In the early
90s a company was established in Bologna able to respond to the new needs
linked to workplace legislation. Human capital at the service of businesses.
Giampaolo Colletti interviews Andrea Montaguti, CEO of Sidel SpA, for FARE
INSIEME
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
«Change
begins when someone sees the next step.» This was stated by William Drayton, an
American entrepreneur born in 1943, one of the twenty-five best leaders in the
world according to those rankings that are so popular overseas. But William
Drayton was also the creator of the concept of social entrepreneur, which
appeared for the first time in 1972. So, what we are about to tell you is the
story of those who saw long over the years. That is, those who managed to be so
far-sighted as to be able to grasp the evolutions of the labour market, before
they actually happened.
From idea to
business. We are at the dawn of the 1990s, which marked a watershed in
workplace safety legislation, between Maastricht and Legislative Decree 626. In
Bologna there was a mechanical engineer born in 1947 who was passionate about
new challenges and who in those 90s had a simple but brilliant idea: to develop
a company dealing with workplace safety and hygiene. This individual was Ivan
Montaguti, who will then open his new company over time with two young
engineers who grew professionally with him, starting to deal with plant
engineering, logistics and production layouts. Montaguti addressed the
manufacturing world, but also looked at the industrial sectors. An eclectic
figure, Ivan Montaguti. Over the years he was also a teacher at Aldini Valeriani,
the legendary Emilian school that produced generations of entrepreneurs over
the years. Let's go back to the 70s. The very first professional studio was
located at Porta San Mamolo, one of the gates of the third city wall of
Bologna. Then in 1991 Sidel was born. From idea to business. It all starts from
teamwork because it is a company of professionals who approach the nascent
world of workplace safety. «The ability to work together and the desire to
study and delve deeper to give customers who rely on us new answers for new
problems is the spirit of that time that remains», says Andrea Montaguti, CEO
of Sidel SpA, a forty-nine year old who joined the company six years ago with a
degree in management engineering in his pocket awarded from the University of
Bologna and with the desire to consolidate and develop his father Ivan's
creation. Over the years the company has grown and specialised its business in
the sector of third-party certifications and inspections carried out under
accreditation. We are in Villanova di Castenaso, an intense commercial
crossroads overlooking the nearby motorway exit. Here the company works with
industries, with the Public Administration, with the varied agricultural world.
There is then a second operational headquarters in Bologna and more peripheral
offices scattered far and wide in Italy. There is Udine. There is Cittadella,
in the province of Padua. There is Turin and there is Bari, to name just the
main ones. The team is made up of 31 employees and a hundred collaborators for
a turnover of 6 million euros and a constant growth of up to 10% in the last 5
years.
Company
profile. Today Sidel focuses its business on a particular aspect of the world
of security: that of conformity assessment. «In our business, the constant
updating of the skills of our technical inspectors remains the key element.
Alongside these, however, there is also the ability to serve the main customers
throughout Italy, maintaining the quality of the service constant», specifies
Montaguti. Here the technological capital, which we have talked about many
times, gives way to human capital, which is precious and immaterial. «We are a
company of people. Our product is intangible, we give customers our expertise.
People are the most important asset and today's processes are standardised, but
standards must be continuously improved and services expanded. And then the
markets are increasingly larger, but also increasingly unstable as they are
threatened by geopolitical structures that change suddenly. What matters is our
identity and what protects us from storms is the possibility of networking with
customers, suppliers and even competitors to guarantee stability for our
businesses and workers», says Montaguti. For the future we look to Europe. «We
expect new opportunities from the regulatory framework supporting the Green
Deal, which provides for important investments in the field of decarbonisation
and the circular economy in the public sector, the industrial sector and the
construction sector», concludes Montaguti. Here then is the winning recipe:
moving towards the future, with clear enthusiasm.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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