It’s all a matter of people

We have already spoken in detail of SIT Group, but we are continuously discovering new things that require us to update the agenda. Let’s therefore take stock of this organisation which is one of the most dynamic in the world of flexible packaging in Italy.

Stefano Lavorini

Dominic Toretto, star of the Fast & Furious films, never tires of repeating, after having got up to all sorts of things, that “what counts is the family”, his team with which he always manages to overcome with courage and skill the challenges encountered along his path. The same thing, with different words and emphases, we have always heard repeated, typically ahead of the game, also by Simona Michelotti, the founder of SIT Group, the eldest of 10 children, to whom her father reserved the fate of discovering all about flexible packaging, thus steering her to manage and grow the family business, thanks to a lot of determination and loving care. I have clearly perceived the same echo every time I ‘ve met the chairwoman, as well as her daughter, Neni Rossini and the CEO, Claudio Carattoni, but also the many siblings (how can I not mention Amedeo and Marta) and all the front-end workers.

Investments that make a huge difference

Investments for more than 120 million euros were made by the SIT Group between 2018 and 2022, which involved at various levels the three factories of Faetano in San Marino (site of the headquarters), Pesaro and Stanghella (PD), to which tasks and allocations were redefined, as well as ACM’s business in Cremona.

SIT’s San Marino factory, linked to the original site and headquarters of the Group, is at the technological cutting-edge. It is a place of work where you breathe enthusiasm, where everything is planned with precision and know-how, laying the ground for future evolutions of the group.

But that’s not all. Besides the technological content, in its own way in fact, it’s a work of art. In summer 2022, the Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra created the enormous mural of over 1,300 m2 covering the entire facade of the site and in which he retells the story of the Saint coming out of the sea and the Republic of San Marino; and where, according to an ancient tradition of homage to the patrons of a work, he portrayed the members of the family.

A gift to the company, certainly, but also to the community which now has a space with a path through greenery, equipped to freely enjoy moments in which art and nature dialogue with each other.

Expression of a way of life, of conceiving life, as Simona Michelotti tells me:

«If you have two coins, with one you buy a loaf of bread, with the other a flower. The bread enables you to live, the flower gives you a reason to live».

Run horse, run!

Talking of bread, in SIT Group they have obviously never stopped running their machines, also in these recent difficult times.

Here are the figures relating to 2022: 235 million euros of turnover, 750 people, 5 factories, 800 million m2 of production capacity, of which 600 million m2 of rotogravure printing and 200 million m2 of flexographic printing. Like other businesses in the sector, the increase in energy costs and raw materials has adversely affected marginality. This is because, coming from a long period of price stability, it has taken several difficult months to redefine conditions with customers. In this sense, the numerous services set up, oriented towards innovation and environmental sustainability, have made the difference.

Reference can be made, for example, to the Innovation Centre, which occupies around 2.500 m2, and is equipped with an 8-color gravure machine with coupling in line with in-line laminating, a solvent/solventless laminator, as well as a well-equipped laboratory for R&D. There’s also the training school - the Academy - conceived for transferring know-how to its customers, as well as the Regulatory Affairs department, which offers a highly professional service regarding legislative compliance and product risk assessment.

Keeping busy

SIT Group, it is well understood, means, therefore, innovative solutions and applications, able to enhance the final product, increasing visibility on the shop shelf: cold seal, easy opening, tactile varnish, unique code, metallic ink, bags, as it would be put in English, but also carta accoppiata solventless a polietilene 6-8 micron (which guarantees the paper’s Aticelca B recyclability level), as it would be put in Italian… And to confirm its specialisation in the quality printing of flexible packaging, it continues to systematically plan new improvement measures on all fronts.

Among the most recent, the implementation of SAP management software to increase operating efficiency in all areas, from finance to human resources, from procurement to sales. And then, moving on to hardware, a fifth high-definition electromechanical engraving line has been set up in San Marino which takes the production capacity to around 16,000 gravure cylinders per year, out of a total annual use of 18-19.000 dies. The following have also been installed: the fifth 11-colour gravure printing machine in San Marino; a new 8-colour flexo printing machine with central drum and coupling element in the line in Pesaro; a flexo printing machine for small productions at ACM in Cremona. We must not forget, finally, the in-line laser cutting system, either web direction (for easy opening linear solutions or for micro perforations) or cross web (for non-linear cuts with specific patterns).

With the aim of improving the efficiency and cleanliness of work environments, attention continues towards aspects linked to internal handling, like the AGV transport system recently adopted at Pesaro. In conclusion, today we are increasingly navigating “blind” and it’s difficult to imagine how the world will change. It is certain, however, that SIT Group is doing all it can to equip itself with the right tools to face any challenge. With courage.