They
have known each other as colleagues, friends and partners for more than twenty
years. A past at Ferrari and a present in a company set up from scratch and
focusing on the supply chain. «We take care of the supply chain linked with
logistics, planning, purchases and quality. Supercars are amazing but, after
all, they are just a combination of components». For FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo
Colletti interviewed Francesco Tonolo, co-owner of Makeitalia
of Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
They have a life’s worth of
experience when it comes to cars, having worked for the blazing red cars from
Maranello, those with the prancing horse that has become a global icon. But,
for these three partners who were once colleagues and who have become good
friends over time, cars are intended as a company. To work best - to race fast
just like the red cars from Emilia - everything must function perfectly. Today,
the three partners - Marcello Carretta, Roberto Ferrari and Francesco Tonolo -
follow every detail of the cars they turn on. This is why they define
themselves as creators of excellence for the supply chain. But let's proceed
with order - Carretta, Ferrari and Tonolo met in the early 2000s at Ferrari,
then decided to take the big leap in 2008 by betting on what they could always
do well: listening to clients. “We were three friends in a bar, citing a famous
song by Gino Paoli. But, instead of being in an actual bar, we were at work. We
focused on all activities linked with the world of supplies in terms of
logistics, planning, purchases and high-quality, also because this is the
sector we come from,” recalls Francesco Tonolo, co-owner of Makeitalia, a
company boasting 100 employees, roughly half men and half women and generally
engineers precisely like the three partners. The turnover has been growing
constantly since the company was set up and 2021 ended with a sum of €9
million, with 2022 expected to reach €11 million. The company boasts an Emilian
heart: after many years in Castelfranco Emilia, it moved to Modena in the summer
of 2022 into high-tech headquarters with a production facility covering 1,800
sq m, plus 900 sq m of office space. There is also a photovoltaic plant of
almost 20 kilowatts and an A1 energy class. “We work with many sectors: from
manufacturing and fashion to large distribution. Our focus is certainly the
manufacturing sector, which is also the one that mostly requires our support.
We are even located in an excellent area, between the motor and the packaging
valleys,” stresses Tonolo. Then there is the market that goes well beyond
Emilia, reaching out to Europe mostly. The founding values of honesty, the
importance of people and the search for excellence have remained unvaried for
Tonolo. Then of course there is the attention to clients and the centrality of
their requests. And responsible growth. “The concrete approach to all kinds of
activities has not changed. While ongoing innovation is our daily objective.
With such significant growth, we cannot not innovate continuously, searching
for increasingly updated solutions, processes and approaches. Innovation on an
internal level as well: organisational, structural and of the systems, tools
and technologies. This is why that of innovation is a mantra to be constantly
up-to-date and competitive on the market,” says Tonolo.
The value of supplies. The supply chain, as
mentioned. If, up until a few years ago, this concept was only understood by
insiders, now it is clearer for everyone. “The pandemic and the war in Ukraine
have amplified the importance of sources of supply, the supply chain, and
therefore of all those subjects who contribute to supplying the components and
knowledge in order to produce the finished product for all companies. A factor
that has become increasingly strategic. We serve companies ensuring ongoing
supplies respecting times, costs and quality. The support can involve
consultancy projects, provision of personnel, management of processes or
logistics of physical and training components”, says Tonolo. “We are entrepreneurs who want to materialize
the ideas of other entrepreneurs to improve industrial performance” reads
the manifesto. “We must provide our clients with tools to acquire the
components - from simple ones like screws or small parts - to those
technologically more complex and advanced. To guarantee production, we must
first of all listen. This is why we invite companies to focus on their core
business. We are the ones that help them pinpoint their idea. After all,
supercars are amazing, they are beautiful, a dream. But they are a combination
of components: if even just one of them is missing, it cannot be sold or it
does not work as it should,” concludes Tonolo. And if they themselves say this,
those who have been dealing with cars all their lives, we cannot but trust
them.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
Read the other interviews
