Full Steam Ahead! Despite Everything…

FEDERTEC continues to pursue its objectives as stated at the association birth back in 2019, exactly as was set out in its declaration of intent. A clear show of strength and commitment despite the difficulties of the current period. Objectives that were reconfirmed at the 2020 Assembly, an event held exclusively on line. The future can’t be predicted but we can plan for it.

On the 22nd of October the FEDERTEC annual assembly was held, on line, to report annual results and to illustrate plans to keep the association moving forward in these difficult times, both for Italian industry as well as Italy as a whole. The President’s report could hardly have begun in any other terms, as Fausto Villa immediately made reference to current travails: “Since March, we have been living through one of the most dramatic social and economic periods of uncertainty, and, as is often the case, the Italian business community reaction has been built on its own resourcefulness, as all around us domestic and international supply and demand collapses”. Villa expressed his disappointment at the “legislative confusion” and general climate
of uncertainty in which companies are being expected to operate. “We are now counting on the stimulus package for industry which, we sincerely hope, will be activated as soon as possible”. Sector performance then came into view with analysis of performance so far this year: “After the heavy losses of the first nine months, it is tough to make short or medium-term forecasts… Much will depend on measures to keep companies afloat; then leading to an upturn in future investment in technology and production and digital transition through the Industry 4.0 plan. This is now an absolute priority
for industrial development together with training of current and future members of personnel”.

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Setting objectives and steadily pursuing them

To be the leading light for Italian industry of mechatronics technologies and components for fluid power, power transmission, smart automation and control of industrial products and processes. This was the declaration of intent made by FEDERTEC, and is still the goal the federation strives for, day in, day out. Despite the obstacles. It is with his hallmark optimism and drive that the ASSOFLUID President, Domenico di Monte, begins his speech: “The declaration of intent that lies at the foundation of the FEDERTEC association – he said – has remained unchanged, coherent and linear. Setting a goal and following that objective to its fulfilment is key to any success. Having created strategy, an action plan must follow in order to move it forward with necessary structure, even when unexpected external events pop up and cause an inevitable slowing of progress.” Di Monte presented the Fluid Power
sector results for the first nine months of the year 2020. Results which are far from outstanding for more than obvious reasons (in reality the end of 2019 was already showing a slow down in turnover) but let’s not over-focus on numbers, figures and percentages. “It will be interesting – Di Monte confirmed – to evaluate the results for the full year to entirely get a grasp of the impact the lockdown has had on performance”.

Being able to renew and invest in innovation

Mauro Rizzolo, President of ASSIOT, underlined the importance of continuity, which, in this case, means staying focused on the long-term vision as set out by the previous President, Assunta Galbiati. The challenges faced by today’s business continuity, digitalization, robotics, AI, sustainability and so on must, nonetheless, be met even without access to a continuative supply chain. For the future, strategies need to be in place that can rapidly react to such unpredictable changes. Decisions must immediately be taken, rapidly selecting and applying new models and then sticking with them, while also setting up innovative approaches where necessary. The FEDERTEC role is fundamental to this tough period: the association will support its members in every way possible, listening to their problems and providing solutions.

Commissions at work

Fausto Villa also focused on the activity of the commissions over 2020, despite the obvious disadvantage of never being able to meet up in person. Of activity in progress, those of the Economic, Marketing and Communication and Technology and Innovation commissions catch the eye. The former is currently working on a project to standardize the request for quarterly performance data with the goal of creating reports that can be compared across sectors. The on line platform currently successfully being used by ASSOFLUID will continue to provide this data. This is an essential project as it will give members coherent data which will group cross sector activity in one document. The second objective is that of pursuing a stronger Corporate Identity. To do this, a new, more user-friendly website has been set up. The Technology and Innovation commission has worked and still is working on the training program diary for the FEDERTEC Academy, of course, currently fully on line, meaning dates and timing can always be respected. A brand-new project presented by Sergio Sartori is the Technical directors’ club, of which he is the coordinator. The club will promote technical, academic and reporting operations. They will be in charge of organizing technical conferences and seminars, and, as an added value, experience exchange among speakers will be highly encouraged, even where business people come from competing companies – stories of cutting-edge technology that can benefit the entire sector. In conclusion, the reminder of the regular appointment, on line this time around, for the graduation thesis award, with this year’s topic being of surefire interest in terms of technical innovation. All universities involved in this award continue to laud its existence as a great example of collaboration between the worlds of academia and industry. A final project that has been successfully completed is that of the FEDERTEC directory, an instrument that will shortly be sent to all members and will surely be of great help to the association as a whole. The Directory is a fundamental tool for understanding and getting to know the Italian offer of components, systems, technologies and skills for the automation and control of industrial products and processes.