Leonardo: the industrial supply chain is key to growth, and Puglia is a centre of excellence

Leonardo believes in the role and value of the Italian industrial supply chain, and this was emphasised in Foggia, Puglia, by Francesco Macrì, Leonardo’s chairman, whilst speaking at the 40th-anniversary celebrations of the Manta Group, a Leonardo partner. With 3,000 employees and three plants in Foggia, Grottaglie (Taranto) and Brindisi – the first two belonging to the Aerostructures division and the third to the Helicopters division – Puglia is already a key region for Leonardo, where companies involved in the group’s supply chain are growing and strengthening their position. And the Manta Group’s experience is one such example in Puglia; over the past 40 years, it has evolved into an organisation that brings together, as highlighted by Michele Frisoli, the group’s CEO, “Manta Group specialises in composite products and the assembly of structural and critical parts, Avioman in precision engineering and complex mechanical engineering, and TMC in automated painting”. The combined turnover is just under 40 million; in recent years, more than 20 per cent of revenue “has been invested in technological assets, research, innovation and training”, and the company employs around 230 people.

“Italia,” says Macrì, “is an extraordinary country with a very significant cluster-based economy. At this juncture in history, we can develop and strengthen a genuine innovation-driven economy. Supply chains are extremely important for large groups such as Leonardo, which must act as a driving force for this new economy. Today, Leonardo is Italy’s leading manufacturing company following the decline of the automotive sector, and it can and must rely on a well-structured supply chain. Companies such as MantaGroup,” notes Macrì, “are an absolutely exemplary case because they have grown alongside us. They have shown vision and the courage to invest, to implement appropriate changes from a production perspective; they have also managed to make a significant generational leap that meets the technological and production needs in terms of the skills that a large technology multinational like Leonardo needs to tap into locally in order to grow alongside them.”

According to Macrì, “Puglia is a centre of excellence. There is a deeply established industrial cluster here. Despite recent challenges, our aerostructures plants are now essentially all operating at full capacity. The company is committed to strengthening its industrial presence in Puglia, whilst also exploring opportunities for international growth. Puglia therefore plays a vital role. We have a great many employees in Puglia; it is an ecosystem that supports us, sustains us and contributes to the growth of a major group that is becoming a driving force of the Italian industrial sector,” emphasises Macrì. We are in a particularly interesting phase, one that could also lead to an industrial renaissance, driven in part by SMEs. The Leonardo Group has 4,500 suppliers. Eighty-four per cent are small and medium-sized enterprises; there are driving forces such as the Manta Group, which are, in a sense, the leaders of a regional ecosystem. We do not believe we need mere suppliers. The Manta Group is not a mere supplier. It is an industrial partner, and this must be the approach that Leonardo adopts.”

Speaking about Manta Group’s experience, Frisoli highlights “the constant dialogue to understand the expected level of quality and how to make the process repeatable. If we are to scale up from a few parts a month to 50 parts a month, we need a robust process. We cannot afford to make mistakes. And these challenges, together with our investments, have enabled us to build a strong group.”

“Technology is at the heart of what we do,” says Leonardo’s chairman. “Today, it is a matter of strategic autonomy for both the country and Europe. Investing in innovation means competing economically. Previously – or until very recently – global competition was entirely centred on labour costs. Today we are witnessing a shift towards competition between knowledge systems. It is supercomputing capability that makes the difference; it is cyber security that makes the difference; it is the speed at which we make technologically significant decisions that enables us to compete on the world stage. Italia can therefore regain a significant role if a multinational technology company such as Leonardo invests in this sector. Bear in mind that in 2025 alone, we will have 3 billion allocated to research and development, with 17,000 people dedicated to product engineering. We do not conduct research in purely theoretical terms. We conduct research to achieve immediate applied industrial capability. And so, in this sense, both the issue of training and skills is important, as is continuous, constant and integrated collaboration with the research system, the university system and the ITS institutions themselves. A constant connection with those working on applied research.”