Panorama Newsletter

THE NEW BUILDING

Tecniplast, despite the current difficulties, shortage of raw materials, cost increases and, not least, the war, is continuing to invest with the aim of increasing product quality, reducing its carbon footprint in production and maximising the efficiency of each and every production process.

We started on December 9th 2022 to build a new construction behind the PL6 department in Buguggiate.

Our objective is to extend the metal workshop production site and construct a new building for the Technical Office and Research & Development department. We plan to have the opening day of the building in June 2023.

The expansion of the production department will have a usable area of   1,300 m2/4.300sf2, while the new building will develop over two floors and will occupy approximately 1000 m2/3.300sf2 per floor.

For the best manufacturing processes in the production flow, we will modify the internal road network, building a new road that will pass behind the new building, allowing for the optimization of "light" and "heavy" traffic.

Tecniplast grows and needs more and more space for both offices and production departments. This new building will enable us to work in safety, with ever greater and greener efficiency, increasing flexibility and reducing time to market.

The relocation of the Technical Office will allow other corporate functions to optimize their working environments; even recent acquisitions in Tecniplast require space at the "headquarters" for those "corporate" functions that play a transversal role in our group.

THE NEW METALWORKING DEPARTMENT

Quality enhancement, efficiency maximisation and decrease in CO2 footprint – these are the priorities in Tecniplast’s production processes Another important investment (January 2022) is that involving the metalworking department.

We’ve interviewed Daniele Pinton, who was in charge of the metalworking and assembly department until the end of 2022 (today promoted as responsible of production in IWT), and who here sets out for us the changes that have taken place in the firm.

Could you sum up for our readers the investment actions and dimensions of the investments in value terms?

The shift in production activities from the Castronno facility to that of Buguggiate and the ensuing setting up of the new metalworking department has, for some people, been a return to origins, whilst for others it has been a pleasant surprise.

But for the whole team it has been a really important project where, right from the word go, two key words have been buzzing in our heads during the whole course of our activities: CHALLENGE and OPPORTUNITY.

The main challenge has proved to be the need to keep up production continuity during the entire project time. With this in mind, organisation and planning have been the most delicate phases and the result obtained is an acknowledgement of the effort and belongs to a team that stretches right across all the company functions.

The strong co-operation among the various teams has resulted in the OPPORTUNITY to build up a new department that has led on to an optimisation of existing production flows and actively shown the way forward to the future.

Let me cite one or two numbers to give an idea of the size of the project:

• 43 machines involved
• 41 external firms involved in carrying out the work
• 145 resources –of which 94 external - involved in the work
• 2,600 square metres transformed from warehouse to production area
• 3 months from project development to project realization

In your view, what are the advantages that the products will have thanks to this new department?

Thanks to the new department we count on getting these improvements:

• Greater flexibility
• Smaller carbon footprint
• Optimisation of production times and processes

How does the new department fit into the TPS (Tecniplast Production System)?

With an eye on standardisation, the TPS has been implemented in the new metalworking department, just as for other departments. Daily analyses of the processes and the situations that characterise the work place has allowed us to identify any eventual losses and waste that damage production. Such analyses are then followed up by opening specific “PDCA procedures” which, through the direct involvement of all operative personnel facilitate continuous improvement process and allow fitting solutions to be put in place so as to guarantee full customer satisfaction and product quality.

As you see it, what are the benefits our customers can have from this new organisation?

• Greater productivity, as the production reorganization allows an optimisation of  material throughput times within the department which translates into less time needed for the manufacture of the product.
• Quicker reaction time to customers’ requests, because a specific area has been created that is dedicated to the prototype with an associated workshop that allows studying/testing/working in unison on specific customer requests.
• Optimisation of material throughput flows thanks to the setting up of specific areas for stocking and calling for materials that allows the speeding up and simplification of use on the part of the department operatives.

Thank you, Daniele, both for your enthusiasm and attention to detail. We would recommend that our readers take advantage of the easing of travel restrictions to come and visit us. The new department is part of our Factory Tour and a call on Daniele is just what is needed to get an idea of enthusiasm and innovation.

As always our Pay Off is “always greener”.

WATCH THE VIDEO

LEOPOLDO ZAUNER
CORPORATE MARKETING & COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR TECNIPLAST S.P.A.