In the last issue of Detergo Magazine, we focused our attention on the trade associations asking for their opinion on the economical trend of the sector, key issues, but also about its potentialities. We are now changing the protagonists, the actors and the perspective. We addressed several questions to the sector manufacturers, directly involved in the small and industrial textile care markets. In some cases, the companies are following the market trends, in some other cases, they are even succeeding to foresee them. The round table discussion for this insight was attended by: Christeyns Italia (detergents) with the Managing Director – Leonardo Innocenti, Industria Tessile Gastaldi with the CEO – Marco Gastaldi, Renzacci S.p.A. (Washing Machines Industry) with the General Sales and Mkt Director – Marco Niccolini, Trevil (Professional Ironing) with its co-owner Corinna Mapelli, Union S.p.A. (Washing Machines Industry) with the Sales Director – Gabriele Cuppini, Zucchetti Centro Sistemi (Software and Logistics) with Maurizio Casol – the Automation Division Director, and last but not least, Pony S.p.A. (Professional Ironing) with the President – Paolo Fumagalli. In essence, the discussion focused on four macro questions. But let’s give the floor to the wide-ranging and detailed evaluation that followed
We are starting our debate by trying to understand the economical trend of the sector. Especially regarding the inflationary pressures and the rising interest rates that are reducing the possibilities of accessing a credit, or if obtaining it, by involving higher costs. The business volume has undoubtedly increased compared to the previous years, obviously affected by the shortage of raw materials and moreover by the health crisis, but the costs uncertainty is a constant threat for the companies. Considering all of these, how did the first months of 2023 developed and which perspectives do you see for the second half of the year?
L. Innocenti (Christeyns). 2023 is proving itself to be a year of growth in terms of turnover for the entire mega-industry, a growth that in our case, I must point out, is derived from the increased volumes. But since 2020 we are clearly facing a “new normality”, where the uncertainty caused by the latest events is something out of our control. As an illustration of this, we observe that while we are experiencing an improvement as a result of the stabilisation of raw material prices, however always higher than before the Ukraine war, on the other hand, there is no doubt that we are also feeling the effects of the current inflationary pressures. This brings us to consider the second half of 2023 at high risk of slowdown, and more likely once the summer season is over.
M. Gastaldi (Gastaldi tessile). The first half of 2023 closed with a positive growth compared to the same period of 2022. I now consider it useless to compare the data to the pre-pandemic times, as the industry has undergone radical changes in the meantime. For sure, the tourism sector generally both on the Italian and foreign markets has experienced a double-digit recovery. I remain, however, very concerned about the nearest future, because the general economic situation doesn’t look very promising, and the rising interest rates will cause reduced cash flow on the markets with a consequent contraction of the demand. In our industry especially, restaurant price lists and room rates have significantly increased, and I don’t know how much will people be able to afford this kind of costs.
M. Niccolini (Renzacci). In a situation like the current one, where the entire supply chain of our sector has not been able to reflect all the increased production costs from the past years in the final price of the products, there is an atmosphere of uncertainty and expectations that is considerably weighing for making future purchasing decisions. While, on one side, the first part of the year has undoubtedly witnessed an increase in the interest of the industry players for new machinery and for the innovations proposed, on the other side, this interest wasn’t translated into an equivalent orders growth, from the fear of a further worsening of the current scenarios (or of not having any improvement) that could lead to “financial asphyxiation” due to the fragile inherited cash flow situation, enhanced by the issues related to the pandemic. However, there are reports arriving from various directions, indicating a dynamic demand for the current part of the year, that certainly creates a good outlook for the following months. For the second half of the year, therefore, the possible recovery will be linked to an improvement in the expectations of the operators, who are and remain very interested in issues related to product innovation.
C. Mapelli (Trevil). The first months of 2023 have been particularly “quiet”. Many of customers that had expressed a great interest at EXPOdetergo International 2022 have postponed their investments. We are now beginning to see a trend reversal. Probably the much-feared increases in energy costs have returned, and this has changed the confidence in the possibility of making an investment. Many customers are using financing solutions. A method that seems to be very successful now, is the operational rental.
