“Not one machine is equal to another”: the words of Roberto Filippucci and Davide Santi, the second generation of Omag leaders.
“Flexibility is the key to producing efficient, personalized and unique machines: our clients have known this for more than forty years”.
A clear statement by Omag’s Roberto Filippucci and Davide Santi, of the Gradara company (Pesaro and Urbino), the “noble” border between Romagna and the Marche region, rich in history, beauty and “good stories” such as those entrepreneurial ones.
We are in the food and pharmaceutical packaging sector, one of the niches of “Made in Italy” excellence that is winning the world over, but above all we are a company that is typical of the Italian “know how” that has made a winning mix out of many business stories in Italy, out of the experience, know-how and strategic strength of authentic family capitalism.
And for a company that is more than forty years old – Omag was founded in 1973 and has since become a prominent reality in the packaging sector – it is easy to be ahead of the second generation of managers. This is actually a concept that is a little “extended”: the two members who today share the operational leadership are Roberto Filippucci, the son of one of the founding members, who benefits from vast experience with other leading companies of the sector, and Davide Santi, who has been with Omag since a very young age, who has had a long playing career beginning as a simple employee, and finally reaching his current role of administrator. They are a very close-knit pair (in addition to Alfredo Bordoni and Fiorino Gregori, who manages the Russian branch), which you can tell at first glance: one has an analytical mind and is a skilled researcher, the other is more of an extrovert, and adds to his technical skills a deep knowledge of customer relations. They tell, laughing, that they are sometimes called “the devil and the holy water” …
“From those who have gone before us, and from the most experienced contributors who are still working with us, we have learned the importance of working hard, with commitment and enthusiasm. We have prioritized the desire to keep going, to always look ahead, and to grow: even while facing a new industry such as pharmaceuticals, which was initially complex, but is now a great source of satisfaction”.
Flexibility, for Omag, is almost a “buzzword” if it is an integral part of your brand (Flexibility in Packaging).
“For Omag,’flexibility’ primarily means one thing: that not one machine is equal to another, even though there are only a few basic types. When a customer comes in and presents their needs, the goal must be to study specific solutions, ad hoc, to satisfy fully. The greater the collaboration, the more the client tends to trust the solutions that the company proposes: and at that point it is easy to create an honest and lasting relationship, such that the client asks for more and more innovative and specialized machines and “provokes” the company to come up with new solutions.”
.. and you “give in” willingly to these “provocations”. How important is it for a company in this sector to go beyond the production of the simple “basic machine”?
“Today it has become crucial. The “package” to be proposed to the client no longer concerns only the machine, but a complete set of after-sales services for the satisfaction of their needs and to maintain their loyalty”.
Let us explain it better.
“For Omag it is essential to be ‘an integral part’ of the product’s life, from design to use. For this reason we are close to the customer from the beginning, with dedicated training and concrete support at the factory during the first installation. In addition, we schedule regular visits for routine maintenance of the machines and provide a supplementary assistance service on-site and remotely. These are all needed to be able to keep up with the market demands and to be truly ‘chain partners’”.
… from production to support throughout the whole life cycle of the machine: a supply chain that puts the client first.
“Definitely. For Omag, ‘customer care’ does not just mean to sell and make the best machine possible: above all it means to pay great attention to the client’s needs after the machine is installed and has started to produce; it means making a dedicated Post Sale structure available and ready to respond to any needs that may arise at the customer’s factory, even after several years; it means defining a Training & Maintenance Programme, offering our customers the possibility of having one of our technicians at their company to execute simultaneously a “refresh” for the workers and maintenance of the machine; it means the management of a Flying Doctors team in cases where an immediate visit of a Omag Technician is essential”.
What are the key features that make a packaging machine high-performance?
“First of all, of course, it must satisfy the customer’s needs: at the level of technical characteristics, of specificity, and of production speed. Of further importance is its ease of use and operation: our focus on making a good operator interface makes the whole process easier. It is also essential to work on information technology, developing increasingly sophisticated software to achieve proper control of the machines.
“Today there is increasing attention to the environmental aspect of production.”
“This is also an important choice at project level, regardless of whether or not the customer can make a significant economic return. Energy saving is a significant aspect of the machine, and this applies both at the individual level of return and in terms of collective interest”.
But is it important also to construct “beautiful” machines?
“The aesthetic choice is fundamental, even if it can seem strange in this sector. A stylish machine is also easier to clean, and especially in the pharmaceutical sector – given the specific mode of production – this is an important requisite and increasingly in demand”.
A beauty “functional” to business.
“It could possibly seem to be only a matter of marketing, but even so, it is a feature that is more and more valued by the client.”
We close just there, “in style” with Omag, high-performance machines, “tailor-made” for every client, easy to use and, finally, “beautiful”, just like this all-Italian entrepreneurial success story.
DISCOVER MORE:
Read also “Beautiful and Flexible Packaging”.
Visit the Omag site.