The ambassador of the Italian mechanical industry in the world. Poggi Trasmissioni Meccaniche was set up in Villanova di Castenaso, Bologna, 65 years ago. Innovation, research, high-quality and the capability of meeting all kinds of needs with state-of-the-art solutions. For FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti interviews Andrea Poggi, president of Poggi Trasmissioni Meccaniche
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
There are years that make up the history of companies. In the story we are about to tell, that year was 1958. At the time, there was someone who worked hard in Villanova di Castenaso, a town of just over 2,000 inhabitants in the Bologna metropolitan area, around ten km from the iconic Two Towers. Here, at the end of the 1950s, a gem of the mechanical industry was born, in that part of Emilia that exudes passion and hard work. Here, Pierluigi Poggi started to shape the initial form of the company, where he was the sole employee. It was located in a small cellar in Villanova, which was soon to become as large as the whole world. Today, Poggi Trasmissioni Meccaniche boasts 55 employees with a turnover of €9 million and a 30% growth on the previous year. 65% of producers are located in Italy, while the remaining 35% are abroad. The company currently operates in 40 countries, including Germany, France and western Europe. It is led by the new generation of three brothers who are very close and in love with the family business. Fiorella Poggi follows the finances, administration and human resources policies, Gabriele Poggi deals with production on the domestic market and Andrea Poggi deals instead with procurement and exports. The company’s strength has always been in the district since Poggi started collaborating with local mechanical and metalworking businesses. “We have a very close relationship with the Emilian territory where we were born. Coming from here is a great advantage because procurement is simplified within the chain logic, even though the competition is fierce and it is often difficult to find skilled personnel,” reports Andrea Poggi, now President of the company.
The DNA of the company. Competition, as we mentioned. But the truth is that this high-tech gem often does better than its German and Chinese counterparts. Maybe because the key to success is that tradition that lies behind innovation. The range of products is wide: belts and belt pulleys, V-belts, groove pulleys, right-angle gears and couplings. Basically everything to do with mechanical transmission, i.e. the combination of organs that transfer the power generated by a motor to a mechanical system. This in turn means there are many scopes of application that have led the company to becoming an international point of reference. Innovation, research, high-quality and the capability of meeting all kinds of needs with state-of-the-art solutions: these are the pillars Poggi Trasmissioni Meccaniche rests on. Then,of course, there is the Italian production. “We start with the design process and then move on to production and testing. The goals we reached were made possible by continuous investments in research and development, as well as by the optimization of processes aimed at guaranteeing maximum quality, efficiency and safety.” Research, as has been mentioned. Ongoing, concrete and - at the same time - visionary. Because what is important is writing new chapters in the story of a company that looks ahead. “The market keeps evolving and sometimes it is also necessary to be able to anticipate requests. With an experience spanning over six decades, it is also possible to identify new needs before they actually manifest themselves,” stresses Poggi. That is how the test bench measuring the performance of right-angle gears was born, developed in collaboration with the University of Bologna. Or the futuristic data detection system that ranges from processing analyses to the perfect tracking of each single order and the improvement of production efficiency which was developed entirely within Poggi as well as the state-of-the-art fleet of machinery.
People and technology. The markets reached are very different - packaging, food, automatic machines, shipbuilding. Human capital and technologies constantly balanced. “From expert workers with specific skills to designers capable of transforming all kinds of needs and necessities into actual items, as well as figures able to convert a problem into a solution with a high added value in terms of resistance, duration, reliability and quality. Not just in the workshop, but also when it comes to communication with the market. That is why, over the past few years, the company has implemented various IT solutions to facilitate the exchange of information, therefore reducing human error and management costs,” reminds Poggi. Traceparts is essential for the first aspect, an online platform known all over the world and designed to enable companies to share 3D digital content. “Thanks to this tool, designers interested in a supply do not only get the chance to download the 2D and 3D files of our projects, but also to get in touch with our sales office to request and obtain customised quotes,” stresses Poggi. Then there is Eolo, an e-commerce where registered clients can verify the availability of products in stock and their prices in real time. Today, every passage of the production chain uses the most modern machinery for integrated automation. “We have expanded our range of machines with state-of-the-art turning units. In order to better manage the handling of the over 23,000 items included in our catalogue and speed up the processing of orders, we have automated our warehouse, saving 75% when it comes to materials and stock. The space needed was reduced and productivity increased. Consumption and stock now have the same trend, enabling us to eliminate overstocked items and leading to reduced costs,” concludes Poggi. So the company manages to meet the requests of Italian and international clients in real time. Thanks to technology and human capital, listening to the actual need of clients is possible.
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