G. Cuppini (Union). We have to start first of all by clarifying where our customers are located, as we are a company strongly committed to export, in fact more than 90% of our products are sold out of Italy, to customers in about 120 countries on 5 continents, in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas, where there is high demand for dry-cleaning machines, there we are also present. Therefore, we are not actually influenced by the Italian economy, which in the last few years, for the well-known reasons, has suffered a flat economy, although the development of the 4.0 INDUSTRY has contributed and may still contribute, albeit to a lesser extent, to industrial economic development. For these reasons, we are less affected by the market uncertainty, working on a broad scale, with many premium customers. In fact, in almost 50 years of work, the UNION brand built a reputation, thanks to its highly reliable products and a high technological value, by standing out as the industry’s benchmark brand and looking with confidence to the future.
P. Fumagalli (Pony). It is a fact that our market, like so many other sectors, still has to deal with the economic consequences and beyond, generated by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, is facing inevitably increasing costs and uncertainties. Apart from this situation, in Italy, the first half of 2023 has proven to be more favourable, compared with the same period of the last year. For the central months of the year, we are anticipating a phase of reflection firstly dictated by the rising inflation and then by the higher interest rates. On the contrary, we are expecting a moment of growth towards the end of the year, driven by the slowdown in price increase, raw materials included, and government incentives, including 4.0 INDUSTRY. Despite of the complex moments of our Country industry, we are looking with confidence and optimism to the future, and in fact, the signs of recovery are giving us hope for a return to “normality”.
M. Casol (ZCS). From our point of view, the post-pandemic phase, the big pressure on energy costs, and the great uncertainty regarding the interest rates and, consequently, on accessing a credit, have been factors contributing in drastically reducing or even eliminating, the willingness for investments of the companies in the sector. Companies have focused on the restart of their production and the related fundamentals (hiring production personnel, re-starting machines and plants, the maintenance strictly necessary for re-starting, etc.) while neglecting long-term structured planning. The issues remaining, related to reasoning about efficiency and performance improvement and cost savings, were left on the background; not abandoned, but absolutely reduced as priority compared to the production recovery. At this point now, it seems that there is some reasoning on efficiency, especially in the Ho.Re.Ca. sector, which has such a growth speed, that in our opinion will be the driving force to the supply and development of new projects, already by the second half of 2023. In contrast, the healthcare sector remains more dormant, partially due to the absence of major tenders in the past months. We foresee a possible increase of the activities for 2024.
We are moving forward to the most essential aspect of labour and work organisation inside the business. Planning in the global market of nowadays can be challenging and always complicated to define. Responding to real-time orders with an increasingly hectic demand becomes a daily challenge. How are you managing the new situation, in front of a market that has undergone such a metamorphosis?
M. Niccolini (Renzacci). The capability for innovating products and production processes is, and remains the compulsory path to cope with the new competitive scenarios. Thanks to its high soundness, integrity and high potential for investing in technological innovation, Renzacci S.p.A. is currently managing this important change in its production techniques in order to ensure even higher flexibility and customization of its wide range of: bio dry-cleaning machines, washing machines, tumble dryers, flatwork and drying ironers.
C. Mapelli (Trevil). Compared to the past, the possibility of long-term planning has been lost. There was also the need for greater production flexibility. On one hand, it is essential to have a continuous monitoring of components and raw material suppliers to make sure that the delivery times are certain and on time. On the other hand, it is necessary to dose carefully the outsourcing of less strategic works for having more flexibility during the times of fluctuating demand. In-house, we aim for workers capable to manage different phases of the production cycle, so that you have the possibility to move resources where they are most needed, depending on the moment. Despite everything, production management remains a complex challenge, it is not always possible to meet market demands with strict production efficiency.
L. Innocenti (Christeyns). I would say that we have been experiencing this trend for a few years now. Being as prompt as possible in responding to the sometimes-schizophrenic demands of the market while staying profitable is a challenge we are trying to win only in one way, by investing. We have invested in new machinery for improving the production process, and partially thanks to the very welcomed 4.0 incentives, as well as investing in people and trainings for being able to improve the production planning process, so crucial for our industry. As producers of consumption goods, we are operating under a make-to-stock basis. It is therefore vital to avoid – stock breaks, which can lead to losses in sales, and situations when – stocks are too high, both not healthy situations for the company as major resources that could otherwise be used are being taken away and blocked, especially during these times, when the value of money is rising dramatically.
