Ferrero SpA is a chocolate company founded in 1946. It produces, among other items, Nutella and Ferrero Rocher chocolate. Its products are made by machines built by an in-house engineering department.
A member of its family - Pietro Ferrero - died while cycling in Africa.
Because Italy is more than a geographic expression..
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Marchionne: The Mazzini Of Business
FIAT CEO Sergio Marchionne is conducting a radical experiment in Italy: Increase productivity.
But he's facing resistance.
''In Italy we are afraid of change,'' he said in a speech at a conference in Rimini. ''We are not in the1960s any more,'' he added, stressing that it was necessary to stop seeing the world as a ''fight" between capital and labour, owners and workers.
''While we still have the old outlooks weighing us down, there'll never be space for new horizons''.
The situation he describes may be more challenging in Italy but I get the feeling the same narrative is gripping the United States these days.
Marchionne is a refreshing, vibrant face of Italian business. He may very well be the "soul of Italian business" just as Giuseppe Mazzini was the "soul of Italy" during the Risorgimento.
But he's facing resistance.
''In Italy we are afraid of change,'' he said in a speech at a conference in Rimini. ''We are not in the1960s any more,'' he added, stressing that it was necessary to stop seeing the world as a ''fight" between capital and labour, owners and workers.
''While we still have the old outlooks weighing us down, there'll never be space for new horizons''.
The situation he describes may be more challenging in Italy but I get the feeling the same narrative is gripping the United States these days.
Marchionne is a refreshing, vibrant face of Italian business. He may very well be the "soul of Italian business" just as Giuseppe Mazzini was the "soul of Italy" during the Risorgimento.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
What The World Can Learn From Italy
Superb article in Signon San Diego. I posted large parts here:
"In Turin we toured Comau, an automobile supplier that manufactures machining centers that create robots which can be used to manufacture machines. We toured Agusta-Westland which manufactures many of the helicopters in the civil and defense sectors in the U.S. We also toured a firm that is responsible for nearly every bent tube used in industry: for lawn chairs, stairway railings, plumbing and street lamps.
The company’s CEO joked that we would never see bent tubes the same again; and I marveled as much that it was the CEO who told us as at the fact that he was right.
Our tour continued with Fiat Mirafiori Motor Village, Ferrari and Ducati, which remain dedicated to the art and science of motion. Fiat, the new owner of Chrysler, has adopted the methods of open innovation founded on the principles of the open source software movement and which exemplifies how innovative ideas can be gleaned from a network-connected world.
In Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, we toured Passaponti Metal Cleaning Technology Srl, a firm that makes machines that cleans machines.
One could not imagine a more toxic environment. Yet, nearby are Italian homes and villas; the facility is designed so people can safely walk to work. How much better would our own commutes be – not to mention our economy – if workers could live near clean manufacturing centers?
Near Lake Como, we toured Ratti S. p. A., whose products begin with the cultivation of silkworms and the harvesting of their cocoons and continue with weaving of threads, dyeing and printing on the final fabric. This family-owned firm created a laser printer that can print continuous patterns on silk without pattern breaks.
We were guided by the owner himself; as we followed him through the tour I imagined myself being led by Marco Polo’s pride.
Now let me return to that firm that makes the marble counter tops and what it has in common with precision machining of jet fighters – it is one company: Breton. The family that owns Breton sensed that the economic crisis would imply fewer marble panel sales in homes.
So the owner took the firm in a new direction. The company now machines parts for the F-35 jet fighter for the U.S. military. Such an agile metamorphosis is more likely to happen with small firm that retain their independence.
While some lump Italy in with the economic PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) of Europe, don’t be so quick to count this country out. Unlike the U.S., the Italians still make things. Ninety percent of the firms in Italy are family owned (and agile); they value engineers above lawyers and bankers. They see the economic value of green engineering not just for the environment as a whole, but for the local community. And they infuse their manufacturing with family pride. They don’t make lawyers to guide financial advisers who make money by making money; rather, they make machines that make robots that make machines that spin our silk clothes as we prepare dinner on our marble kitchen counters."
Hope I can do a similar tour - for this blog and personal reasons - one day.
