Viribus unitis (With united forces)

Curiosity, expectations and confirmations about Ronchi. Specialists in the construction of machines for the packaging of personal hygiene and liquid detergency products, Ronchi grows internally, focusing as always on the concreteness of the facts, both in terms of technological innovation and production capacity and quality of service.
And in this way the company continues to chalk up record years, year upon year. Today the challenge is renewed with the aim of improving machine flexibility and reducing (zeroing ?!) format change times in view of 4.0.

Stefano Lavorini

We met up yet again at the beginning of 2017. On this occasion, the Ronchi brothers, Cesare and Gianmario, updated me on their current projects, on their latest achievements and allowed me to visit the new factory, that has been operational for just over a year.

When we said our farewells, we made a sort of bet, which sounds like it goes against many proclamations that rain down from many parts: we in fact agreed that, as a witness I would, after a few months, and before publishing the information in the magazine, be called upon to verify what we had said, in order to prove that, following the company spirit, its  concrete actions and not words that count.

Here hence is a precise report of what the company has done and not done.

Growth objective: consolidated financial statement over 70 million
Since mid-2016, when Ronchi Mario SpA celebrated the milestone of fifty years of activity, many things have happened. The company has in fact experienced a further vigorous growth, punctually respecting the programs: first of all the construction, in just 6 months, of the new production unit in via Monza, still in Gessate (MI) and then, on 1 January 2017, the start of the activities as well as the start-up of production during the year, with the recruitment of 20 new employees.
The results of the financial year of 2017, made official last June, are crystal clear: a new record year for the number of machines produced and for turnover, which for the Italian headquarters has increased from 47 to 62 million euros, even if Cesare merely defines it as “particularly good and sizeable”.

Zero Emission Building. The new production unit of Ronchi Mario SpA is located over an area of about 20,000 square meters, of which 4,000 are covered. The industrial complex, fully operational since 2017, is designed according to sustainability criteria and is in actual fact a “zero emission” building.

The driving force of this development, in addition to the acquisition of new shares of the market, a significant contract obtained - moreover only at the end of 2016, or while on the new plant was under construction - from a multinational group.

This involves a series of packaging lines, which include bottle feeder/orientator, labeling machine, filler, capper, weight control scale, another labeling machine and all the conveyor belt logistics to transfer packaging materials (bottles and caps) from the storage/depalletization area to the filling line. A contract that will fill the capacity of the plant in via Monza until mid-2019.

If this were not enough, in 2017 the production activity started by Ronchi America the previous year was consolidated; a fact that has allowed the company, which produces a line of machines in the USA specifically dedicated to that market, to obtain “very interesting results”, comments Gianmario ... In other words, meaning having almost doubled their turnover.
 
Programs for 2018: no special effects
Ronchi continues to work on product innovation and particularly significant developments are expected during the year: from the consolidation of already developed technologies, such as the new generation of intelligent flowmeters able to self-regulate according to the characteristics of the product, to the reduction of the time and equipment necessary to change the format, starting from the bottles feed, so as to meet the new needs of sales and distribution.

In the company, obviously, they are not neglecting all that is related to the new model of industrial automation, with the clear objective of implementing something concrete, which translates into added value for the customer.

Given that the individual machines are already Industry 4.0 ready, starting from what the market really demands, Ronchi is studying a package of solutions to offer to customers, through the implementation of intelligent tools on the machine (various sensors, as well as servomotors instead of asynchronous motors, for example) that goes in the direction of digitization of production, data collection and management, as well as predictive maintenance.

Beyond the buzzwords currently in vogue, Cesare adds that, to be realistic: «Today we find it difficult to gain access to a remote connection to service machines in production, and it is not easy to predict when the user companies will be ready to allow us access to their overall line data».
Bolstered by these investments in R&D, the forecasts for the beginning of the year are confirmed by the data for the six-month period, as Gianmario underlines «and everything suggests that 2018 will close in growth once again».
 
Concluding... Someone may object that I have not clarified what has NOT been done. Well, one thing has been overlooked: they have not yet invited me to taste the new wine they produce.
Joking ... Prosit!