Milan, 4 November 2022 - The annual meeting of Assomac, the National Association of Italian Manufacturers of Footwear, Leather Goods and Tanning Technologies, took place today at the Triennale in Milan, in the occasion of the 40th anniversary of its foundation. Assomac is famous for its will to innovate and evolve and this was the occasion to underline its attitude. Assomac's primary objective is the elaboration of a sector policy, capable of aggregating and enhancing that wealth of skills, professionalism and historicity of our country, which make the "Made with Italian Technology" a guarantee of high quality standards and attention to the requests of the manufacturing system.
The Assembly was an opportunity to address strategic issues for the industry, starting from the development and evolution of the sector with a view to achieving the right balance between productivity, product management and environmental and social sustainability. All of this focusing on the aspects of recovery of the sector, as highlighted by the numbers that emerged from the report edited by Assomac. Against a production of €572 million, with an increase of 30% on an annual basis and a trade balance of €348.21 million reached in 2021, sector workers remain stable at almost 4,000 units, confirming the liveliness of the sector also in terms of employment.
“In the last two years we have experienced global events of historic significance, with the breakdown of the supply chain, the crisis of raw materials and now the war – declared Maria Vittoria Brustia, president of Assomac, who started the presentation of the Assembly. -Despite this situation of uncertainty, we look positively: the latest Federmacchine Assembly indicates a healthy situation in the machinery and capital goods sector with various areas of possible competitive expansion, especially in exports.”
The President also wanted to remember and celebrate the 40 years of the Association summarized in 3 key points - Experience, Technology and Sustainability - and anticipated the appointment with UITIC 2023, the world conference on footwear technology that will return to Italy next year in conjunction with the SIMAC TANNIG TECH trade fair.
“The signs of the ending of globalization come from everywhere in the world as well as the beginning of a new era characterized by fragmentation and high levels of conflict – said Paolo Magri, Executive Vice President of ISPI (Institute for International Political Studies). - We cannot make predictions about the future of globalization but there are several reasons to be reasonably optimistic by paying attention to all those cracks that can undermine the delicate world balance. Only in this way will it be possible to see the calm after the storm”.
In his initial greeting, Francesco Buzzella, President of Confindustria Lombardia, declared: “The recent crises, the health care and the Ukrainian one, have brought to light a critical point for the global industrial system: the excessive length of the value chains is a limit when global disruptive events occur. As an industrial system we must work towards shorter supply chains, which would mean having the opportunity for our manufacturing to become the main European suppliers. However, first of all we need to secure manufacturing, our country's main asset”.
In this context of changed global equilibrium, the question that the director of Assomac, Roberto Vago asks himself is the following: are the products or the factories moving today? “As also emerged from the last conference of the Directors of Confindustria in the new globalization, it is no longer the products that move but the factories. This remains an issue on which Italian companies in our sector must reflect, mindful of the experience in the districts they can intercept these new international production trends".
The work of the Assembly continued with the round table, moderated by Fabio Savelli of the Corriere della Sera, which was attended by Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffè of SDA BOCCONI, Paolo Melone Head of Marketing and Business Development of INTESA SANPAOLO, Antonio Filograna Sergio President of LEO SHOES SRL, Giovanna Ceolini President of ASSOCALZATURIFICI, Francesca Rulli CEO & Founder of PROCESS FACTORY SRL and where various topics were addressed. First of all, the role of digital communication along the production chain in the dual perspective of both improving the management process in terms of efficiency and flexibility and in terms of sustainability, not only environmental, with the reduction of consumption and with safety for those who work in the process, according to what is established by the new manufacturing evaluation parameters which go beyond the economic-financial terms.
Concluding the assembly Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy with his message: "I greet President Brustia and all the participants in this event which brings together the major Italian producers of machinery and technologies in the sectors that constitute the heart of manufacturing excellence and have always been the leading sector of foreign trade. Your slogan "Made with Italian technology" well represents the new look I intend to give to the Ministry to consolidate the image of Italy as the homeland of quality, capable of combining innovation, tradition and sustainability. To offer you support on this path of growth, the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy opens its doors today: your continuous attention to environmental issues, which has led you to introduce the certification of machinery, unique in its kind at international level, indicates the path that I intend to follow”.