Not sinking because of the crisis, but growing despite it. Don't consider China (only) a threat, but – faster than many others – as an opportunity. Don't complain about the sacrifices requested by the Monti government, because "the alternative was the bankruptcy of Italy: long live this Executive, which will remove all the cobwebs of privileges and maladministration". Not opposing the unions on principle, but trying to work in perfect harmony with them “despite always saying everything to their faces. But I've saved hundreds of jobs, and they know that."
It seems like a living contradiction, but Roberto Balma, recently turned 50, is one of those entrepreneurs who can be defined as "save-Italy", one of those who, despite the crisis, continue to grow, create jobs and have clear ideas about the future. Always playing in advance and looking far beyond your nose.
Born in Turin, Balma is president and CEO of the Fini Nu Air group, world leader in the production of air compressors, an often forgotten Made in Italy sector (but which has infinite applications in the industrial field and also in the domestic one) in which Italy excels, thanks above all to its company. The Fini Nu Air group has a turnover of 250 million euros and employs 1.500 people worldwide, produces 2 million piston compressors – those for domestic and professional use – a year, equal to 25% of world production, has a European leadership position also in the segment of screw compressors for the industrial market, has over 6.500 customers in every corner of the planet and above all, "a key element in not being overwhelmed by the recession", exports 88% of its production .
Balma, awarded the title of Cavaliere del Lavoro della Repubblica just yesterday, has been in the saddle since 1985, the year of his graduation ("I discussed my thesis in the morning, I made my debut in the office in the afternoon"), first in the company founded by his father in 1948 , carrying on the family business, then, from 1994, on his own, starting to put his hands heavily on a business "that would never have survived without making drastic and courageous choices". A Balma who is not even thirty understands that times are changing and fully applies his creed: “Small is fragile, grow to survive”. “The 2008 crisis was so violent that it cut the market in half. To survive we have done the exact opposite of many others, who have increasingly downsized for fear of failing”. And thus acquire, in Italy and abroad: first the distribution companies around Europe, then the Bolognese Fini SpA and then the Chinook-Shamal of Piossasco.
And then cross the continental borders, even, indeed above all, when this might seem like madness. And so, the China. Nu Air was among the pioneering Italian companies of oriental adventure, but without losing the typically Italian know-how and quality. As? “We went there in 2001, when the law that required joint ventures with local companies changed. This formula put us at great risk of being copied, which in any case happened in the following years to a small extent, while with the possibility of setting up a 100% Italian company we have preserved our engineering, which still works only and exclusively in the Italian plants (a Robassomero, near Turin, and in Bologna, ed), where we build the most high-tech products”.
“China on the other hand – continues Balma, alluding to the centers of Shanghai and Taishan – served us to maintain the low-end market, lowering production costs and remaining competitive on the entire product range, from A to Z, which is what the customer requires. If you lack even one type of product, you can make the best one of all, but the customer will go elsewhere, where he will spend less and find the whole range. We have managed to remain successful on both tracks: quality in Italy, where we proudly display the "made in Italy" logo on all the compressors which, unique in the country, we package with exclusively Italian components, and quantity in China, where we rightly write “made in China” even if the product is 100% designed in our headquarters in Turin”.
The results of this bet – won – are incontrovertible: in 1985 what was then Balma Compressori had a turnover of 8 million, in 1994 (the year in which Roberto takes over the reins) he was already 40, in 2007, before the crisis exploded, it had reached 326 million, before recording a physiological decline only to then go back up in 2011 to 250 million, thanks to the acquisitions made right in the middle of the recession. “People called me crazy – Balma recalls with pride -, we took companies on the verge of bankruptcy, risking capital and resources. But that paid off, and we saved hundreds of jobs at the same time."
That's why, which is not for everyone, Balma also always had a good relationship with the unions: “They respect me, even though I always say what I think. Corporations too often hold back reforms, we should let this government work which you will see, in the long run, will save Italy. La Fornero to reform our labor market, which is too rigid and unbalanced, e Monti is doing a great job of cleaning up, cleaning up and fighting tax evasion, which is only talked about during the moments of the big blitzes but I can assure you that they are carrying out a daily and painstaking job. You will see that then they will also intervene on growth, but it takes time: this is why I hope this government will remain in office for many more years”. What about taxes? Entrepreneurs and citizens who feel strangled? "Necessary sacrifices, the alternative was the country's bankruptcy", the number one of the compressors cuts short, with an almost unsettling certainty, for those used to reading in the newspapers or seeing on TV stories of entrepreneurs who just can't conceive beyond their backyard.
Balma, on the other hand, went much further. "Going abroad hasn't always been easy, but it was necessary", he says showing the photo, unique in his office together with the inevitable ones of the father and his two daughters, of the handshake with the chairman of the Japanese company Iwata (listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange). “We work in China, but the real conquest has been Japan, where they have always been wary and ultra-selective in their partnerships. That's why I put that photo, it's a trophy". AND the next frontier what will it be? Here, too, the compressed air leader is already looking far ahead. “China itself is getting expensive: many US companies, for example, are already returning to the US, and thanks to this America is restarting. Then there are the other BRICS, interesting as market outlets but not as production centers in my opinion, because they are growing so rapidly that within a few years they too will be rich countries. Instead, I see great potential in Africa, a continent very rich in raw materials and where they have absolutely nothing".
Yes, because the real problem according to Balma “is the level of well-being that we have already reached in Europe, and the too low birth rate which will cause the population to decrease over the years and consequently consumption. Who will still need a television or a refrigerator?”. Instead, we must try to produce in poor countries: “So, paradoxically, if you ask me for a country where to produce in the next few years, I would provocatively answer Europe. This crisis, if structural reforms are not immediately implemented, removing waste and privileges, will impoverish us to the point that in the end it will be better to produce here again".
