| Machinery |
Michela and Nicola, the second generation at Adelio Lattuada
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Founded in 1978 in Carbonate, Como province, Adelio Lattuada started out as a technicalservice company. In the 1980s it ventured into the design and production of automatic corner processing machinery, then expanding into grinding and bevelling machinery. Ongoing technological advances have led Adelio Lattuada to focus its range on products that offer maximum flexibility, operating simplicity and low maintenance. Today Adelio Lattuada, after having sold over 2,000 machines since it was founded, is an established company on the world market, exporting 80% of its products to more than 90 countries and with over 90% of return customers. Its present and above all its future now lies in the hands of Nicola and Michela Lattuada, brother and sister, the second generation at the helm of the family company.
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1. Nicola and Michela Lattuada, the company is now depending on you to steer its course: did you always know that this would be your professional future?
M: Before entering the company full time and being involved on a daily basis, I worked elsewhere, however always with final aim of acquiring experience to bring with me to our company. I have loads of memories of summers spent in the office helping my mother or at exhibitions, both in Italy and abroad, together with the people who were later to become my colleagues. My brother and I, without being rhetorical, literally grew up with the “firm”, happily and proudly following its growth, its relocations and the small and large objectives reached over time.
N: My memories of the company date back to when I was very young, with school holidays spent in the office, or at trade shows… obviously all from a different perspective and without a clear vision of the future. When I finished school I wanted to try other professional experiences, not only to learn different skills, but also to work in different environments and situations. When however the time came to decide my future, the choice to enter the company was a natural one. My aim was to bring all the experience I had acquired and the desire to play an active role in the running of the company. Although not everything in life is always clear, inside myself I knew I had the drive and desire to be part of this family project.
2. How have you managed to balance your educational backgrounds with your current positions?
M: When I was in junior high school I already had a passion for languages, I always studied them and even now I continue to do so, even though I finished school a few years ago. So it was natural that I would gradually take responsibility for most of the company’s export dealings, both as head of marketing and communication, and as regards the technical and service documents we provide our customers with together with our machinery.
N: I have always tried to follow my passions and my flairs. I attended a high school specializing in scientific subjects, and then enrolled in Computer Engineering at university, completing subjects in the area of Industrial Automation. When I entered the company I tried to bring all my experience with me, updating the company’s computer system and starting to computerize the different company processes so as to be able to best respond to the changes and new challenges in the market. The aspects involving the automation of the machinery also underwent changes as regards operating simplicity for the customer and flexibility, a result of the know-how I brought with me. Obviously, I have a more varied and wider role in the company, however in this case I believe that in order to take on different roles, as well as the knowledge and way of thinking learnt at school (the basis), actual experience in the field and personal aptitude are also important.
3. Considering the different roles you now play in the company, what was your on-the-job training like?
M: I have had different roles over the years. In a family-run company like ours, it is important to understand all aspects of the business. After having acquired experience working with the various company departments, in recent years I have focused my efforts on two aspects that while being different, share in common relations with customers: on one hand communication/marketing and consequently dealing with the magazines where we publish articles and ads, our website and exhibitions, and on the other the qualityaspect, relating to the technical documents and all the tools we provide the operators who use our machinery.
N: Initially, as I mentioned, I started out at the company in roles that reflected what I had studied, being responsible for the computing system, and then managing industrial automation and research and development. Although I still have a role in these areas, I have since increasingly been focused on more commercial aspects, such as organizing our participation at international trade exhibitions, management of relations with some of the agents in our sales network, etc...
4. What important and creative contributions do you now make to the company: do you feel you are more continuing something that was already successfully started, or rather that you are innovators?
M: I would say “innovators in continuity”. We did not enter the company with the presumption of changing everything or imposing our own ideas. We feel bound to what has always been and still is the philosophy that underlies how we work as a company. What we have tried to bring in terms of added value is a vision of the resources we have available that considers the context we grew up in, where communication tools offer a multitude of possibilities that we hope to exploit to the full.
N: I would echo my sister’s definition, as there are values that the company has pursued ever since it was founded, above all concerning customer relations, which are fundamental and which we continue to consider important. Together with this obviously is a contribution aimed at bringing change in the positive sense, that is, to give the company (for example, by computerizing some processes) a more modern working method. Changes in generation are never simple, you need to reconcile the “business” vision of the people who started the company with a vision that is different today, integrating and taking the best from both, without excesses.
5. The Adelio Lattuada website highlights your communication strategy, including a famous quote by Henry Ford: how do you see this aspect?
M: One of the focal points of how we interpret customer relations is the importance we give to dealing with them directly in person, and being able to put a face to a voice. However, having customers in countries all over the world, some of which are very far away, it is important to exploit all possible means of communication: participation, directly or through our agents, at many of the main exhibitions in our sector, placing ads and sending articles on products or the company to trade magazines. Finally, the website: surely this is the fastest and most immediate way to keep customers, or anyone else who is interested, upto-
date on our latest news.
N: I agree with my sister in underlining the importance of communication in the modern world. Obviously, the priority is to create “substance” and not just an empty image, and I feel it is fundamental to make the company’s values, which I mentioned earlier, known to the outside world. The fact that we export a high percentage of our products makes it even more important to reach all of the people we deal with in the proper way. We also believe greatly in all the new communication channels and technologies that help the company get closer to the customer. In this varied world, however, we feel it is important to present ourselves with an image and a common thread that is not destabilizing, but rather that makes our company familiar to everyone.
6. What advice would you give to young people starting out like you did in this business?
M: I feel that the best attitude is to be willing to listen and learn as much as possible from those you meet along the way, as well as to propose new ideas and projects, without forcing things and choosing the right moment.
N: Above all, dialogue and modesty, you can learn something from everyone… being inquisitive so as to expand your knowledge… exchanging ideas and the ability to accept criticism, leading however to a more active phase, when you make your own contribution. A change in generation is almost never a simple and automatic process. You need to be prepared to make some sacrifices, while being aware that the satisfaction you attain will make it all worthwhile.
7. We are starting to see sense some slight optimism in the near future, or at least the talk of doom and gloom seems to be over: do you agree with this analysis?
M&N. We feel that part of this “crisis” has been due to widespread panic and pessimism that have amplified a difficult situation that certainly exists. As far as we are concerned, we try to be as realistic as possible, with however a pinch of optimism. Having said this, the current situation still seems a little like being “on hold”. We do feel nonetheless that the end of the year, and putting our hopes in our important trade show (“Vitrum”) will give some impetus, and the market will start growing again, as we are sure it has the potential to do so.
8. What is your recipe for real and, we hope, lasting recovery?
M&N: We are certain that things will change when the recovery starts. We hope there will be a sort of rationalization, with some changes in equilibrium, favouring those who have always acted fairly in relation to their customers and their competitors. We feel that the market ethic, while it may seem utopian, can in reality be a guiding light. So, summing up, research and development for constant evolution, agility in being the first to respond to changes, flexibility in supplying customers tailor-made solutions, and solid company management, without being allured by the impossible dreams of reckless finance to create profits based on castles in the air, without the underlying foundations. Finally, reciprocal trust and assistance.
VITRUM
Via Petitti, 16 – 20149 Milano – Italy
Ph. +39 02 33006099
vitrum@vitrum-milano.it - www.vitrum-milano.it
Press Office
Francesca Solera
Il Filo Rosso Solera & associati
Via Panfilo Castaldi, 33 - 20124 Milano Italy
Ph. +39 02 29523341 - Fax +39 02 29510062
Mobile 347 8932530
francesca.solera@ilfilorossonline.it
www.ilfilorossonline.it
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Last review: August, 2009 |
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