From tiles to packs: in February 2012, the System group of Fiorano Modena, leader in the design and manufacture of complete plants for ceramics, will launch “a process destined to revolutionize packaging”.
“It is a novelty – explains the founder and president of System, Franco Stefani – which will solve many packaging problems for companies. It is a small system that works with normal sheets of flat, corrugated, white cardboard, capable of packing anything, simultaneously printing the company logo and any other wording you want to put on the packing. It's a big leap in quality, because it saves space and eliminates a link in the production chain. Today much of the packaging is done outside the company, wasting time, space, energy and money. With this machine it will be possible to do everything in-house, employing a single technician who presses a button”. This is yet another novelty from System which, for 40 years, has been producing patents and innovation, investing around 5% of its turnover in research. However, this is a departure from the main business, which is ceramic plants, in particular for tile decoration.
“In 2009 we created a packaging division – says the president – because we realized that many of our customers had packaging problems. This plant is an all-round innovation, the result of a patent created in collaboration with one of our managers and should lead to an important increase in the division's sales”.
In 2010, the System group was affected by the effects of the global economic crisis and volumes fell: consolidated turnover was 260 million in 2009, while it fell to around 240 million in 2010. “This year, however, we started off well – Stefani assures us – and we expect significant growth. In the budget we have forecast a consolidated turnover of 290 million and an Ebitda of more than 15%. A leap due to how we are moving in the world”. A highly internationalized company like System, which generates 80% of its turnover abroad, can redesign its strategies on the basis of the different economic geographies. “Italy and a large part of Europe are still moving in slow motion – claims the entrepreneur from Fiorano – for this reason we have focused with satisfaction on Brazil, Asia and above all Turkey, an extraordinarily lively country from an economic point of view and stable from a political point of view ”.
In the recent past, Laminam, the ceramic company created in 2004 and in which Stefani has invested 70 million euros, has also contributed to weigh on System's accounts. Laminam produces the thinnest tiles in the world (3 millimeters), even in the world's largest formats (1 meter x 4 meter panels), in a futuristic, fully automatic factory, also in the Sassuolo district. It could have been a boom, but it struggled to take off. “But we have reached break even and Laminam is also starting to generate cash. He still hasn't repaid me for the efforts made, because the construction industry is slow to understand new developments and a product like this needs a big commercial boost. But we are starting to see the light. I strongly believe in this product that can offer a thousand solutions and solve problems of incredible thickness, offering considerable savings in transport".
The history of System is dotted with these innovations and Stefani is an "inventor" as well as an entrepreneur. It's a unique story, but also similar to that of other mechanical wizards” who created large industrial groups out of nothing in “that large piece of Emilia.
Stefani, born in 1945, after a start-up diploma began his career as an electrician and worker. He works during the day, but at night, in the cellar, he designs a plant for the serial decoration of tiles. It's the 60s of the economic boom and he believes so much in his project that he gets up to his neck in debt, to file and start producing his first patent. It is a worldwide success, of which he does not taste the fruits for almost 20 years, because every lira collected goes back as an investment in the company, until his wife puts his back against the wall: "it's time to buy the house", she tells him.
The System group today has six divisions: Ceramics, Logistics, Photonics, Electronics, Packaging and Lamina, 870 employees in Italy and 1200 worldwide, where it has 26 branches and 4 production plants, in Spain, China, Mexico. On Friday 24 June Stefani received the "International Freedom Award" in Lucca for economics. A recognition to those who fight for innovation, science and human rights. A commendation that adds to the many already received, including an honorary degree in engineering. In short, a professional life full of satisfactions, but for System the problem of generational transfer will one day arise, because the daughters of the "boss" do not work in the company. Is a listing on the stock exchange expected? “For now I don't think about it, it's not the time. But never say never."
