A small company was set up 45 years ago in Cognento, a small town in Modena overlooking the Autostrada del Sole ("Sun Motorway") and the Modena bypass, that has become a leader in the supply of components for industrial and process systems. A technological revolution led by human capital. For FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti interviewed Paolo Campioli, currently the CEO at Imeva
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
“The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.” It may
seem a paradox but, in the heart of the Modena industrial district there is an
outstanding company that has chosen this thought by the French philosopher
Voltaire to tell its story. A quote
that has become a manifesto. It can be read at the entrance of Imeva, a company
supplying industrial and process components for the main local industrial
sectors. Therefore, even when talking about control valves, process equipment,
pumps and heat exchangers, you still start with people. We find ourselves in
Cognento, a small town in Modena with just under 3000 inhabitants crossed by
the Autostrada del Sole that connects it with the rest of Italy and the Modena
bypass. The name of the town itself reveals something more of the story we are
about to tell, as it derives from the Latin participle cogens, i.e. that
collects/assembles together. Therefore, the literal translation of Cognento
becomes the place that welcomes people.
In ancient times, in fact, the problem of floods and the ensuing diseases
transmitted by the swamps surrounding Modena - an area characterized by very
low hygienic and health conditions - drove the locals to a place where they
could lead a healthier lifestyle. Hence they reached Cognento.
Company profile. The company was set
up 45 years ago thanks to Gianni Campioli, a curious and far-sighted,
passionate and tireless plumber born in 1938 who, at the time, was working as
an installer. Despite only having
completed primary school, he had the ability to understand that building a
company dedicated to components and industrial systems could be a good idea.
And it certainly was. “Everything started with my father’s intuition, a man who
had only completed primary school due to circumstances in life but who, at the
right time, realised the need to set up a business dealing with industrial and
process components, which at the time was not present in our area and therefore had a great potential if
developed properly. Then he allied with his first partner, the engineer
Armaroli, who held the knowledge and wisdom of industrial processes, as he used
to say,” recalls Paolo Campioli, currently the CEO of Imeva. In short, the
engineer stumbled upon Campioli’s wrench at the construction site and this work
relationships led to the commercialisation of the products. Then two partners
focused on the sale of industrial components with the help of Tiziana and
Gianni’s son, Paolo. Massimo, the new partner, arrived in 2000 as the team
expanded further with Manuel, the son of Armaroli. Everything changed and the
territory evolved, generating and confirming industrial excellencies. The team
now boasts almost twenty people, a market aimed at regional businesses and
especially at that manufacturing sector gravitating along the Via Emilia, the
real driving force of IT economy for the food, ceramic, automotive, packaging
and industrial component sectors. The turnover is €8.5 million and has been
growing constantly over the past ten years, overcoming economic crises and the
pandemic. But doing business is never static because it forms part of an
ever-changing context. “Indeed, but without being overwhelmed by the changes
the system would like to impose, a market that increasingly requires
professionalism and skill when it comes to our vision and the area we work in.
The change that must necessarily take place is definitely the way in which we
do business, as we must pay the utmost attention to the team and to the effect
it can have on business results,” says Campioli. Skill, professionalism and
flexibility: these are Imeva’s key words when facing the challenges of a
complex market. And, once again, everything passes through human capital. “Our
DNA was always based on skill and professionalism as added values for our
clients in a market where everything is just a simple click away, except for
the availability of people to propose and find solutions,” says Campioli. This confirms what we have been writing about and saying
for a long time. People first and technology second. Yet these two items are
closely linked. This is the recipe to being a successful business in Emilia.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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