Pietro Cassani presents his programme and his team

At the Board Meeting on 13 May, Acimac chairman designate Pietro Cassani presented his working programme and the team who will work alongside him at the helm of the association. The chairman's committee will consist of three vice chairmen who represent leading companies and combine outstanding managerial skills with a profound knowledge of the sector:

- Paolo Lamberti, managing director of Tecnografica (Castellarano, RE),
- Stefano Mele, CEO of Nuova Fima (Fiorano Modenese, MO),
- Fabio Tarozzi, managing director of Siti-B&T Group (Formigine, MO).

In his address, Cassani expressed his personal appreciation of the work carried out by the chairmen who preceded him and discussed key issues such as the importance of alliances between companies to maintain competitiveness, the strategic role of research and the quality of capital goods.

A scenario of substantial stability is predicted for the world ceramic industry over the next 4 years. The objective that Acimac member companies must pursue is therefore to maintain their positions in terms of turnover and presence in the strategic areas of the world through adequate strategies and promotional actions.
Companies must focus on rationalisation in order to become more efficient and flexible and must give the utmost attention to the critical size of their business needed to reduce production costs, strengthen brands, establish a presence in markets and invest more in research. "Our system of companies must be reorganised, amongst other things through new alliances and partnerships to adapt to the new competitive environment and to increase the technological content of products," said Cassani.
Efforts must therefore be concentrated on building a strong climate of cooperation within the sector and on promoting group work in order to be ready for and to embrace changes.

Another objective for strengthening the system is to improve research governance, both public and private, and to avoid wastage of resources and duplication of initiatives. This is the reason behind the memorandum of intent promoted by Acimac and recently signed by all the ceramic industry associations, Centro Ceramico Bologna, Istec-CNR of Faenza and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Companies are also encouraged to increase their investments.

Another aspect of the programme is promotion of the quality of Italian capital goods through the Acimac Quality Mark, which certifies quality, warranties, technical and performance parameters and the high level of after-sales service provided by Italian companies."

Last but not least, Acimac's new headquarters, Villa Marchetti, which was opened last October is seen as an investment to be optimised not just in terms of the association's image. The large spaces inside the building are available to be used for meetings, conferences and training courses principally by member companies but may also be a resource for other local economic players.

Pietro Cassani will be officially elected Acimac chairman for the four-year period 2008-2012 at the association's General Meeting which will be held on Tuesday 17 June in Villa Marchetti in Baggiovara.