Top results for Innova Group

The integrated group that produces corrugated and stretched cardboard packaging continues its run, with a growth in 2017 of 7.7%, at the start of the year at + 14% and an acceleration of investments in Industry 4.0. And the Corriere puts it in the ranking of the 500 Italian companies that are budget Champions. Elena Piccinelli (courtesy of the magazine Converting, 4/18

Innova Group’s last house organ opens celebrating the great work done, year after year, to build the continuous development culminating in the latest results: turnover for 2017 is at + 8% (close to 82,500,000 euros: double compared to 8 years ago) and with double-digit earnings, with growth at 14% in the first five months of the current year and 72nd place in the ranking of the 500 excellent Italian companies, compiled by Corriere della Sera examining the financial statements of 15 thousand concerns. And, in line with the ethics espoused by the Brescian group, the CEO Luca Pedrotti attributes the merit to the entire team of 200 collaborators, emphasizing that - with the demise of the era of the centralizing “Dominus” - «today, more than ever, running a business means knowing how to share choices (strategies!) and objectives with ones own team».
As do the three brothers Diego, Luca and Stefano Pedrotti who, together with their mother Giuliana and faithful to the memory of their father and founder Giovanni, head the integrated cardboard packaging company based in Caino (BS) and with works in Caino, Erbé, Fontanella and Torbole Casaglia. Theirs is a story of growth that reaps positive results year after year and stands out for its relentless investment in state-of-the-art technologies. And year after year, they face the challenges of a production made up  mostly of low-margin commodities, burdened by the high increases in raw materials (price increases managed by focusing on efficiency, so as not to offload them onto the customers).

Strategic investments
High technology as a key feature of the Innova brand and a prudent management tool subject to continuous care which translates into millions of euros of investments. Those budgeted for the current year, all 4.0, will have a total value of 11,600,000 euros. Here are the most important.
- At the Erbè, VR (paper processing) plant, the modern shed, with unique design and insulation solutions, started in 2017, is now under completion. Here, among other things, a new handling and an additional Bobst Masterfold glue-n-fold machine will be installed.
- In Caino, BS, (corrugated cardboard and boxes), the plant has been integrated with another machine from the Swedish company Emba Machinery, while the corrugator has benefited from new engines (Mitsubishi) that have enabled an increase in production speeds from 350 to 400 m/min.
- Finally, Fontanella, BG (packaging and box pallets), has witnessed the arrival of the new Engico for the high-speed production (8000 pcs/h) of small and medium-sized boxes as well as a new handling systems with a 4.8-meter opening.

A reorganization that produces value
Innova Group is also investing on the organizational level, paying  homage to the principle that having the best technology is not enough to guarantee the best performances. With the support of Porsche Consulting, the Brescia based company has implemented a reorganization project of the company processes based on the criteria of “lean manufacturing”, which enables the optimisation of production methods, times and quality, with the active involvement of all the work force.

The “Best-Practices” outlined by the work staff have achieved three strategic results: the transformation of the organizational structure, which was previously “flat”, into an organization with 3 levels of responsibility; the definition of a performance measurement system with respect to strategic objectives; the development of a new working methodology through inter-functional groups and planned touch-points, which also allows efficiency and performance to be improved. Today, therefore, the improvement of the group’s performance goes via the involvement of all company departments, the identification of the rules to be respected, the definition of concrete objectives to be achieved by implementing clear methodologies and the sharing of contents created by the inter-functional work team.