"In Turin we toured Comau, an automobile supplier that manufactures machining centers that create robots which can be used to manufacture machines. We toured Agusta-Westland which manufactures many of the helicopters in the civil and defense sectors in the U.S. We also toured a firm that is responsible for nearly every bent tube used in industry: for lawn chairs, stairway railings, plumbing and street lamps.
The company’s CEO joked that we would never see bent tubes the same again; and I marveled as much that it was the CEO who told us as at the fact that he was right.
Our tour continued with Fiat Mirafiori Motor Village, Ferrari and Ducati, which remain dedicated to the art and science of motion. Fiat, the new owner of Chrysler, has adopted the methods of open innovation founded on the principles of the open source software movement and which exemplifies how innovative ideas can be gleaned from a network-connected world.
In Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, we toured Passaponti Metal Cleaning Technology Srl, a firm that makes machines that cleans machines.
One could not imagine a more toxic environment. Yet, nearby are Italian homes and villas; the facility is designed so people can safely walk to work. How much better would our own commutes be – not to mention our economy – if workers could live near clean manufacturing centers?
Near Lake Como, we toured Ratti S. p. A., whose products begin with the cultivation of silkworms and the harvesting of their cocoons and continue with weaving of threads, dyeing and printing on the final fabric. This family-owned firm created a laser printer that can print continuous patterns on silk without pattern breaks.
We were guided by the owner himself; as we followed him through the tour I imagined myself being led by Marco Polo’s pride.
Now let me return to that firm that makes the marble counter tops and what it has in common with precision machining of jet fighters – it is one company: Breton. The family that owns Breton sensed that the economic crisis would imply fewer marble panel sales in homes.
So the owner took the firm in a new direction. The company now machines parts for the F-35 jet fighter for the U.S. military. Such an agile metamorphosis is more likely to happen with small firm that retain their independence.
While some lump Italy in with the economic PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) of Europe, don’t be so quick to count this country out. Unlike the U.S., the Italians still make things. Ninety percent of the firms in Italy are family owned (and agile); they value engineers above lawyers and bankers. They see the economic value of green engineering not just for the environment as a whole, but for the local community. And they infuse their manufacturing with family pride. They don’t make lawyers to guide financial advisers who make money by making money; rather, they make machines that make robots that make machines that spin our silk clothes as we prepare dinner on our marble kitchen counters."
Hope I can do a similar tour - for this blog and personal reasons - one day.
Made In Anywhere: The Meaning of 'Made in Italy'
What does "Made in Italy" entail these days? Find a good explanation here.
"Each nation has its own distinctive brand that characterizes its products and makes them stand out from their own kind: Made in Germany has always been synonymous with robustness and reliability; Made in the U.S.A. is the sign of an innovative and avant garde product; Made in Japan symbolizes high tech and functionality; Made in Italy expresses excellence of creativity and craftsmanship."
"...Recently the Made in Italy label has unfortunately been the victim of much counterfeiting by those who, profiting shamefully from the brand's prestige, use it on various kinds of products that are in no way Italian, products of poor quality and manufacture made for only a few Euros apiece (often by exploiting innocent children, who are forced to work for many hours each day) and which are then sold in local markets at prices that are certainly much lower than a genuine Made in Italy article.
But what exactly does the 'Made in Italy' brand mean?
It means a product that is entirely made in Italy, from the design and working out on paper, up till the product is made, finished and ready for sale.
The Made in Italy name ought to denote the actual and total provenance and production in Italy of the article that bears its name; 'ought' because unfortunately in many cases this is not so.
In fact, many products can carry the Made in Italy name even when they are almost entirely made abroad!"
More on what constitutes being "Italian" or "American" or "Japanese?"
"Each nation has its own distinctive brand that characterizes its products and makes them stand out from their own kind: Made in Germany has always been synonymous with robustness and reliability; Made in the U.S.A. is the sign of an innovative and avant garde product; Made in Japan symbolizes high tech and functionality; Made in Italy expresses excellence of creativity and craftsmanship."
"...Recently the Made in Italy label has unfortunately been the victim of much counterfeiting by those who, profiting shamefully from the brand's prestige, use it on various kinds of products that are in no way Italian, products of poor quality and manufacture made for only a few Euros apiece (often by exploiting innocent children, who are forced to work for many hours each day) and which are then sold in local markets at prices that are certainly much lower than a genuine Made in Italy article.