P. Fumagalli (Pony). Procurement and production planning activities have also had to keep evolving in the recent years. More frequent forecast updates, supported by specific software capable to ensure efficient planning of necessary material or semifinished product, and software for continuous monitoring of the progress of each production stage, have been a valuable support for the internal organization of work. In this context, monitoring the suppliers that can guarantee reliability and speed of delivery has even a more important role. In addition to the autonomy that we enjoy thanks to the control over the entire production chain, in our production facility in Inzago, we took advantage of the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic and the possibility to access the State incentives, investing in high-productivity machinery with the goal of improving our responsiveness to the increasingly hectic market demand.
M. Gastaldi (Tessile Gastaldi). We have always tried to cope with the market changes in a positive way, by confronting them and not by being affected by them. Certainly, for Gastaldi, product and process sustainability remain as guidelines; we see no other way to challenge the ruthless competition of the Asian manufacturers.
G. Cuppini (Union). Despite the objective difficulties in receiving raw materials and some components from different suppliers, our production facility has been able to keep delivery times to our customers within acceptable frames. In fact, one of the keys to the Company’s success has been the investments we have made in the past decades that made us self-sufficient, with an outstanding production capacity. Thanks to the cutting-edge equipment and the investments we were able to support, we were able to invest in components and raw materials to have good autonomy, also produce and deliver orders on time.
M. Casol (ZCS). Our company and business have always been targeting also the global market, which, from our point of view, has recovered in volumes and activity slightly faster than the domestic market, probably as it has been less affected by the rising energy costs and inflationary pressures. In this sense, we do not perceive a change compared to the past; but we rather hope for a consistent restart of the international activities, which our organization is already well prepared to follow.
One of the pressing issues for Italian companies, but also for other European countries, is the decline of the labour force and the difficulty in finding qualified and professionally skilled young people. The demographic crisis caused by the low birth rate and the gradual population ageing, are a big challenge for the artisan manufacturing excellence. How can we stop this tendency and reverse its course?
M. Casol (ZCS). Besides the general considerations related to the need to increase wages by lowering the tax wedge, an important issue that has not been properly solved in our country, in our business framework we put the person at the centre of our projects. We are a company with human and ethical values complemented by the fundamental pillars of research and innovation, technological expertise and knowledge. There is room for young people, for their fresh ideas, supported by more experienced teams, with increasingly more vertical, sectorial and non-generalist professional skills.
G. Cuppini (Union). Fortunately, we are located on a land rich in resources, prestigious cars, mechanical automation, biomedical and much more. There are so many young people willing to approach a quality industrial world where they can find career opportunities and social welfare. Once we overcame the pandemics negative phase of the past few years, we are confident in a positive future, also regarding the quality of young people entering in the labour world.
P. Fumagalli (Pony). Like some other companies, with the time passing, we notice less availability of workforce, especially for the workforce with an appropriate level of professionalism. For this purpose, we are organizing ourselves on two fronts at PONY, the first regarding continuous education through our PONY Academy program, aimed for our dealers’ technicians and, recently, extended to the students as well. We have discussed with several schools in our area and have offered our support to help them in introducing the children into the labour world with practical tests and theoretical training in the company. Regarding our customers, one of our permanent goals when designing the machines is to guarantee their easiness of use, so that they can be operated even by unskilled operators. In addition, we are continuously creating video tutorials to facilitate learning, and we are offering live demonstrations at trade fairs and to our headquarters.
M. Gastaldi (Tessile Gastaldi). We have unfortunately been experiencing more difficulties in finding qualified personnel for about two years now. We have therefore decided to invest in young people and to make a lot of in-house trainings. This involves a lot of effort and time on short term, but we are confident that it will pay us back on mid/long term. As for the demographic decline, we cannot do anything, obviously, except taking note.
