FACE TO FACE
ISMR : What is your strategic focus for the next few years ?
Michela Dallan in front of the new EXN machine on DALLAN ’ s booth .
AD : Our direction is increasingly towards automated systems . Our market is now 90 % export i . e . mostly Europe and North America ( where we have our subsidiary in Ohio ). We are more focused right now on exports to Europe and North America . Around 65 % of our business is in Europe , 25 % in North America and then the rest of the world .
Coil warehouse management
In the new 2022 release of the Dallan D-Touch software , a new feature has been added ; the Coil Warehouse Management System ( CWMS ).
“ This is far more than a widget : it is a real assistant in your coil warehouse management , integrated with barcode and QR code readers , printers and – if you wish – with your ERP as well . The function is easy and straightforward : when a new coil arrives , it needs to be scanned before it enters your warehouse : material , thickness , coating , width and length are then recorded in our database . The day you need to use the coil , it will be scanned again before it is loaded onto the machine uncoiler . The DALLAN machine , equipped with the digital diameter reader , will check the material that has been used during production ,” commented DALLAN .
If the coil is not completely used , a barcode printer prints a new label that is applied to the coil , and then scanned before it enters the warehouse again .
The Dallan Coil Management System can be installed in one existing PC and work as a stand-alone platform , but the data is also accessible from the machine ’ s D-Touch software . The data is also accessible to ERP systems , so manufacturers can keep track of all their coils .
Above : Coil warehouse management .
Our main strategic focus is to develop the North American market where there is a huge need for efficient technologies and a lot of requests for automation . It is promoting the reshoring of production to the U . S ., Canada and Europe . The plan is to shorten supply chains so automation is a key focus for this market .
We are also focusing on process digitalisation . We have our own software department so we can produce new tools like the coil manager that can interact with ERPs and MES systems . So , we will continue to keep investing in digitalisation . We see more companies showing interest in this area .
DALLAN focuses on thin sheet metal and we will keep our focus there . For example , just last year we posted 12 new patents . This year we are posting two new patents on flexible processes / packaging and automation . So , we are focused on solving problems for our customers . If they are in the rolling shutter business , and have issues with packaging , automation or data management , we are there to help with these practical issues and provide new solutions .
In 2021 , we completed ISO : 9001 certification and , this year , we completed ISO : 14001 certification for sustainability . My sister Lucia Dallan , also an engineer , took charge of this certification work and is now working towards ISO : 45000 certification for integrated safety . We achieved these results very quickly – one certification per year is a great target and means that we now speak the language of larger corporations .
In terms of future relationships , having environmental certification is also a benefit when companies want to choose strong partners . Because we have experience with these processes , we can also help our customers down this particular road .
ISMR : Have you been working on any interesting new projects that you would like to share with us ?
AD : Yes , throughout the pandemic we developed the DALLAN Academy , which includes our training Masterclass videos .
We wanted to find new ways to communicate with our customers during the pandemic so we started doing live presentations of our machines on Zoom . So , every second Monday , we demonstrate functionality on a specific machine and we have already made more than 40 Masterclass videos already . We created a new website for these videos ( masterclass . dallan . com ) and subscribers receive passwords and access to the full library of video masterclasses . It has been a very successful initiative for us .
As part of the DALLAN Academy of learning materials , we also created a podcast in Italian and English every second week . It is based on the two books I have written and we read and