Discovering a hi-tech gem in mechatronics and leader in valves for hydraulic systems with a turnover of 63 million euro, exports accounting for 80% of the turnover, 470 employees of whom 75% are women and with an average age of 34. 12% of the turnover is allocated to the Innovation Center with its 45 talented people. And 5% to corporate social responsibility projects. Giampaolo Colletti interviews Adamo Venturelli, CEO ofVis Hydraulics, for FARE Insieme.
di Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
«We were born in rough seas but we survived and nothing can daunt us now». These are the words of Adamo Venturelli, head of Vis Hydraulics. In a moment, I will tell you all about this hi-tech gem with roots firmly planted in Pavullo nel Frignano, a town with 18,000 inhabitants in the Modena Apennines, but capable of making people talk about it all over the world. But let’s take things slowly. Because this story starts in the stormy sea of early 2009, just a few months after the bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers: behind those employees who we all saw abandoning their offices in the City carrying cardboard boxes with their personal belongings lurked one the most serious economic and systemic global crises. Well, it was exactly in this context that Vis Hydraulics was established, now a leader in the hydraulic cartridge valves sector and one of the top ten companies in the world in the production of this specific niche product. After all, to be successful in difficult times you have to work even harder to stand out and excel. «That’s exactly what we did: the company was established on 23 January 2009, just few months after the Lehman Brothers disaster. In actual fact, the decision was taken some months earlier when there was no way of knowing how events would then unfold. But at that point we jumped on board anyway, keeping our nerves steady.
A strong female presence
Your company, that invoices 63 million euro and exports 80% of its production to Europe, Asia and the United States, now has 320 employees, 150 more than last year, before the pandemic began. But, on top of this there are the numbers linked to the supply chain of around 470 people. The workforce profile is unusual for an engineering company: mainly young people and 75% women, with an average age of 34. «Compared to men, women excel in terms of speed and repeatability, but not only: the fair sex is well represented in positions of responsibility and in Management. We have debunked a cliché; that is, that women have no place in the world of engineering industry».
Giving our utmost and making the difference. A lesson that Venturelli learned from his parents, who also taught him the craft. «You could say I've been working since I was born, because I've lived immersed for twenty-four hours a day in my parents' business. My sister and I spent hours at the plant and breathed in the air of mechanical engineering and hydraulics», recalls Venturelli, who officially joined the company in 1996, starting from the production line because – as he keeps saying – it is vitally important to understand the product, live it, work it and understand it in full. «We entered through the back door and on tiptoe, metabolising everything there was to know over time. The company subsequently was sold to a German multinational». However, a few years later Venturelli set out again with a new venture, something different from the past. «There were two viable options: copying and pasting the past and working on the price, or focussing on research with a range of innovative, better performing and more efficient products. Naturally, also the price is an important aspect but it was not the only one», notes Venturelli. Once again, we chose the most arduous road but we made it, to our great satisfaction. At the end of the first year there were ten of us, engaged in designing, prototyping and validating. «Vis was first of all a bet, a dream that came true, fruit of the resolve, passion and determination of the people and, above all, proof that where there is a will, there is a way. Things don’t just happen; you have to look for them, and be ready when you find them. Difficulties shape the character: after all, we are mountain people and from Modena; we couldn’t have established this company anywhere else because this is our home».
The strength of specialisation
Value is created first of all by the people, then by the machines. «Alongside the product we develop, we try to create a working environment where the people can work in harmony. In this way, the results can be enhanced. After all, if what we do gives us joy and enthusiasm, the result follow. We are competitive today because we have put innovation before everything else. We firmly believe in specialisation and the importance of limiting the range of products and services you offer, achieving excellence in those products and services. This is what our clients ask of us. The valve had become too important to outsource the design and production, so the entire process is now managed internally. Betting on know-how linked to research and automation means saving on costs», says Venturelli. Research is the heart of the company with of 12% of the turnover allocated to R&D. Then there is the Innovation Center, in which 45 people work: engineers, designers and technicians are the conditions necessary to achieve the company’s future turnover because, according to Venturelli, the company can move forward only with project and process innovation and, therefore, product innovation.
Gratitude, not charity
«From the old family business, I have brought with me the concept that work means passion and fun, and therefore I try to create an environment where workers enter the plant with a smile on their face, because they enter a family environment. For this young CEO, innovating also means giving back to the community: and hence the welfare policies, that Vis has always embraced, allocating 5% of its turnover every year to corporate social responsibility projects. «But I’m not talking here about the classic donation to a charity or, better, it’s not just that. In Vis we take concrete action together: at Pavullo we have built a cycle path around the airport, the hangar for the Emergency Medical Service helicopter rescue and many projects proposed also by our employees who three years ago decided to donate a part of their year-end bonus to volunteer associations. Nobody asked them to do this; they simply embraced the company’s philosophy, raising more than 25,000 euro. After all, in 2021 it is inconceivable for a company not to be linked to the territory: it's gratitude, not charity», concludes Venturelli, who is now working on internationalisation: after opening the branch in the USA, the company's sights are now set on China in 2023. And then on the new headquarters, the Vis Campus that will house the in-house Academy and a wide range of services: from the company’s kindergarten to the gym, from the Amazon lockers to the hairdresser and restaurant, through to the cycle paths for outdoor breaks. To change the world you have to start from the people.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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