level, they would have eaten us up in three days, and so we always moved toward very innovative products and custom-made paints for our clients. Because every client works in a different way." This evolution was not at all certain, in the face of increasingly pressing norms. Experimental quality, born and applied on the field, has become over the years, with the contributions of many young collaborators, chemical analysts, researchers and external contributions, the contemporary excellence that opens itself to the world.
"In the year 2000 – says Sante Zandò – Verinlegno began to study and produce innovative water-based and environmentally advanced products. The decision to go abroad arises from the evolution of the market and from the awareness that research done here in Italy was producing an added value that we could export, at first to countries in the Mediterranean area, then to Eastern Europe etc. Today we are present in over 40 countries, bringing forth our innovations, which result from a synergy of lab-work and commercial strategy. A virtuous network made possible by the fact that our paints dress furniture, an Italian excellence, first and foremost in the world. This has allowed us to face any market with quality products of great value."
Claudio Lelli descends into the basic everyday needs: "The reality of each day – says Lelli, a CDA member – shows that we have lost a method of payment, checks. Basilea, regulations for anti-laundering and traceability, while understandable, have unfortunately deprived the economy of normal methods of payment, without providing any new ones. In 2008, 46-47% of the PIL circulated through checks, the majority of which were postdated (Source Sole 24Ore). It was a sort of credit line. Today our clients are in need, and the economy feels the need of new forms of payment, of something in between the ancient promissory note and the check." Between innovation and economic trends, Lelli went on: "We can truly say that our politicians haven't had a global vision, at least so far." "Verinlegno's global vision – concluded Lelli – resides in having first dreamed, and then wanted, a manufacturing firm and an ever-growing industry. Decisions, strength, strategies and energy were combined with constant team work and 'ant' logic, and it all worked out. Let's hope, I'm convinced that the future is the one suggested at this roundtable and we are ready to face the challenges that await us, but the institutional, administrative and legislative context must also play its part."
For further information: www.verinlegno.it