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Originally published by
Biesse Group is ready
for the future now
I
Federico Broccoli, president/CEO of Biesse America and Canada
Broccoli attributes the strong
performance of Biesse Group to a
combination of factors, chief among
them their significant commercial
investments in the 30 subsidiaries
around the world. We have made
significant investments over the last
three years both in infrastructure
and people. We have strengthened
the sales forces in our subsidiaries
and invested heavily in showrooms
and marketing, he says.
“We have worked very diligently
to gain market share and to get
these (strong) results.”
And following up on 2015’s strong
results, Biesse Group hasn’t missed a
step in the first half of 2016 and also
reported astounding growth from
Xylexpo, in Milan - the biennial
trade fair dedicated to technologies
for processing wood and components
for the furniture industry – where
orders received grew by more than
100 per cent over the previous show
with more then 20 million Euros.
Broccoli says those numbers don’t
lie and are testimony to the fact
that investment in human capital,
innovation and technology is having
an overwhelmingly positive impact.
And not only does technology
sell, but it also gets recognition, most
recently when Biesse received the
XIA Xylexpo Innovation Awards,
which bestows a series of prestigious
prizes on the most advanced
solutions presented at the fair.
Of course having the right
product mix also helps and Broccoli
says being able to offer a wide
range of machines that respond
well to market needs, along with
the latest technology and value,
complete the picture.
PHOTO: WOODWORKING
n advance of IWF in Atlanta,
Federico Broccoli, president/CEO
of Biesse America and Canada
spoke to Woodworking Canada
recently about the record results
Biesse Group has been posting
over the past two years.
“The company is doing
excellent,” Broccoli says.
We have enjoyed 40 per cent
growth in sales in 2014 and
2015, and we are on track to
repeat our strong numbers in
2016 and that makes us the best
performer in the industry, he says.
The Internet of Things revolves around machine-to-machine
communication and information gathering sensors that will affect
nearly all-physical devices, from cell phones to vehicles and
machines, even buildings.
38
July/August 2016
WOODWORKINGCANADA.COM
39
“It’s like when you make a cake,”
he says, “you need the perfect
combination of the ingredients, they
are all important.
“We invest a lot in R&D, about five
per cent of our numbers are invested
every year and that plays an important
role. But our real focus these last three
years has been a strong commercial
investment in our sales and marketing
efforts to grow market share and we
have been very successful in that.
In his dual role of North American
responsibilities and for Biesse Group
in general, Broccoli has a unique
perspective and is able to comment
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July/August 2016
not only on one market, but the
company’s worldwide results and
ambitions as well.
And that forecast, based on 2015,
is “that we will see 10 per cent
growth every year and that by 2018,
we anticipate annual sales of more
than 700 million Euros.”
“For this year we are right on
track to maintain this 10 per cent
worldwide growth, so we should
be in a good position to reach our
forecast, especially considering that
we currently have a record order
backlog of over 160 million.”
By far the most dramatic growth
right now is being seen in North
American, which, led by the U.S.
market, is producing record results.
“The American market is doing
exceptionally well,” Broccoli says
and added that their numbers are
now above the pre-crisis numbers.
And while it is great to see such
unprecedented growth, Broccoli
admits it has also presented them
with a number of challenges,
because it is difficult to manage that
kind of growth properly.
“We have added dozens and
dozens of new employees across
North America to cope with the
numbers of machines we are
delivering. Just in the last six months
we have added nearly 30 people
across North America just for sales
to keep up with growth.”
Then there are the challenges
of hiring good people in times of
low unemployment, but Broccoli
says they have managed well
and will not compromise on the
quality of employees.
“It’s a wonderful moment in
North America,” he says.”
And even the Canadian
market, while nowhere near
as hot as that in the U.S., is up
around 30 per cent over last year.
“The U.S. and Canadian
market are growing at different
speeds for sure, but even Canada
is doing really well for us. We
have never seen the kind of rapid
growth we are seeing in the
U.S. anywhere else, it really is
exceptional. But even in Canada,
growth is strong and much better
than for example in Europe.
“For us, 30 per cent growth in
a mature market like Canada, is
looking really good and we are
very pleased with that.”
Service
Obviously, after sales support
is also hugely important and
Broccoli says Biesse Group
offices in North America - Biesse
North America and Biesse Canada
— are working closely together to
make sure they are able to offer
the best service to customers.
He also had good things to say
about the Canadian marketplace
in general, where strong technical
schools mean the company has
no problems finding well-trained
technicians. And, with 80 per
cent of their customers located
in five major metropolitan areas
— Montreal, Toronto, Calgary,
Edmonton and Vancouver, “most
of our technicians sleep in their
own beds every night whereas in
the U.S. our technicians spend
a lot of time on the road and in
hotel rooms.
