Seven
individuals met while working for a large German multinational, in which they
held positions of responsibility in sales, production and research. And so they
decided to become entrepreneurs. Giampaolo Colletti interviews Simone Storci,
co-founder and CEO of Valvole Italia for FARE INSIEME.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
But are we
sure? Questions crowd thinking heads, but for those with passion and courage,
the answers quickly become a yes. After all, this is the story of a courageous,
ambitious, and counter-current company. A company that made room for itself by
taking that space from the market, at the time the prerogative of large
companies that monopolised it and which, however, were unable to adequately
cover with products and services that really put the customer at the centre of
focus. This is the story of Valvole Italia. And it is a story in the plural. It
all began with a group of seven young friends with different career paths
within a large German multinational. Seven talents who became business
partners. It was the year 2014 and their life would soon never be the same. The
spark came one evening in 2013 in Chicago. What would have been the company of
the future took shape on a napkin from a bar on the return after three days
away visiting an American customer. «We are bonded by the passion for what we
do and pride in what we have built and continue to build. The ability to work
harmoniously in a team is one of the reasons why we chose each other. For many,
we were initially considered crazy. Also because, in a period of crisis, how
did one go about creating a manufacturing company that would fit into a mature
and capital-intensive market?» Those seven colleagues are still asking
themselves this question today. And the answer is once again enclosed in a yes.
Yes, we can. Thus, production began in 2015, after a year spent designing and
refining the products and setting up the sales network. Today this is how
hydraulic valves, mainly for load support, take shape, more specifically
balancing valves for mobile applications. «We live in a country that has excellent
manufacturing and exports among its flagships. And thinking in those terms was
natural for us. We knew our competitors were big and tough, but we also knew
their weaknesses. Let's say that we knew what we were doing, even if it might
not have been obvious from the outside. And in fact the company was completely
self-financed, banks and venture capital came forwards later, when we no longer
needed them», says Simone Storci, co-founder and CEO of Valvole Italia.
Company
profile. We are in the hydraulic valves sector, of which the Emilia-Romagna
region is a recognised worldwide centre of excellence. But what the seven
wanted to demonstrate from the beginning of this adventure is that you could -
and you can! – to work and to produce differently. This is how Valvole Italia
was born, a small company where initially only the partners worked but which
immediately turned to customers all over the world. For this reason, the
company created a branch in Ohio, it stipulated a joint venture agreement with
a Chinese partner to manufacture and sell its products, and it created
strategic, commercial and technological partnerships with large American and
German companies. In a sector that in some respects was saturated, the company
specialised in a market niche. In 2022, the turnover stood at 26 million euros.
The team consists of 130 employees. The secret of success: technological
excellence, constant investments in research and development, mastery of highly
specialised skills both on one's own product and on customer applications, in a
world that is increasingly already made. Today Valvole Italia is in the Top
1000 of the Financial Times. And in 2020 the Sole24Ore included it in the
ranking of the 450 leading growth companies in Italy. «Our specialisation
distinguishes us. Choosing to focus on a very specific type of product to which
others devote only a small part of their research and development efforts
allowed us to develop a variety and breadth of solutions that no one else has.
We invest between 8 and 10% of our turnover in R&D», says Storci. Customers
include the world's leading manufacturer of aerial platforms and the best in
the earth moving industry. Production is
divided between two factories in Modena. And then there is the American
manufacturing sector. «Right from the start it was clear to us that the only
perspective in which our business was sustainable was the global one. Emilia is
one of the four focal points of the world as far as our technology is
concerned. And then consider that plumbing is at least as Emilian as the
tortellini».
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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