FACE TO FACE
The company manufactures a wide range of fabrication machines with options to punch , mark , drill , scribe , machine and shear or thermal cut
Below : FICEP ’ s headquarters in Gazzada Schianno ( Varese , Italy ). process lines . Then we made partnerships with complementary providers of products such as painting and welding etc . so that we could offer complete turnkey solutions . By doing this , we are able to continuously grow with our customer , offering different solutions to him throughout each stage of his development . We provide solutions , not just machines , and have done so for many years ,” Christian Colombo told ISMR .
“ Machine tool builders tend to design , assemble and sell ( directly or indirectly ) their machines . We are a little different …. We have a large factory and can machine parts and components for our machine tools , which makes us more self-sufficient . This has been a major investment for us over the last ten years and we now have a variety of automated FMS ( flexible manufacturing systems ), in manned and unmanned shifts , supplying JIT components for our machine tools . We adopted lean manufacturing years ago to streamline our production and this has meant more agile processes across sales , manufacturing and services . It is a continuous improvement process and has become the engine that keeps the company alive . No company can afford to stop growing . The important thing is to grow at the right pace ,” he added .
COVID-19 recovery
FICEP aims for more targeted market penetration as it opens new subsidiaries every two-three years around the world . Despite the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic , global supply chain disruption and material shortages / delays , the company is back up to speed with new orders and Colombo anticipates steady turnover results for this year . He hopes that supply chain issues will be resolved by the end of the first quarter in 2022 and expects market recovery and solid growth for the future , pending no emergence of new COVID variants .
“ During the pandemic , we were lucky that our projects were mainly just postponed until after Summer 2020 . Very few were cancelled . We closed 2020 with roughly the same order levels as 2019 . Our order book in 2021 was quite high so we were able to honour our deliveries and service returning business when demand rose again . In February / March this year , we saw similar order levels to those before the pandemic . Business has returned , although there has been a change in the spread of geographical demand as regional markets recover at different paces ,” confirmed Colombo .
FICEP took strict internal health and safety measures to control infection such as staff temperature measurements ; facility disinfection ; social distancing rules ; masks and control of staff flows in offices and workshops . Its engineers adhered to local quarantining measures , when travelling , so that they could service or install any machines required .
Although the manufacturer had previously run online demonstrations and video conferences , the COVID-19 restrictions really brought these to the fore and at a much higher level . It now launches webinars and live machine demonstrations from its workshop every two weeks , which attract hundreds of customers .
“ We were able to prepare pre-sales work using vital online tools – this was particularly valuable for our subsidiaries . This also negates the need to travel so much . All our internal meetings also took place online which was better , quicker and more flexible for staff . We could record video meetings so that we could review what was discussed and any requirements / actions that flowed from the meetings ,” confirmed Christian Colombo .
“ Now , we can support our sales teams , if they travel , on video calls to customers and involve the project managers right from the beginning , rather than just before the order is closed . This means better information flow , management and communication so these new online processes have brought a lot of value to us and our customers . We intend to continue with many of these practices , going forward ,” he added .
FICEP ’ s gantry-style CNC plate processor can automatically process , in a single production cell , a range of plate sizes .
We are able to continuously grow with our customer , offering different solutions to him throughout each stage of his development
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