Biesse America and Biesse
Canada are two separate subsidiaries
and they are tasked to work for
their customers and in their unique
markets, but Broccoli says that
doesn’t mean they don’t work
together to share resources.
“Biesse Canada has a North
America vision, but a Canadian
application,” he says and adds that
as a company, Biesse Group takes
great pride in its global vision and
local implementation. With 3,450
employees worldwide, 53 per cent
of whom are in Italy and the rest
around the world — Broccoli says
that as a company Biesse Group
truly has a global mentality.
Industry 4.0 and IoT
In the European market, Industry 4.0
and digital smart factories are already
widespread and essential, and more
than 30 per cent of Biesse Group’s
order entries from Xylexpo, were for
Industry 4.0 technologies.
That trend is now coming to North
America in a big way and Broccoli
says the company is ready for it.
“There is strong demand for that
technology in North America now,
last year some 25 per cent of our sales
were for Industry 4.0 technology and
we only expect that to increase,” he
says. It’s hard to find good, skilled
workers so this technology is essential
for companies to keep their edge and
stay competitive.
At IWF in Atlanta, Aug. 24-27,
Industry 4.0-ready equipment
and integrated solutions will make
up some 70 per cent of Biesse
display areas.
“We are not interested in showing
stand-along machines, these days it’s
all about integrated and automated
solutions. We see a great opportunity
in that for our customers and for us
as a company, Broccoli says
“We want to show off our
technological edge as a company
versus those competitors who do
not offer that technology. And many
medium and small companies are
getting into that technology now
as well and it is one of the most
important and transformative trends
for our industry. We firmly believe
that Industry 4.0 is for everybody
and we have more than 70 people in
Biesse Group’s software department
alone, who are working on new
and better software solutions for
the 4.0 smart factory.
And while Industry 4.0 is the
here and now, Broccoli says
Biesse has already started on the
next big thing, namely IoT, the
Internet of Things.
The Internet of Things revolves
around machine-to-machine
communication and information
gathering sensors that will affect
nearly all-physical devices,
from cell phones to vehicles and
machines, even buildings. IoT
has been described as the new
infrastructure for the information
PHOTO: BIESSE GROUP
Originally published by
Federico Broccoli
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41
Originally published by
“There is strong demand for that
technology in North America now, last
year some 25 per cent of our sales
were for Industry 4.0 technology and
we only expect that to increase.”
— FEDERICO BROCCOLI, PRESIDENT/CEO OF
BIESSE AMERICA AND CANADA
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July/August 2016
society and Broccoli says Biesse
Group is investing heavily in that
new technology.
It will be a game changer, he says
where machines will communicate
with us before they get sick, and it
will mean predictive and preemptive
maintenance rather than just
preventative maintenance. It will
warn the operator that something
is going wrong long before the
machine actually breaks down.
For example, a bearing may
start having problems and the
diagnostics will report on that
before the operator would even
know that it’s happening. It’s
proactive rather than reactive and
protective rather than preemptive.
It’s not just a routine, like
checking every 3,000 hours, this is
better, as soon as anything is out of
the ordinary you will know about
it and then be able to schedule
maintenance when it suits you
and your operations, he says.
“Like a Formula 1 car, it
monitors everything all the
time and this kind of protective
maintenance and the Internet
of Things is a revolution and
Biesse is ready.”
Of course this is just the
beginning of what Broccoli
describes as a continuing
development, which means they
have to tell people about it and
educate customers before they
can fully appreciate it.
“We are an innovator, we want
to lead with technology, and we
don’t want to follow because if you
follow you lose market share. We
want to lead, Broccoli says.
“Our 40 per cent growth is
based on that kind of leading edge
technology and we are well on
our way to implement that across
of our wide product range, but of
course it will take some time and it
is part of our commitment to lead
with innovation.”
We are entering a time of extreme
efficiency and extreme competitiveness and we want our customers to
embrace changes, he says.
“In North America, we have to
develop these kinds of advantages in
order to stay competitive. We don’t
need to go overseas to manufacture,
we have everything we need right
here. We just have to embrace
technology and update our factories
and become more efficient.”
Broccoli says Biesse will use its
more than 17,000 sq. ft of exhibition
space at IWF to demonstrate how
anyone can implement Industry 4.0.
The company will also show
many great improvements of
existing machines. Many of these
changes are not hardware related,
but rather in the intelligence of the
machine through software advances.
“If you want, it’s like the
difference between an iPhone 4
and an iPhone 6,” he says. “They
largely do the same thing, but
the newer one does it faster and
more efficiently and that’s what
we offer, upgrades that do the job
faster and more efficiently. n