Innovation, identity and a systemic commitment: this is how Italian companies compete again

The challenge of competitiveness is a game that Italian companies can no longer afford to play exclusively in the downward game (to the slaughter?) of prices: it is a continuous chase against those who produce in countries where the same rules do not apply, where energy, labour and steel are bought at completely misaligned costs.

Those who produce in geographies characterised by advanced welfare systems, stringent environmental regulations and high standards of social rights protection incur significantly higher costs, resulting from civilisation choices that are fundamental for a sustainable future. However, in the context of a global market in which competing companies operate in areas without similar constraints, an obvious distortion is created: competing under these conditions is tantamount to running a race with a heavy knapsack on one's back, against opponents free of all burdens, running the real risk of losing ground. If we want to guarantee fair conditions, there are two solutions: either we lighten the regulatory and contributory burden on our companies - a choice that could compromise fundamental social achievements - or we intervene so that products from countries with lower standards are also regulated through appropriate trade instruments. There is also a lack, now more than ever, of clear regulations from those who make the standards, here and in Europe: they are not clear for those who make industry, but above all they do not reassure or guide consumers, who today no longer understand which goods are worth investing in. This indecision is a further brake on consumption, which is already suffering from inflation. The challenge of competitiveness must become a system commitment. Many of us are channelling our efforts and resources into more efficient production, research and development, and innovation, the only real recipe for winning the challenge of the markets, in a scenario that is seeing some sectors increasingly poorly covered by Italian companies.

Elica, the company that my father founded in 1970, today is the only company in the domestic appliance sector in Italy, together with Smeg, that still flies the Italian flag. We are still strongly rooted in our region, Le Marche, both in our identity and in our approach to business, an area that was a key European district in the household appliance sector until the early 2000s. Here, over time, we have seen many competitors gradually give way to foreign players, with the loss of many jobs and, consequently, of relevance in the most strategic markets. Yet I still see plenty of room to innovate, to internationalise, to learn how to navigate even in times of great and rapid change, where uncertainty has become the prevailing dimension: we are a country with unique skills, specialisations and creativity, we have great professionals and excellently trained young people, both at a technical and managerial level.

What are we really, and more importantly, losing by losing our competitiveness? My father was a veterinarian with a passion for art. A visionary, certainly audacious, but from his intuition was born an industrial group that today employs over 2500 people. Moreover, he had grown up within a fertile social and entrepreneurial fabric, in the heart of an area that was the birthplace of so many historical dynasties of Italian business. What can this proudly and vibrantly provincial dimension, once able to ignite ideas and creativity, offer today to those who grow up here and look to the future? This too we are giving up as our competitiveness declines: light and oxygen for the courageous minds of this country.

President of Elica