Nothing noble is done without risk” stated the winner of the Nobel prize for literature, André Gide. Under the aegis of this quote was held Tecnologia e Passione 2007, promoted by the Fondazione Lazzareschi and hosted this year by Elettric80
Perini Journal
In 2006, the first edition of the awards paid recognition to those people who, through their passion, contributed to the discovery of new and improved technological applications. For this edition, the lead chosen by Elettric80 was instead courage: the courage to bring about change. Elettric80 wanted to reward those entrepreneurs who were not just willing to settle when it comes to technology, but who believed and risked investing in new technological solutions and applied them to their companies.
For this courage, eight companies were rewarded. Eight companies which, since 1992, have believed in the end-of-line automation systems proposed by Enrico Grassi, President of Elettric80, choosing together with him to revolutionize their production systems.
AND THE COMPANIES WHO HAVE PLACED THEIR BET WITH COMPETITIVENESS AND WON do not belong only to the world of tissue but also to other industrial fields. Costerplast, a company of the Coster group producing plastic materials, was the first, in 1992, to bet on Elettric80 by installing its laser guided vehicles, veritable nucleus of the Freeway system, that allow complete integration with the production system. In 1997 it was Granarolo S.p.A., leader in the alimentary field, that was looking for a solution to the complex need to continually modify its systems in order to answer the many different requests of the market, without stopping production.
The first two tissue companies to take on the challenge are Cartiera Lucchese and Sofidel which, in 1997 and 1998 respectively, decide to adopt the Freeway philosophy, revolutionizing both their existing systems and new projects.
Cartiera Lucchese brought a very difficult feat to completion by dismantling and rebuilding a complete production system while it was still operating at full regime. Sofidel instead chose to invest in the design and construction of new paper mills and new converting systems with a high level of automation.
In 2002, a Spanish company braves change: Casbega, leader in Spain in the fields of beverage and bottling. Casbega completely restructures its production department with the integrated logistics system. With the elimination of traditional palletizing, the result was not only an increase in production lines but also an overall flexibility that guarantees total traceability of every single piece produced.
In 2003, another protagonist of the world of tissue to bet on the technology of Elettric80 is ICT Group. The company equips itself with a Freeway system complete with the Dragon robot – such a totally new device that it still had to be built for the first time when it was purchased! This innovation will allow the world of tissue to take a giant leap forward.
With the creation of Dragon and its integration in the Freeway system, automation of bulk palletizing is attained. Performance – and a very respectable one at that – is from 120 to 160 packs/min. Still in 2003 Kartogroup also gives proof of its “courage to change” by being the first company in the world that – having bought a complete system “on paper”, still to be built and tested – creates an entire company on the principle of a flexile production system totally based on the Freeway combined with Dragon. Each of the ten production lines has its own dedicated robot.
The 2005 award goes to Fonti di Vinadio, a mineral water bottling company that thanks to the revolution applied to the bottling process, packaging and warehousing systems, has seen its sales volume increase ten-fold, making it today’s leader in mineral water sales in Italy. “Changes must be made when things are going well, and not in a time of crisis,” concludes Enrico Grassi. “Often, great results are obtained from simple solutions, and this undaunted will to run risks is at the basis of entrepreneurial growth.” Investing in change, therefore, as the key to a company’s success.