Craftsmanship and Design

Our country has an absolute competitive advantage in terms of craftsmanship. An extraordinary historical and cultural heritage is testimony of that genius and passion and is appreciated by the whole world.

Continuing to invest in this strength does not mean entrenching oneself in the past, but treasuring a millenial history while looking towards the future.

Just as artisan mastery has the ability to transform materials to make them dense with meaning, design favors their diffusion by inserting excellent craftsmanship into a more ambitious system of connections with the industrial world and research, which produces a fruitful collaboration in which tradition is intertwined with strong innovative tension.

The 72 Italian districts, with their distinct artisan vocations, represent an effective response to the growth of various territorial areas, which, thanks to design, have evolved into a chain of knowledge and integrated processes.

The Italian advantage, in addition to a historical and artistic heritage, is also evident in the “4 A”s (all starting with the Letter A in Italian): Food-Wine (Alimentari-vini), Clothing (Abbigliamento), Furniture (Arredamento), and Mechanical Automation.

The creation of unique and exceptional quality products is centuries old in some cases. From Riviera del Brenta footwear to Neapolitan tailors, and from the weaving of Prato to the ceramics of Nove di Vicenza.

Design has the important task of merging tradition with innovation, combining these to create new products or services. Technology thus becomes a tool for updating elements of the past and adapting them to the continuous evolution of markets and consumer needs.

The Automation-Mechanical-Rubber sectors are linked to over 100 products and are in first place in their respective markets, with an incidence of 43% in the rankings.

One of the most important hubs in the world for the construction of packaging machinery is geographically concentrated in the province of Bologna, in what is known as Packaging Valley, and which has over three billion euros in turnover, 170 companies and 13 thousand employees.

The peculiarity is to create tailor-made systems, sartorial "creatures," cut to the size of the customer by focusing on innovation.

If the clothing sector is by definition inclined to look to the future, it is equally true that the competitive advantage of Italian fashion is based on its tradition and craftsmanship.

In order to remain the undisputed world leader, Italian high fashion has faced various challenges in recent years.

A particularly virtuous example is found in Bonotto textile manufacturing, a real manifesto against standardization. For their production, old looms (previously disused because they were too slow) have been recovered, therefore returning to the work of human hands.

The central concept here is the idea of a slow factory, where the quality of the fabric becomes synonymous with the value of the time taken to produce it. A modern company vision combines ancient technologies to create products of excellent quality.

The food sector is experiencing a period of strong transformation and innovation and, in this case, it passes through different levels of the supply chain.

In the production of Parmigiano Reggiano, for example, precision agriculture is used to select forage by optimizing the feeding of the cattle. In the fruit and vegetable sector, the use of water and fertilizers is minimized thanks to cutting-edge technology.

Advanced craftsmanship equipped with sophisticated equipment can create prototype series without the need for large investments. Within this context there is Dome, the new pizza oven designed for Officine Elettromeccaniche Mantovane. The design has managed to transform the oven in a contemporary manner.

Design identifies different professional skills in various areas. It also enhances production districts, while knowing and suggesting materials and processes in a driving force for growth between large companies and craftsmanship.