L. Innocenti (Christeyns). Let me say regarding this aspect, that we are experiencing the opposite situation. In fact, from seven newly employed personnel in 2023, five of them are girls and boys under the age of 30. Well prepared and dedicated young people, that we have employed a little bit in all departments: sales, technical support, marketing and administration. This shows that the difficulty in finding new resources also depends partially on what is being offered. The demographic crisis we are experiencing, especially in Italy, however, is undoubtedly a central issue and its very complicated resolution must necessarily go through wide-ranging and long-term policies. Such as work-family balance policies: offering maternity and paternity incentives, as paid work leave and accessible childcare facilities, can encourage people to have children without having to give up their careers. Or tax and financial incentives: introducing policies to facilitate large families or providing tax benefits for the parents could encourage more child birth. Without forgetting to mention the strategies that involve more the production side, such as investments in technology research and development. Investing in research and development for technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and automation could contribute in reducing the dependence on a declining human labour force.
M. Niccolini (Renzacci). Great awareness towards continuous professional training at all levels of the company, is certainly one of the most efficient responses to this obvious phenomenon. Renzacci S.p.A. has already been successfully in following this important strategy for a long time, proven over the years under the helm of President Ing. Gabrio Renzacci, in collaboration with some of the most prestigious Training Institutes operating nationwide, with the aim of integrating motivated and well-prepared young people into the labour world on one side, and on the other side, for always keeping updated and qualified the human resource operating in the company.
C. Mapelli (Trevil). In some sectors, the lack of skilled personnel can be compensated by relying more on automation: this is the case of many of our customers. As for our products, they are highly diversified and produced in rather small batches, so they don’t require so much automation for their production. Nowadays, doesn’t seems possible a trend reversal regarding the lack of personnel and professionalism. It is not only a matter of demographic aging, but also a different approach to work among the younger generation.
And at the end, we are talking about process and product innovation. Have you been implementing any innovations in the company that have increased and improved productivity? When it comes to new products, on which ones are you focusing the most?
C. Mapelli (Trevil). We are continuously investing in solutions that can make the production processes more efficient, and we have focused especially on increasingly automated management of information flows inside the company. It involves, first and foremost, an investment in software that eliminates manual steps between departments or between processing stages. For example, we have been taking advantage of 4.0 Industry solutions to make different machines communicate. We have successfully implemented a vertical warehouse that, in addition to optimizing the space use, it serves to reduce the possibility of human error in inventory management. We are also committed to sustainability with the installation of photovoltaic panels that will cover our electricity needs. As for the innovation of our products, we continue to focus on automation, to compensate the lack of specialized personnel for garments ironing. In the recent months we have added two new models of double buck shirt finishers to our range: one pressed and one with blown air, designed to meet the needs of those customers that have to iron high volumes of shirts. We are about to release the new version of our Trevistar shirt finisher, optimized to be easier and faster to use. We have also paid a special attention on reducing operation costs and energy consumption.
P. Fumagalli (Pony). Our latest investments have been focused on continuing to improve our production process by purchasing highly efficient, energy-saving machines, including: – BLM Combined laser cutting machine, equipped with the latest generation of fibre laser technology; – inverter technology incorporated in the power management of the new folding press, with hydraulic system with 50% improved efficiency; – autonomous nitrogen generating plant; – “Agilox” system and latest-generation of forklifts for 24-hour electric transportation and optimal handling management; – vertical warehouses for time saving and faster spare parts delivery; Our main product innovations involve the latest generation of shirtfinishers with the new ANGEL 3.0 and DB PREMIUM versions: – new dummy design combined with improved vacuum function, that allows a more precise and faster shirt placing; – the new contoured Teflon-coated bucks offer flawless ironing and thanks to PTFE treatment avoid shine on dark shirts; – powerful 3HP fan which guarantees a faster drying of the shirt; – the patented H.A.R.S. (Hot Air Recovery System) has been designed to recapture hot air allowing a 20% reduction in steam consumption. In addition, it reduces the blowing cycle time, improving productivity and the temperature of the working environment; – wide range of sizes.
