There is a company in the Ferrara area that
innovated labels and product traceability. Everything started from a small
two-colour flexographic printing machine and a rewinder, both second-hand.
Today, Imprima boasts fifty collaborators and a turnover of €10 million. In
2006, it placed its bets on RFIDs, product recognition technological systems.
For FARE INSIEME Giampaolo Colletti interviews Leo Ingrosso, Gamberini, founder
and owner of Imprima.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Objects tell a
story. After all, they tell us how they are born, how they evolve, what they
are made of and what are their potential risks. This story, i.e. identification
and traceability, is what an Emilian company set up in 1979 deals with. This is
the story of Imprima, which chose to invest in research and team work because
it created a network of collaborations to explore the new product
identification frontiers. Today, it has three interconnected branches: Vigarano
Mainarda, Ferrara and Milan. “Market dynamics change rapidly, but it is
precisely during a situation of change such as the one we are experiencing that
makes it necessary to find the courage to study new opportunities,” reports Leo
Ingrosso, founder and owner of Imprima.
The story of a business. There are many coincidences
in the life of this entrepreneur, which led him to undertake this new
adventure. The story starts in Roma, in that Pia Società San Paolo better known as Edizioni Paoline. At the time, Leo
Ingrosso was a teenager and he started to get his hands dirty with ink by
printing bibles and the gospels. That's where he learned the printing concept,
which he then transferred to another company where he was hired as a printer
dealing with self-adhesive labels, an area yet unknown to him. In 1979, the closing down of the company led to him moving to
Ferrara, the city of origin of his wife Barbara. There, he came to a
crossroads: finding another job or setting up his own business? So, at 28, he
bought a small two-colour flexographic printing machine and a rewinder, both
second-hand. “I put them in my in-laws’ warehouse in Porporana, near the Po
river, and started printing labels surrounded by crates of fruit, agricultural
equipment and salami, with a small fireplace to keep warm. Enthusiasm, courage,
commitment to work and, most of all, the support of my wife and my in-laws
enabled me to try my hand at being an entrepreneur,” recalls Leo Ingrosso. He
then moved to Vigarano Mainarda - a town of just under 8,000 inhabitants in the
Ferrara province - and took on his first employee who retired last year. Today,
Imprima is a leading producer of long-lasting 3M labels and is a preferential
interlocutor for smart labels as well as for traditional labels with digital
technology, offset, typography and flexography. “Producers and buyers want
products that maintain excellent quality during transport, but goods sensitive
to temperature variations can alter although they may seem perfect upon
delivery. Technology comes to our help with smart labels,” points out Ingrosso.
The company currently boasts fifty employees and produces self-adhesive labels,
tags and labelling machines. The turnover hovers around €10 million. In 2006,
it placed its bets on RFIDs, product recognition technological systems.
“Knowledge on radio-frequency finds its application in the identification of
logistic products and traces the market. With the exclusive protection of
anti-counterfeiting and thanks to the NFC technology, we provide producers with
a new way of communicating with clients, guaranteeing product authenticity and
dedicated information that can be listened to via smartphone. We work with
scientific consultants, universities, entities and associations for the
professional research into the best results that can be achieved. Investments
aimed at improving and strengthening our productive capacity to meet the
requests of an ever-evolving market,” stresses Ingrosso.
Teamwork. A company that
involves multiple people, as we mentioned in the beginning. Because Imprima is
at the helm of a group of businesses: Gruppo Imprima Sistema controls Imprima
Srl. Then there is Stone Line and Etitec in Milan. “For years, we have chosen
to invest resources in research involving professionals and other
entrepreneurial businesses. The exploration of new frontiers when it comes to
product identification and traceability generated an extensive network of
productive collaborations, created new ideas and launched ambitious projects.
The three companies are complementary and represent a single point of reference
for clients regarding solutions linked to all packaging printed products:
labels, cases, tags, printers, RFIDs. The packaging sector is our reference and
our specialized products are available on all markets. Each sector has its
specific needs: graphic works, customised labels, product labelling, hardware
and software assistance for printing and radiofrequency systems,” reports
Ingrosso. In the meantime, the future of
the company will lie in the hands of Federico and Michelangelo, Leo Ingrosso
and his wife Barbara’s two sons. The new generation will have the challenge of
drawing the new pages of the future.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
Read the other interviews
