Scm Group, record turnover of 700 million. The interview with Giovanni Gemmani on "Top Aziende"
31 jan. 2020A world leader with solid foundations. Thanks to forward-thinking choices, targeted investments and a strategic outlook. Today's edition of “Top Aziende”, insert in the Italian newspaper, Il Resto del Carlino, in an interview with the President of Scm Group Giovanni Gemmani, highlights the Group's record turnover, in excess of 700 million Euro. The article hones in on the Group's stability, its focus on innovation, with an awards system for the best product and process ideas, and its on-going training, run in collaboration with Campus, key to steadily competing successfully.
Interview with the Scm Group President, Giovanni Gemmani
An ever more solid group with a turnover in excess of 700 million Euro which, in 2019, continued to clock up record figures in terms of turnover and orders, increasing its net financial position which currently stands at over 70 million. Scm Group, a multinational based in Emilia-Romagna produces machinery and plants to machine a vast range of materials - such as wood, plastic, stone, metal and composite materials - and industrial components. The group exports 90% of its production, invests 7% of its turnover in R&D and boasts a 4,000 strong workforce, three production plants in Italy and a direct and capillary global presence. In the last two years, its overall turnover has increased by 200 million and its staff by around 900 people, as well as completing two strategic takeovers in the USA and Germany.
Giovanni Gemmani, President of Scm Group, what can you say about last year's financial results?
"2019 was a positive year for all our business segments: Scm for timber, Cms for other materials and Hiteco for high tech industrial components. Compared to the international economic context and trend in markets of interest to us, we are extremely satisfied with recorded performance which proved even better than expected. 2019's financial results reflect a turnover and order resilience across all our strategic markets. The most positive figure, however, is the increased net financial position which confirms our financial solidity".
What is behind this positive trend?
"This is the result of a long-term strategic outlook and choices which, if on the one hand have required significant investments in recent years, on the other, have allowed us to make our mark and acquire a cut of the international market as opposed to our competitors. We have invested, and will continue to do so, to ensure a continued direct and capillary global presence with well-established branches and a committed sales and technical team. Simultaneously, we shall continue to invest in innovation and digitalisation in order to consolidate the leadership of all our divisions in the respective fields that interest us, from the furniture industry to construction, automotive to aerospace, and yachting to plastic machining. We also aim to make inroads into new market niches in rapidly expanding application fields, like additive manufacturing, to name but one".
Internationalisation: in what way and by how much will the excise duty question affect Scm Group?
“The dynamics are in continuous evolution. The recent agreement between the United States and China and the latter's plan to purchase American products could result in retaliation if, in the end, China does not respect the agreement. Furthermore, this opening runs the risk of penalising trade relations with other countries around the world, including those in Europe. We are committed to continually investing in the United States in order to offer not only state-of-the-art technology but also a service which provides increasing added value to this market".
You have established your own internal Campus. How important is training for Scm Group?
"The continuous training of professional resources is of equal importance to us when it comes to continuing to compete successfully in highly specialised and ever evolving sectors. And it is one of the best investments that we can make: already in the 1980s, we were one of the first to set up a training centre and nowadays, our Campus runs and promotes all the activities aimed at developing the professional, technical, administrative and managerial skills of the group's employees. Furthermore, it aims to be a point of reference in our fields of interest: for Secondary schools, Universities and Business Schools and the various professional and further education Bodies that we collaborate with, as well as for our clients who can take e-learning courses with Scm Group experts on the latest technological trends. The fact that we have our own Campus, is yet another stimulus for self-improvement among everyone, so the challenges ahead can always be faced with greater confidence”.
You have also introduced innovation prizes for your employees. Why is that?
"The Innovation Award which, as of this year, will be awarded on a three-monthly basis to employees who come up with the best innovative product and process ideas is, for us, a valuable objective. It is stimulus to increasingly improve not only our technologies, but also the approach to everyday working life and our own ability to innovate. I could mention so many other initiatives introduced along the same line throughout the almost seventy years of our history. One of the most recent is the development of an advanced model for sharing innovative ideas among the more than 500 designers who work in our plants around the world. Greater synergy is increasingly fundamental, even from far off branches, to encourage the exchange and reciprocal influence of ideas, intuitions and projects which are based on best practices, procedures and standards".
