Ldquowersquore Convinced That Manufacturing In Italy Provides Real Value And Believe It To Be Both A Possibility And A Duty For All Businesses In Our Countryrdquo Stated The President Of Sacmi Imola Paolo Mongardi As He Commented On The Cooperativersquos 2014 Annual Report One Of The Best In Its Entire History And An Improvement On Last Yearrsquos Result Both Economically And Financiallywith Consolidated Sales Firmly Above 12 Billion Euro Thenet Worth Of The Cooperative At Over 660 Million And A Global Workforce Numbering Almost 4000 Sacmi Is Reaping The Rewards Of A Dual Effort High Investment In Research And Technological Innovation Ndash Over 20 Million Euroonce Again In 2014 Ndash And A Strong Focus On Workingalongside Customers In International Markets Acting Not Just As A Supplier Of Machines And Servicesbut As A True Global Partner In The Plant Engineering Field Ldquothe International Economic Outlookrdquo President Paolo Mongardi Reminds Us Ldquoremains Complex Especially In Certain Geographical Areas Despite This The Cooperative Has Achieved Outstanding Results In Terms Of Both Volumes And Profits Improving Its Business And Industrial Position On Both Consolidated Markets And Emerging Onesrdquothe Backdrop To 2014 Now Confirmed As One Of The Best Years In The Cooperativersquos Long History Comments General Manager Pietro Cassani Consisted Of Ldquoa Policy Of Carefully Targeted Selloffs Andtakeoverseg Cosmec Cmc Eurofilter And A Concentration Of Resources In Lsquocorersquo Sectorsceramics Packaging Automationplus Major Investments At The Imola Site Where The Number Of Employees Has Now Climbed To 1085 With Over 120 New Hires Since 2011rdquoalthough A Decidedly International Enterprise Ndash Sacmi Makes Over 88 Of Its Sales Outside Italy Ndash The Group Has Kept Its Technological And Manufacturing Heart Firmly In Italy Ldquodoing Business In A Globalised Highly Competitive Worldrdquo Explains President Paolo Mongardi Ldquohas Made It Necessary Not Just To Set Up A Farreaching Sales Organisation But Also To Establish Production Facilities Abroad Such As The Indian Plant In Sanand Inaugurated Earlier This Yearrdquo The Overriding Goal However Points Out Mr Mongardi Isldquoto Produce Only That Needed To Cope With The Aggressive Stance Of Our Main Competitors And Therefore Defend Our Leadership In Traditional Business Areas So We Can Continue To Develop Facilities And Invest In Italyrdquo In Short Underscores Sacmirsquos President The Mission Is One Of Ldquolocalisation Not Relocalisation Maintaining High Addedvalue Output In Italian And German Firmsrdquoa Look At The Individual Business Sectors Begins With The Outstanding Performance Of Ceramics The Cooperativersquos Longstanding Business That In 2014 Achieved Further Growth In Terms Of Both Volumes 5 And Profit Marginsthanks To New Products That Were Nearimmediately Successfulfrom The Continua Large Slab Production Line Presented At Tecnargilla 2014 To The Flexible Eko Sort And Eko Wrap Stacking And Packaging Systems And The Avi High Pressure Casting Solutionsthe Year Also Saw Extraordinary Expansion Of The Special Pressing Sector Machines For Manufacturing Refractory Ceramic Pressing Metallic Powders And Metal Drawing With Sales Ndash Following The Takeover Of Bolognabased Firmmatrix Ndash Now In Excess Of 15 Million Euroin 2014 The Closures Sector Focussed On The Development Of Further Solutions For The Manufacture Of Everthinner Higherperforming Caps While The Beverage Sector Achieved Growth In Terms Of Volumes Of No Less Than 30 The Result Of A Decisive Investment Policy That In 2014establishedcentralised Sales Management And Saw Completion Of Major Technological Projects On Injection Presses Ips Then There Is Tableware A Business Reveals Pietro Cassani That Has Produced Ldquosurprisingrdquo Results Once Again This Stems From The Grouprsquos Efforts To Operate As Close As Possible To Target Markets Hence The Decision To Open New Branches In Morocco Kenya And South Africa And Those Who Deemed The Selloff Of Negri Bossi To An American Firm During 2014 As An Evident Withdrawal From The Plastic Business Were Very Much Mistaken Ldquothe Plasticbusinessrdquo Explains General Manager Pietro Cassani Ldquohas Not Only Notdisappeared From The Sacmi Balance Sheet But Has Rather Actually Increased Its Volumes And Margins Considerably By Focussing On Production Of The Hightonnage Bipower Hydraulic Presses For Which Sacmi Remains The Sole Provider To That Same Negri Bossirdquolastly Automationampservicehas Repeated The Results Achieved In 2013 With Its Ldquototal Qualitycontrolrdquo Solutions Sold Worldwide From China To Mexico From Taiwan To Spain And Italy This Sector Is A Strategic One For The Entire Group As It Is Involved In Developing Process Automation Solutions True Ldquomechatronic Systemsrdquo That Add Considerable Value To An Allround Plant Engineering Range That Spans From Raw Material Processing To Endofline Solutions Now With 70 Subsidiaries That Points Out Presidentpaolo Mongardi Ldquocontribute Positively And Often Decisively To The Overall Resultrdquo The Sacmi Group Has With These Figures Put The Seal On The Cooperativersquos 95th Yearin The Best Way Possible The Results Are A Satisfying Followup To The Open Day Held On 2nd December When Over 4000 People Visited The Imola Plant And The Sacmi Museumso What Lies In Store For 2015 The Initial Data Reveals General Managerpietro Cassani Already Looks Highly Encouraging Ldquothanks To An Excellent Portfolio Across All The Divisionsand High Sales Levelsrdquo Cassani Goes On To Hypothesise Ldquofurther Increases In The Budget Which Will Be Accompanied By Every Possible Effort To Implement Further Innovation On The Organisational Frontrdquo In Short That Will Mean Testing And Developing New Products At Even Faster Rates To Ensure We Stay One Step Ahead Of The Market And The Competitors