Vittorio Cavirani, general manager, Elettric80, discusses harnessing the virtues of speed, accuracy, safety and traceability through E2E integration of Smart SW solutions. A TWM report.

For years, businesses have worked to improve the efficiency of their
production lines. Today, with the advent of the fourth industrial
revolution, attention is progressively shifting towards the system’s operation as a whole. The focus, therefore, lies on tangibly improving the efficiency of the entire factory process. A necessity and a genuine change
in perspective that is gradually affecting the entire market. The crucial point of this transformation is that distribution is experiencing sudden and unprecedented disruptions that have major repercussions on production, market trends, consumer habits and behaviours. Distribution in all sectors, including the tissue industry, is a strategic topic because the margins for improvement and for savings are truly remarkable: from the optimisation of transport, to savings on packaging material, to significant reduction
in waste and product damage. For the past few centuries, improvements relied upon the development of transportation and infrastructure, which allowed for the faster, greater and cheaper movement of goods; today, logistics is the key to progress, as the advent of technological innovations such as drones, virtual reality and 3D printing route its future, harnessing concepts such as speed, accuracy, safety and seamless delivery.

This “revolution” was started by E-commerce and the digital economy with their disruptive effects on organisation and transport, warehouse and delivery management. Thus, the number of steps between manufacturer and end consumer was drastically reduced. This is the context for one of the most significant challenges for distribution in the near future: the logistics of the last mile – that is, the reception of goods by the end consumer, because maximum consumer benefit is achieved when the product is delivered directly to the customer’s home with the purchaser present.

Luigi Lazzareschi, chief executive of Sofidel Group with whom Elettric80
and BEMA have collaborated for years, said: “The businesses of the future will be committed to deliver directly to the consumer or to a local distributor. Transit times, analysis of availability, information and customisation of goods – including storage methods – will be the factors of
major change. The service offered to end customers will make the difference. In this context, in order to create value, the businesses of tomorrow will rely more and more on systems and technologies which increase control over processes and products, improving speed and efficiency of logistics both inside and outside the factory.”

Whether they will succeed in this is another matter. What is required is
undeniably the complete optimisation of all processes, which necessitates a supply chain without any weak links, from the entry of raw materials all the way to the product’s arrival on the market.

“The choices made by our companies are heading in that direction and allow us to make factories which are increasingly automated and integrated, capable of adapting to the market needs quickly, and where every process is traceable and under control” said William Nelson, resident of Elettric80 Inc & Elettric80 S de RL.

“Elettric80 and BEMA are leading the way”, added president Enrico Grassi.
“By attentively listening to market needs, availing of continuously evolving know-how, hardware and software, and by exploiting a clear-cut vision. An intelligent company solves problems; a wise company avoids them. We aim to be a wise company.”

This article was written for TWM by Vittorio Cavirani, general manager, Elettric80