Celebration with a (very positive) assessment

Technology (on the cutting-edge), a philosophy (of integration), expertise (in human resources), relations (with the market): these are the assets on which B&R has built a 30-year history of commitment to a culture of automation in Italy. The secrets to this success, as told by various voices. Luciana Guidotti

B&R Italy celebrated 30 years of business on 4 October, at “its” Italian Automation Academy just outside Milan. The organizers decided to forego the usual pomp and ceremony of major events like this one, instead managing to create a captivating moment of simple but serious informality for the many guests, members of the industry press, and customers..

Introduced by Nicoletta Ghironi (Marketing & Communication Manager), Director General Luca Galluzzi chose not to talk numbers, even though the latter have been all positive, making Italy B&R’s second largest market in the world.
Instead, Galluzzi shared anecdotes and impressions of a history of passion and the will to get things done, a history which he had experienced firsthand from the very beginning. In so doing, he painted a picture of a business culture free of the hands-off management approaches with which we are unfortunately all too familiar of late.

A journey through memories
Galluzzi recounted how B&R in Italy first started out in 1987, when Erwin Bernecker and Josef Rainer (owners of the Austrian engineering firm specialized in control electronics and industrial automation systems) decided to invest in this country.

Back then «weekly orders were on paper and counted together with the inventory manager» and the “subsidiaries” «were run out of the sales managers’ homes». The telephone was the only means of reaching customers, who often misunderstood the company’s name (the acronym calling to mind the notorious subversive group operating in the country at the time, Editor’s note) or its field of expertise (“automazione” being distorted into “rottamazione”, meaning “scrapping”).
In short, terms like business plan, advanced infrastructure and Industry 4.0 couldn’t have been further from anyone’s mind at the time. And yet, the awareness of being on the right track, the group’s tenacity and its internal cohesion enabled B&R to achieve that perfection in automation that it has come to be known for on the market.

Decisive in this journey was B&R’s philosophy of interconnection and integration, which it promoted systematically. That philosophy is all the more relevant today thanks to concepts like smart manufacturing and the government’s National Plan for Industry 4.0. That vision has always driven technological development at B&R, guaranteeing clear competitive advantages for both OEMs and the manufacturing industry. This development has proceeded without interruption, as Galluzzi himself pointed out in revealing the forthcoming debt of a new “revolutionary” product for the packaging industry (the highly classified nature of the innovations involved prevented him from sharing more).   

 
Witnesses of value
In order to highlight the meaning and the scope of the anniversary, B&R got involved numerous Italian firms active on the global market in diverse sectors that have adopted “orange” automation solutions to make their products more efficient and/or optimize their processes.
It was also in this instance that the frankness and succinctness of the various testimonials painted a compelling picture of the quality in customer relations established by the automation supplier over the years.

On stage at the Italian Automation Academy were managers of Coproget/Mancin Automazioni, Datalogic, Elettrosistem, Fedegari, Moss, Ocme, Sidel, Uteco, Wm Wrapping Machinery (Makro Labelling couldn’t make it but was there in spirit). This impressive list of speakers represented qualified builders of machines and systems for packaging, printing and labeling, but also specialists in foil processing, assembly, automatic data acquisition and environmental decontamination for the pharmaceutical sector.

On stage at the Italian Automation Academy the managers of Coproget/Mancin Automazioni, Datalogic, Elettrosistem, Fedegari, Moss, Ocme, Sidel, Uteco, Wm Wrapping Machinery

Beyond an appreciation for the efficiency of B&R signature solutions, which of course vary according to the user’s needs, the common thread of the speeches was a unanimous recognition of the responsiveness and proactive zeal demonstrated by B&R’s people in the field. This predilection for outstanding service, enhanced by real expertise and problem-solving skills, was stressed by many voices throughout the event.
B&R, for its part, did not miss the chance to express its sincerest gratitude to all its customers «because – in Ghironi’s words – working for and working with Italian firms, which are the pride of an industry that stands up to any comparison, is both an opportunity for growth and a source of great satisfaction».