Furniture “made in Italy” and technology: a winning move

The furniture-furniture sector, more than any other, would gain great competitive advantages from the union of craftsmanship and automation, tradition and hi-tech

The benefits of digitalization would lead to the reduction of costs and processing times, as well as the possibility of customized production in the furniture-furniture sector. This is the "fuel" that would guarantee enormous competitive advantages, especially at international level. It is a pity that small companies are still struggling to be conquered by technology.

This is what emerges from the survey "Digital and web in the furniture sector" conducted by Pragma on behalf of "Registro.it" on a sample of small and micro companies. 74% of respondents have an internet domain, while 26% think they can do without it. 35% do online marketing and communication, but 65% do not use social networks. The most discouraging fact is that only 15% of respondents plan to invest in the digital area in the short term. It turns out, digging deeper, that only one company in ten sells online, and that often, the site is nothing more than a showcase used for e-mail. Does the famous fourth industrial revolution, analyzing the data, really seem so far away?

Is furniture-furniture in crisis?

The furniture-furniture sector - with 111 billion in total turnover - is one of the symbols of Made in Italy, yet it struggles to concretely include digital in process and product projects in order to finally emerge from the great eight-year crisis - from 2008 to 2015 - that mowed down 25% of companies and almost 30% of employees. It's time to take action to make up for lost ground. Emanuele Orsini, the new president of Federlegno-arredo, does not just ask the government for structural maneuvers, but goes straight to the heart of the problem: "Manager, training and 4.0: we absolutely need technology and new skills".

Italian excellence exists

The reference models, in fact, are not lacking: they are there for all to see. Such as Lago di Villa del Conte (Padua), which in a decade has seen its turnover grow from 3 to 30 million thanks to the web and digital marketing. Or even Berto Salotti of Meda (Monza-Brianza), which has wisely exploited digital technologies to conquer, thanks to the internationalization of its brand, the market of the five continents. Others, such as Arper of Monastier (Treviso), has focused on advanced industrial automation by installing a series of robots that work side by side with workers, or the Brianza-based Tecno of Mariano Comense, which has embraced the Internet of Things to create "smart" offices. And then there is the Friulintagli of Villanova di Prata (Pordenone), become the greatest European producer of components of furnishings thanks to the hi-tech that has completely revolutionized its lines of production. You don't become a leader in a sector by "chance", but thanks to the reliability of delivery times, to quality standards that only industrial automation of the highest level is able to guarantee.