M. Niccolini (Renzacci). High focus on sustainable economy and lavagdigital transition drives Renzacci innovation in many directions including the most important ones: – bio dry-cleaning machines using Natural Solvents, for a Natural cleaning which in addition to provide high-quality cleaning results is also offering wellness thanks to the hypoallergenic and bio compatible cleaning technics used. The last generation of machines EXCELLENCE 2.0 (available in models from 15 to 90 kg. of loading capacity), has been studied to work best with solvents such like SENSENE™, INTENSE®, SOLVON K4®, GREEN EARTH®, HIGLO® etc… To better follow this important change, Renzacci has also created the BIO DRY-CLEANING MACHINES equipped with the exclusive “SENTINEL™” system, which exploits a natural generator in a simple and innovative way for a deep and effective action against viruses and bacteria. An extremely efficient, effective and reliable technology, with a simplicity that means intuitive and automated operation without the need for periodical maintenance and expensive technical interventions: – new Series of HS – ECO HIGH SPEED soft mounted washer extractors, available in a range from 9 to 90 Kg. loading capacity (from 20 to 200 Lb.) that allow approx. 12%-16% energy savings, depending on the performed washing cycle; – the new HS – ECO series is equipped with new and advanced software for the management and control of the entire washing machine and the innovative drum equipped with the “AQUAWAVE PLUS™” system, for an optimal cleaning action and customized for the garment to be treated; – the exclusive “PLASTIC GUARD” filtration system, which gives a remarkable contribution to the fight against plastic pollution, making washing machines not only a prominent tool for the professionals in this industry, but also an irreplaceable aid in preventing plastic pollution in our environment. The advanced RENZACCI “PLASTIC GUARD” system therefore allows to combine the efficiency and profitability of your business with the implementation of a production process at the service of sustainability and the environment.
L. Innocenti (Christeyns). I would say that regarding our willingness for investing in process innovation we have already talked about it, at point 2). To be more precise, I can mention the major investment that has just been approved, for implementing a new ERP system that should start to be operational starting dorm January 1, 2024. This will allow us to manage all operations in a more efficient way, even introducing some elements of artificial intelligence in our production system. Concerning product innovation, Christeyns has always been a driver in this sense, especially in the field of textile washing. For several years now, the main guideline driving our innovation process has been the eco-sustainability. Product and process innovations, that through real economic benefits for our customers, turn into real benefits for our planet. Like, for example, the PURESAN system, a complete hygiene solution with multi-level solutions including water saving, energy saving, and a better cost-in-use of the products.
M. Casol (ZCS). We propose a comprehensive, flexible and scalable traceability model that enables optimization of cost control processes on some other markets than the initial and traditional healthcare – like the Ho.Re.Ca. sector, industry, services…) and in different geographic areas. We are bringing traceability into the new industrial frameworks to maximize efficiency of internal processes with the integration of our software technologies in Cloud and hardware.
M. Gastaldi (Tessile Gastaldi). Regarding the production side, we are continuing the path of modernizing production facilities to remain competitive on the market. In terms of process sustainability, we have invested in renewable energy, eco-friendly chemicals and constant monitoring of water and energy resources involved in the production processes. As for products, besides investing in increasingly higher quality items, the main novelty that makes us a major player in the market is related to our article OPERA, the first and only GRS-certified table cloth, made from post-consumption recycled materials.
G. Cuppini (Union). UNION has developed and introduced an innovative new cleaning concept on the market, called – ECO CONCEPT, designed to minimize energy consumption for significant cost savings and higher eco-friendliness, a sustainable concept that reduces significantly operating costs on energy bills. The ECO CONCEPT series models are offering a cleaning cycle output from 10 kg to 15 kg with less than 7.9 KWH electricity consumption with minimum water consumption. The cleaning quality is guaranteed by a solvent distillation system aimed for high savings in operating costs, for the sustainability of the cleaning service. Another interesting innovation is the new 10″ DIALOG TOUCH – touchscreen computer control that resumes the working philosophy of the classic DIALOG computer, opening the door to a future full of new functionalities. DIALOG TOUCH is equipped with native remote connection to interconnect with the digital world of today and tomorrow, offering an extremely simple and comprehensive user experience. Another interesting new feature are the XPRESS 2.0 models, the new generation from the XPRESS range, now available with two washing circuits combined with the UNIJET SOFT washing system, which can occasionally be replaced by a bath washing cycle. XPRESS 2.0 models do not require distillation by solvent filtration, it is an excellent system for those with limited space and looking for a system that is easy to use or to combine with alternative washing systems. •
by Marzio Nava
DETERGO Magazine # July/August 2023
