Regione Lombardia for competitiveness bets on supply chains

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The Lombardy Region is focusing on supply chains to continue developing its industrial policy with a view to medium-long term planning. With the aim of consolidating relations between the world of production, the academic and scientific world and training institutes for the creation of true eco-systems, a meeting between Leonardo Elicotteri, a major global player in the aeronautics sector, and 120 Lombardy companies was promoted by the Massessore allo Sviluppo economico di Regione Lombardia, Guido Guidesi, with the collaboration of trade associations.

At the meeting held at Palazzo Lombardia, Leonardo Elicotteri's management wished to highlight the production challenges associated with the significant growth in orders in the global helicopter market and the needs associated with it in terms of developing complementary sources and therefore the companies' supply capacity. The work and the discussion made it possible to acquire specific information on the areas of production and the issues on which there is the greatest need to expand the quantitative dimension of supply chains, as well as the ways in which in the following days and weeks the discussion between companies and Leonardo Helicopters will continue. This meeting marks the start of discussions between Leonardo and Lombardy's SMEs, giving companies the opportunity to initiate or continue interaction with the international industrial group. The objective is to consolidate, strengthen and integrate the skills and competences distributed in the territory and in the SMEs to face the growth of the global market and the new competitions that are being generated in it. The SMEs are called upon to take up a common challenge, counting on the support of the Group, a key player in the main strategic programmes at a global level, which makes available time and resources to accompany individual companies along the qualification and certification path, which is notoriously onerous and complex. The process of defining the companies that will become part of the Leonardo Helicopters supply chain is expected to be completed by the end of the autumn.

Path resulting from a strategy with a European vision

As far as the Lombardy Region is concerned, the primary objective of this new activity is to try to expand the production chains already present by implementing a strategy that aims at a convergence of relations and information in which the councillor's office plays the role of 'collector', in order to continue to compete and excel in international markets, considering the leading role of Lombardy in European manufacturing. The initiative realised with Leonardo Helicopters is part of a path initiated by Councillor Guidesi aimed at promoting supply chains and started with an expression of interest to recognise and support the strengthening, resilience and competitiveness of production and service chains and industrial, production and economic ecosystems in the region, and then developed with specific support measures such as, most recently, the call for about EUR 40 million. This is an industrial policy strategy of a European nature, as the path is the result of a guideline adopted in Brussels by Commissioner Thierry Breton, who chose 14 strategic eco-systems on which to focus action. The Lombardy Region has added a degree of flexibility to the European recipe, leaving entrepreneurs free to express their projects even beyond the sectors 'favoured' by Europe. This has led to the establishment of 63 supply chains already recognised by the Lombardy Region, which altogether bring together almost 1,400 subjects including companies, trade associations, universities, research centres and other important stakeholders.

Leonardo is present in Lombardy with six main offices between the provinces of Varese, Milan and Brescia - active in the helicopter, aircraft, space, electronics and cybersecurity businesses - with about 7,800 employees, to which are added over 250 Lombard employees of the Telespazio (Leonardo 67%/Thales 33%) and Thales Alenia Space (Thales 67%/Leonardo 33%) joint ventures. Leonardo, together with its suppliers - there are over 1,300 local suppliers (with an incidence of SMEs at 80%) - generates economic and social value in the area by working to create a quality supply chain and support highly qualified employment, for a total of over 30,000 employees in the local ecosystem. In particular, Leonardo contributes to the strengthening of the regional technological and knowledge-intensive supply chain, where IT and professional services are among the main sectors involved. In fact, Leonardo's supply chain represents 12% of the entire hi-tech industry in Lombardy. Moreover, Lombardy is the Italian region where the value of investment in the company's Research & Development activities is highest, representing alone almost 10% of the regional total.