ANALYSIS
Federico Sarti export manager: Specialinsert S.r.l.
2
011 has been full of events and changes leading to a considerable increase in competition on the Italian and global market. The
first semester saw, for Specialinsert, a 15% year on year sales growth, with exports growing more than 30%. In the second semester, the escalation of the crisis affecting most Eurozone countries resulted in a general sales slowdown, both for the Italian and foreign markets, to a level comparable with 2010. The global fastener industry has
suffered and is still suffering the lingering effects of the economic and financial crisis – especially in the Eurozone countries pressured by currency speculation. Nonetheless, 2011 was a crucial year for Specialinsert with important
results. Experience shows that especially in hard times it is essential to pull out the best ideas, developing new applications and new products to meet the needs of the latent markets. With this spirit, the Specialinsert R&D department obtained in 2011 the European patent for the new series Deform Nut TC / SC, representing an absolute innovation for fastening new generation composite materials, laminates and sandwiches.
Objectives for 2012 The ongoing financial crisis in Europe
“ Experience shows that especially in hard times it is essential to pull out the best ideas…”
corporate changes and reorganisations. The company shares owned by one of the three founders were absorbed by the two remaining founding families. This ensured continuity in the company management that, unchanged since 1974, demonstrates a wealth of knowledge in the fastener industry matched by few companies. Having simplified internal decision processes, it was possible to implement strategic choices that the company had planned for a long time. These included new methods for analysing potential export markets and the use of new web based marketing tools, while continuing to ensure excellent service for existing customers in more than 50 countries. In technology development
Specialinsert also achieved important 72
will probably keep pressure on the fastener industry, both for Italian and worldwide markets, which could mean a first semester of lower sales than same period 2011. Development of new strategies to overcome this stagnation and prepare for the first signs of global economic recovery will be mandatory. Specialinsert
plans to rationalise its transport and warehousing operations to reduce operating costs, without giving up to the “just in time” quality of service and sales that has always been a competitive advantage
for the company. A new Specialinsert headquarters in Turin, with a modern and larger products warehouse, will be inaugurated. The Specialinsert production plant in Maerne (Venice) will introduce new production processes, such as cold forging, on some products lines and will introduce improvements in quality standards to achieve greater productivity, while ensuring compliance with new energy consumption and environmental pollution regulations. The company’s marketing strategy
will aim to consolidate the Specialinsert presence in the historically most important countries but also approach new emerging markets. Specialinsert intends to expand its network of international distributors, taking
Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 73 January 2012
advantage of public and community programmes that support SME internationalisation: doing so without neglecting end-user customers that turn often to Specialinsert for solutions requiring a “customised” technical approach. Our technical department is already
working to develop new applications and products, especially in the new areas of composites materials and clean energy. Fasteners must be increasingly combined with new materials, challenging the compatibility between the material composition of the inserts with the receiving parts. Because traditional products
are becoming more standardised, producers need to carve shares in niche markets, trying to meet new needs with new products of higher and higher performance. Alongside the traditional fields of mechanical equipment, automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding, and electronics, innovations will be developed in sectors related to composite materials, renewable energies, design and furniture. One example is the Specialinsert Crown nut series for the interior of the cylindrical and square tubes that replaces obsolete fastening solutions using a welded nut. As we receive regular customer
feedback we believe that the most important driver is no longer an exaggerated increase of production quantity but rather a reduction in favour of better quality products. European producers of fasteners will be confronted more with achieving the quality to meet the needs of the most demanding high- end customers, opportunities that will also offer enhanced margins. The ‘Made in Italy’ mark is a
characteristic feature rewarded by the market. Old and new customers cannot just increase pressure on prices. After- sales service, technical expertise to solve customer problems, the trust relationship established with the customer should all be rewarded. Specialinsert believes that the
industrial fasteners sector still has much potential, especially in emerging markets now more accessible thanks to the new tools of internet marketing.
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