Today, the furniture industry must face one challenge on top of all: flexibility. The value chain often determines the success and profitability of a company, and one of the most critical factors is the so-called “last mile”, i.e. packaging.
We have all come home with a “furniture kit” purchased in the store of a major retail chain, and realized that something was wrong, the contents were not adequately protected, and something had happened along the road. The same can happen with more conventional shopping, when the installation squad arrives, they install your kitchen set, and you must wait another 45-60 days for the substitute of a damaged panel, as it must be ordered to the furniture maker (who will not be happy), and then delivered and mounted. And due to this panel, most of the profit margin might go lost…
It’s a fact: the value of furniture, just like any other product, is based on its visual impact and the perfection of finish. Such value must be protected with smart and “performing” packaging, which also help improve shipping and make it less “dangerous”, more efficient and effective. Maybe we will discuss this topic soon: the next step, strictly related to the definition of packaging and its footprint, is the interface to the loading software, considering the necessity to optimize the loading patterns of trailers and containers, according to the sequence of delivery.
We apologize for the inaccuracy of our concise introduction, we just want to stress the “impact” of this part of the value chain on the economics of the furniture industry, its effectiveness and its overall efficiency.
So, it is not surprising that, over the past 20-25 years, the manufacturers of machines, lines, software and solutions for packaging have become an integral part of the furniture production process.
It’s a major trend, that fits into the need of the furniture industry to rely on a smart, comprehensive, fully integrated, fast process, as affordable as possible, designed to ensure a smooth flow from panel sawing to the loading bay.
So, we were not surprised to get a phone call from Tiziano Balestrini, a person with long and deep experience in this specific business, who announced he had jumped the fence: he decided to create his own company to leverage many years of experience in the search for solutions to finalize the production process of furniture with suitable packaging.
Tiziano Balestrini
“Our industry is experiencing a period of change, a transition that has offered me the opportunity to leverage my experience and knowledge in this business to create Wortech”, Balestrini said. “This project stems from a shared vision with another popular name in the packaging industry, Massimo Mescoli, who decided to combine his technical knowledge with my commercial skills. This is, briefly stated, the origin of the Worldtech project, meaning “technology for the world”. The production site is in Reggio Emilia, the showroom in Pesaro.”
Was it hard to start the engine?
“It is never easy to create a business and make the first steps, especially in a sector where you are known for previous engagements. On the other hand, the heritage of information and know-how is a powerful spring that helps you jump-start a new business: it took a short time to find a partner for the construction of machines to cut cardboard into “sheets” with the required dimensions, which was the first step of our lines.
Consider that all line manufacturers rely on partners for these technologies, as die-cutting operations required high specialization and solid experience. The accuracy and effectiveness of this operation are critical for the construction of “batch one” lines that can handle different shapes of packaging in rapid sequence.”
Summing up…
“I can say that a new player has joined the fray, a company that knows that packaging is the number one problem for many companies, and consequently offers mature know-how for the creation of packaging lines with increasing complexity, up to “batch one” solutions, not only for the furniture business: wherever there are glues, cardboard and the need to make cartons in sizes that can be handled by our machines, we can have a say!”.
For some time now, we have been offering our own packaging plants, facing strong competitors that we respect, but we know we can fight on equal terms. For the furniture business, we are great at building lines where the first machine, as I mentioned, cuts a sheet of cardboard onto which the panel or any element of sitting room or kitchen furniture or library is placed, and then the sheet is folded, glued, closed and labeled according to predefined specifications, all with the necessary protections. These plants are highly automated, robots are often an integral element performing fast and accurate operations that would normally be up to people executing repetitive and dull jobs, while they can be assigned to more qualified tasks.”
“Next year, I will celebrate my 25th anniversary in the handling and packaging business, and Massimo is a few years older – Balestrini said with a smile – and has even more experience than me. We have experienced a “mixed bag”, so to say, and today we can have a say, after both of us collaborated for many years with leading companies that we still esteem and respect.
Wortech is opening a new season for us, with the mission of making tailor-made solutions and being flexible, while at the same time realizing that it is important to offer solutions with a certain level of standard. Let me explain better: the technical challenge we are facing is to squeeze all our expertise into plants consisting of solutions that are as standard as possible, while allowing to work with a wide range of dimensions.
This is our concept for packaging: build a line with highly flexible machines and make it standard for our partners, a machine that can meet 9 percent of market demand. In these months, we have identified a few machines that comply with this logic, both for big volumes and for individual batches, and we have integrated them into lines that we are offering with good success. The customization of plants is and will remain our core business, but over many years in the field, we have learned that making extreme decisions does not take you far.”
“Our solutions require significant investments, as we select the best materials and components”, Tiziano Balestrini continued. “You cannot save on technology if you want to achieve and guarantee certain results. Our target is not to make tens of millions of revenues: we are a small company that has made clear choices, we want to be a reliable partner who delivers a plant within the agreed deadline and conditions, offering machines that will not cause problems once commissioned.
Every day, we see that packaging has become an integral part of the product, it affects its success, quality perception or customer satisfaction for a certain brand, and this is the contribution we must give to our customers.”
Next steps?
“First of all, we want to work well, produce good solutions, support customers before and after they have chosen us, stand close to them constantly. We have delivered the first plants and 2022 will close with satisfactory revenues and an orders book that gives us peace of mind for 2023.
We know the market and the giants we are facing very well, but we can secure a market share, showing competence and seriousness.
In terms of sales, Italy remains our reference market, but we are developing relationships in other countries, first of all France, Spain and Germany, mature, high-quality markets, though we believe the focus of a company is not sales, but rather understanding which companies, which people can be part of your business and product project.
One of the values we cherish most is transparency, clarity. Wortech is a company that can provide an excellent product at the right price, and in the early months of our life, we are showing our vision of the “packaging topic”, the quality standards we have set. Some may not be allure, but many others will understand that we are the right people to give them the product they are searching for.
Our core business starts from the supply of standalone machinery for the design, construction and installation of plants to offer more powerful cycles, delivering three or five items per minute, while ensuring in both cases a high-quality, green packaging, and access to Industry 4.0 tax allowances.”
