We often forget that Italy is one of the biggest customers for wood and furniture solution and technology manufacturers, as reaffirmed also by the latest edition of Biesse’s “Tech&Design Days”, dedicated to Italian operators.
The event was also attended by the Italian magazine dedicated to the world of wood called "Xylon" to go deeper into the peculiarities of the Italian market, the current trends, the “big changes”, talking with Mirco Anselmi, Country Director Italy, and Lanfranco Fontanelli, recently appointed to Sales Director Italy.
“The Covid season has offered opportunities for companies to expand their horizons and undertake the digital transition”, said Mirco Anselmi. “Many industry players exploited this dramatic period to grow and evolve, acknowledging that Industry 4.0 requires culture, formal education, training, companies that collaborate with other companies. Partnership is a more and more critical keyword and the reason why we organized these days, where not only we show our latest technology, but we also create opportunities to meet and discuss with excellent Italian players, small and medium business that – having started from a small workshop or a car shed – have grown into companies with revenues of several million euros.
Our meetings and seminars have high attendance rates, they are part of our storytelling approach and the way we present our technology; during these meetings, companies find ideas to evolve not only in technology, but also in human resources and education.
Additionally, we want to stress our commitment to multi-materials, a key trend in the new story that Biesse is writing, showing to our traditional customers in the wood industry that they can also meet the increasing demand for furniture and products that are more and more often produced with combinations of different materials. Today, Biesse can offer an independent ecosystem, starting from stone for kitchen worktops, up to glazing for windows, just to make two examples. Without forgetting composites, advanced materials, and plastics. Many companies have already moved into this direction and have been processing different materials for some time. It’s not just wood approaching other domains, but also other materials being attracted by similar worlds…
As you all know, Biesse has turned page, and in these three days, we have also shown that we don’t have just a new logo, a new color, but a deep change and new strength”.
What about the market?
“There are still some worries, at every level and in all areas, but we are facing the open sea as expert sailors!”, Anselmi replied with a smile. “Also in Italy we are going back to normal market values, though still sustained. After a couple of years of “doping”, now it’s time for Biesse to work side-by-side with the companies that have invested and want to carry on.
The whole industry and supply chain are experiencing a slowdown in production, approximately 25 percent less than the record levels of 2022 according to industry analysts, but the order backlog is still significant.
I believe that the peak of investments, after all, had many positive aspects, as it allowed many companies to test their capacity to face deep and fast changes, showing their flexibility and managing double or triple volumes to meet customer demands.
For Biesse, working in four different domains, the waves of this tsunami crossed with each other, offering benefits that others cannot have”.
“This has helped us start a deep transformation of manufacturer-customer relations: it’s no longer just about trade, it’s a closer relationship built on knowledge transfer”, said Lanfranco Fontanelli. “We are in the age of digital and physical communities, where easy digital contacts open the door to in-person meetings. I believe the big lesson we learned from the drama we have experienced is really this deep change in relations and the search for contacts that are richer in contents, expertise and knowledge. The roads that guide potential customers to choose their industrial partners have also changed, and we have benefited from this, as we have been “globally digital” for a long time.