But what exactly does the 'Made in Italy' brand mean?
It means a product that is entirely made in Italy, from the design and working out on paper, up till the product is made, finished and ready for sale.
The Made in Italy name ought to denote the actual and total provenance and production in Italy of the article that bears its name; 'ought' because unfortunately in many cases this is not so.
In fact, many products can carry the Made in Italy name even when they are almost entirely made abroad!"
More on what constitutes being "Italian" or "American" or "Japanese?"
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Italian Particularism
We often hear of "American exceptionalism." In Italy, one could say "Italian particularism."
The beauty about Italy is it's one of the last industrialized nation to hold out and give into the the global network by maintaining a loyalty to artisanship. It makes for one of the more interesting - and increasingly obsolete given world economic realities apparently - economies in the world in my opinion.
David Segal of the NYT asks, "Is Italy too Italian?"
Does ketchup taste too much like ketchup?
Hey, I'll welcome the piece to the extent the North American media far too often ignores Italy's scientific, manufacturing and industrial exploits choosing instead to cling on to tried and tested stereo-typical cliches while focusing on food and fashion.
It's become predictable and tiresome.
Anyway.
This part in the article linked above caught my eye because I too argued grouping Italy with Greece, Portugal and even Spain is not only misleading but suggests the all-too-willing acceptance of grouping these nations as if they have the same economy. They don't.
"Study the numbers and you will find symptoms of distress that look a lot like those of Greece. Public sector debt amounts to roughly 118 percent of the gross domestic product, nearly identical to Greece. And like Greece, Italy is trying to ease fears in the euro zone and elsewhere with an austerity package, one intended to cut the deficit in half, to 2.7 percent of G.D.P., by 2012.
But dig a little deeper and the similarities end. The Italians, unlike the Greeks, are born savers, and much of the Italian debt is owned by the Italians. That means that unlike Greece, which will be sending a sizable percentage of its G.D.P. to foreign creditors for a generation to come, Italy is basically in hock to its own citizens.
“I know that in the States, all Mediterranean countries get lumped together,” says Carlo Altomonte, an economist with Bocconi University in Milan. “But Italy’s problem isn’t that we have a lot of debt. It’s that we don’t grow.”
The author goes on to argue in Italy the problem isn't debt but economic growth - and that's something many Western nations face.
The beauty about Italy is it's one of the last industrialized nation to hold out and give into the the global network by maintaining a loyalty to artisanship. It makes for one of the more interesting - and increasingly obsolete given world economic realities apparently - economies in the world in my opinion.
David Segal of the NYT asks, "Is Italy too Italian?"
Does ketchup taste too much like ketchup?
Hey, I'll welcome the piece to the extent the North American media far too often ignores Italy's scientific, manufacturing and industrial exploits choosing instead to cling on to tried and tested stereo-typical cliches while focusing on food and fashion.
It's become predictable and tiresome.
Anyway.
This part in the article linked above caught my eye because I too argued grouping Italy with Greece, Portugal and even Spain is not only misleading but suggests the all-too-willing acceptance of grouping these nations as if they have the same economy. They don't.
"Study the numbers and you will find symptoms of distress that look a lot like those of Greece. Public sector debt amounts to roughly 118 percent of the gross domestic product, nearly identical to Greece. And like Greece, Italy is trying to ease fears in the euro zone and elsewhere with an austerity package, one intended to cut the deficit in half, to 2.7 percent of G.D.P., by 2012.
But dig a little deeper and the similarities end. The Italians, unlike the Greeks, are born savers, and much of the Italian debt is owned by the Italians. That means that unlike Greece, which will be sending a sizable percentage of its G.D.P. to foreign creditors for a generation to come, Italy is basically in hock to its own citizens.
“I know that in the States, all Mediterranean countries get lumped together,” says Carlo Altomonte, an economist with Bocconi University in Milan. “But Italy’s problem isn’t that we have a lot of debt. It’s that we don’t grow.”
The author goes on to argue in Italy the problem isn't debt but economic growth - and that's something many Western nations face.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
FIAT Workers: Work Harder
Sergio Marchionne continues his Fiat revolution demanding a stronger work ethic from his employees.
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