A few hundred years ago, young English gentlemen of means made ‘grand tours’ of Italy, enjoying all of the good things that the country has to offer, and discovering new approaches to building. They brought those ideas—and particularly those of the sixteenth century architect Palladio—back to England with them, giving birth to the classical style seen around the world from St Paul’s in London to the White House in Washington.
Other than being English, I share little with those early tourists. However, in the days running up to this year’s SAIE, I got the chance to have a short tour of Italian manufacturers. I think I came back with some interesting ideas that have applications outside of Italy.
The results of my visits are included in four profiles within our SAIE profile (the other profile is based on Fassi’s often passionate SAIE press conference).
I started my tour at Amco Veba’s production site in Poviglio. Here, managing director Giancarlo Perego, has focused on developing value-oriented cranes for emerging markets. Some of the innovations his designers have come up with, such as using pre-bent standardized steel sections from Ruuki, warrant consideration from other crane builders.
My next visit was to Boretto, home to PC Produzioni. Here, Rodolfo Manotti and his brothers have built on their father’s fabrication and assembly business, first designing and building cranes for other crane brands, and now launching their own rough terrain cranes. With his export manager, Paolo Molino, Manotti has taken a proactive approach to building sales for the new cranes, constantly travelling to see potential customers. That’s the sort of attitude that helps you build a new business into something big.
In Piacenza, Valla has built its business around its immediately recognisable pick and carry cranes. The secret to the success of the business, commercial director Giuseppe Guglielmetti told me, has been its responsiveness to customers, designing new cranes and adapting existing ones as requested.
My final visit was to Locatelli, in Mapello. Here, a relatively small (compared to its global rivals) rough terrain manufacturer has invested in new product ranges, and innovative modern processes. The company’s success in implementing manufacturing techniques its giant rivals take years to get right, is an example for all crane builders.
