From difficulties, precious ideas for the future

When digital technologies guarantee continuity

Annalisa and Daniele Bellante, owners of Cama Group (LC), automated high-tech secondary packaging systems for the food and non-food sectors.

«Necessity is the mother of invention - says Daniele Bellante with conviction - and it is even more true and necessary in these times». A principle that, today more than ever, is at the heart of Cama's strategies for restarting.

«In terms of the technological proposal - continues the CEO - we responded to the difficulties generated by the pandemic by strengthening digital production services with the launch of the Live FAT (Factory Acceptance Testing) program. Last addition to the Cama digital solutions portfolio, the new platform offers further remote functions, such as pre-sale visualization, virtual design and commissioning, in augmented reality, of all our systems. It is therefore a valuable solution to manage emerging problems, but also suitable, regardless of the emergency, to meet the needs of a globalized market. Without a doubt, the launch of the Live FAT service, which we had been working on for several months, fell into a "perfect" moment. In fact, virtualization to be applied to various aspects of a machine’s life cycle allows overcoming geographical, economic, technical and, in this case also socio-health obstacles, which weigh on the production landscape. For our customers - Bellante concludes - it will be like having a highly experienced Cama engineer always on site».

Also with regard to the organizational aspects, the management of internal activities and resources, the company responded promptly, knowing how to draw new and precious suggestions for improvement for the future from the emergency situation.

Annalisa Bellante spoke on the subject: «After the announcement of the national lockdown, we immediately moved to implement all the preventive measures necessary to work in total safety, even before the government protocols were issued, preparing masks and DPI devices, physical distancing, smart-working, staggered shifts for the canteen and common areas. In addition, we took out anti-covid insurance for all employees and anyone who was sick, or lived with hospital workers, those at the greatest risk of infection, were kept at home for a month.

The need to deal with an anomalous situation compared to routine has in fact led us to acquire a new awareness and a broader vision of real performance within the company. This allowed us, also at a managerial level, to make assessments and considerations with a view to continuous improvement of our internal processes. If I have to make a first assessment of the consequences of the pandemic on our business - Bellante continues - I would say that the prospects for 2020 remain fairly good: From the information in our possession it appears that customers active in the key sectors in which we operate (food, personal and home detergency, pharmaceutical), have not suffered serious consequences ... and perhaps some difficulties have arisen from having to unexpectedly accelerate demand.

So, for 2020 we expect a slight drop in turnover compared to 2019, which was however exceptionally positive having achieved a growth of 25. We received a good number of orders for April and May, however it is more difficult for us to formulate forecasts on incoming orders in the coming months, and certainly the uncertainty of foreign markets is a critical factor. Let's think, for example, of Russia and South America, where we are very present and still suffering from a serious situation. Today more than ever, therefore, we think we must proceed with the caution and diligence of "good parents", trying to combine a forward-looking and courageous vision with a greater foresight in managing resources, focusing on what is necessary to ensure a peaceful company future».