A new board for the Association

During G.I.S.I.’s General Assembly last December, the new Board, which will start its term of office on January 1st, was presented. There was talk of results obtained so far and of future objectives, as the new President, Lino Ferretti, explained

by Claudia Dagrada

2018 began for G.I.S.I. with an important turning point: as from January 1st a new board took the helm, as had been announced during the General Assembly held in December at the Cinisello Balsamo headquarters. After six years in office, Sebastian Fabio Agnello handed over his role to Lino Ferretti, Emerson, the new President. Besides, Renato Uggeri, who handed over the role as Secretary General to Claudio Bertoli, was unanimously voted Honorary President during the Assembly, in consideration of the efforts dedicated to the Association during all these years.

Six intense years during which the reaction to the crisis was dynamism
A farewell speech from the outgoing President was of course in order: Sebastian Fabio Agnello, the youngest president in G.I.S.I.’s history, was elected in 2012 and confirmed even for the successive three-year period. Playing such a role during the past years was not easy, as Agnello himself stated: “The crisis that companies went through and its impact on employment, the questioning of the nature of associations as an element of economic and cultural development, the “stammering” of politics faced with the great challenges of our times certainly put us all through trying tests”. But, as often happens, difficulties turned out to be an opportunity for improvement. During these six years the Association reached a good level of dynamism in its performance, and kept abreast of the times. The Directors’ Board reconsidered the development model, the investment on training and the meeting of labour supply and demand. It invested considerably on digitization as a preferential communication channel, and on the trade show system looking at new markets and collective promotion. This last formula is becoming increasingly successful, even abroad, as shown by the excellent results of Miconex in China, the trade show dedicated to instruments where six associated companies took part. G.I.S.I. is also making great efforts to support communication services, from the “Controllo e Misura” printed magazine to the Controllo e Misura Digital editorial portal, to the website, right up to the annual. All of this provides associates with the certainty that they are part of a community, and that they are following a common development process. Momentum was therefore provided to ideas, to projects and to enthusiasm. This is the inheritance which Agnello left to the new President, to continue along the path leading to renewal and modernization. A lot of work has been done, but there is still much that needs to be accomplished: the reform of the charter, of the work groups and committees, the creation of an “employment office” and active policies for meetings and supplies, the broadening of participation instruments, training for graduates and cooperation with venture capital to help companies raise funds, and to encourage the development of new start ups.

The board invests on young talents, synergies ad partnerships
All of the choices ad strategies adopted during the past six years have been agreed upon by the new President: a G.I.S.I. board member since 2008, Lino Ferretti was able to know well the dynamics and requirements of associates, and in this new role will make available to the Association his managerial competence and professional experience, developed working in the automation and instrument industry. In short, the aspects he intends working on are: young talents, by means of the interaction with some Universities and the creation of networks of companies to host training sessions; the increase of synergies with other industry associations; the strengthening of relationships with service companies to help associates in terms of cost savings; partnerships and cooperation among members to develop national and international projects. As mentioned, a change in the charter is also envisaged, so as to guarantee the integration of the whole of the industry with the Association.

In 2017 ten new companies joined the Association
During the General Assembly the 2017 Forecast Financial Statement was also presented, to be approved during the next meeting in June. The statement is aligned with the provisions, and shows a profit of about 7,000 euro. Currently the number of associated companies, which went up by ten last year (58 new companies had joined after the 2012 restructuring), is slightly above 200.

Many very interesting speeches followed, such as the one by Matteo Finardi, Maire Tecnimont, relative to working in harmony with the main engineering companies. Last but not least, Claudio Bertoli and Flavio Assi, Libera adv, presented Italianingenio, a project dedicated to the key players of Italian engineering in different industries, aimed at increasing the visibility of the companies, by means of the role played by the associations which represent them.