The password for the future

Three words describe the philosophy of Giovenzana International: professionalism, dialogue and service. Massimo Giovenzana, director of Giovenzana International, is convinced, "the market rewards those who embody these guiding principles.”

In its over 60-year history the company has become the world market leader in automation, intralogistics, lifts, management and control of lifting as well as conveyance equipment. In an interview Massimo Giovenzana talked about his company’s philosophy.

User needs are part of the developement

Question: Every day millions of people use Giovenzana technologies. They can be found in many industrial processes and in buildings regarded as symbolic of modern architecture in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Does the people-machine dialogue play a key role in the development of the industry?

Giovenzana: Without a doubt. To guarantee a high quality standard, it is necessary to develop technologies that from the start and take the problems users could have with them into account. People-machine interaction is only effective if a product can guarantee complete certainty for the user and the process can only be effective if the user’s needs are already part of the development.

Shaping the future

Question: In your opinion, what makes it especially clear how important it is to invest in innovations?

Giovenzana: Being innovative means observing, listening and bringing about solutions. In other words, it means shaping the future. We do not think of ourselves as salespeople, but rather as experts who provide solutions. Consequently, our customers aren’t simply buyers, but far more promoters of our technology.

Important players in the lift sector regard Giovenzana as a key partner. And vice-versa: the cooperation with these contacts in particular permits us to develop increasingly efficient solutions. We create high quality technologies in our effort to optimise everyday work and production. It is our task to adopt technological approaches that ensure the safety of our customers and the environment. This requires networking with each other, it is very important to us.

Automation as a fundamental component

Question: You have established a research laboratory in cooperation with other companies. Does innovation always mean collaboration?

Giovenzana: It is definitely possible to cooperate with friendly companies in well-defined programmes to become more productive. For example, we have a close partnership with the InteK laboratory. I would welcome other industrial companies launching similar initiatives. Especially in economic conditions like the ones we currently have, in which the financial crisis and the lack of a clear industrial policy have exposed the market to a flood of poor quality imported products.

Question: The increasing standardisation of processes and electronic formats has shown that automation has become very important in everyday life.

Giovenzana: We have done a lot to improve the perception of automation as a fundamental component of any industrial process. In my view, manual work is hardly a method appropriate to the times for handling resources and opportunities. Nevertheless, there are quite a few companies that operate branches in other countries in order to cut production costs through lower wages. This does in fact produce economic advantages, but those who do it cash in on human drudgery without improving quality. But this is just what entrepreneurs should concentrate on.

On the road of internationalisation

Question: What does the future hold for your company?

Giovenzana: Giovenzana International has pursued internationalisation since 1997, leading to a new production and sales location in Amsterdam, a location in Hungary, an office in Moscow and branches in Dubai and Mumbai.

Today there are two production locations and four warehouses distributed across the world to supply the market. We now want to establish a hub in the Middle East from which we can serve the Far East and Oceania. The Italian location will continue to supply Europe and America, the Hungarian the countries in the east, the one in Moscow the Russian Federation and the neighbouring regions. Finally we also have an office in Latin America.

www.giovenzana.com