For over 35 years, Jeko Solution, company based in Creazzo (Vicenza province) has been at the service of small and large tanning companies to ensure efficiency, work organization, flexibility and competitiveness
The story began in 1984 and ever since, the company kept on growing, focusing on the future to foresee the needs of the market. This is the “business card” of Jeko Solution, which designs software solutions and IT technology for small, medium and large companies, especially in the tanning sector, but also in the chemical and commercial sectors. The offer range is very wide and primarily concerns management systems, production data collection systems, design and implementation of complete IT systems. But above all, 24/7 Cloud-based services. At the company’s headquarters, we met the managing director Pietro Brocca and the sales manager Daniele Torretta.
From left: Pietro Brocca and Daniele Torretta – Jeko Solution
“Jeko Solution – states Brocca – boasts over 35 years of experience, a period of time during which we worked shoulder to shoulder with the tanning districts’ companies; they helped us to acquire an asset of knowledge useful to face, masterfully, the many problems of management within the tanneries, a sector that represents 95% of our turnover. We offer these entrepreneurs complete solutions, owned by us, designed to meet the modern companies’ needs of flexibility, simplicity and competitiveness. We also guarantee an always ready after-sales service, available for any clarification and customization, managed by trained and constantly updated technicians.”
In which areas do you mainly work? “Our office in Vicenza guarantees us a widespread presence in the leather district of Arzignano, but we also have clients in Tuscany. Our customers are almost entirely Italian, who often own factories all over the world, from Tunisia to Mexico and even Russia. Actually, our software, translated into English, French and Spanish, is used internationally.”
How did you manage to become such a significant partner for the tanning companies? “Tanners widely appreciate our technicians, who speak “their language”. As a matter of fact, in many cases they have worked in the tanning world, even for 10-15 years, so they know what the customer needs even before receiving the requests. Furthermore, in Creazzo we have an advanced in-house laboratory used exclusively for the research of new technologies related to the tanning sector and for the development and evolution of current technologies, at the disposal of companies. It is not just a about the software that we have implemented and improved through the years, it’s also about the investments we made on our personnel.”
What are your most important products? “For the tanning companies, ARES, born through fieldwork, tested and used every day by hundreds of users: it is a management tool that guarantees efficiency, work organization and profitability. For chemical companies, instead, we suggest CHERES: it is an application born in 1998 that has evolved in over 20 years, designed to manage both single companies and business groups in a flexible way, covering, both directly and through the integration with specific applications, all functional areas of the most modern companies of the sector.”
What does Jeko Solution guarantee the most? “Modernity and innovation are top priorities: thanks to the research and to the most modern tools, we are able to offer cutting-edge solutions aimed at the specific needs of the tanneries, such as the hides tracing and counting and the connection of production machines of all types. A further strength is represented by our flexibility, through which we aim at satisfying the customer: thanks to professionalism, competence and versatility, starting from a specific need, he will get unthinkable results.”
What advantages do you guarantee in terms of cost reduction? “From an economic point of view, ours is a virtuous path, which on balance proves to be absolutely successful. We have managed to bring this type of innovation, unknown to many of our customers, to an optimal level. The collection and integration of production data requires, in some cases, three employees in the office, whose salaries can be over 40 thousand euros a year; for a server, a few thousand euros are enough. This system guarantees savings for every tannery, from small up to the bigger ones. All this also includes the possibility of remote working and to connect with my warehouse, to know the quantity of leathers available or to move production from one batch to another while being in China, for example. Through new technologies it is possible to operate while constantly moving, with one’s own telephone.”
How did you deal with the lockdown in the first half of the year? “During the lockdown there has been an increase in remote work everywhere, which will go on in the future, given that several dozen technicians and operators still work from home. As a matter of fact, despite not knowing about the health emergency, we were ready with our systems beforehand. For this reason, we were able to cope with the crisis caused by Covid-19, so much that at the end of 2020 we will be able to increase our turnover. Considering the current situation, now more than ever it is essential for companies to pay attention to the economic aspect and reduce costs.”
What are your strategies in the field of research and development? “We applied technology 4.0 before its existence, somehow we were ahead of the times. Even before its applicability, the interest of companies was clear; it was evident that that was the horse on which to bet. We are also making significant efforts in the research on new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cognitive software and learning machines. It seems a mysterious world, but there are many youngsters, in particular newly graduates, who boast an excellent knowledge of these topics.”
Do you think this is a possible “turning point” for the beginning of this decade? “I am sure about the importance of these technologies for the tanneries, which often have not carried out any technological renewals in the last 20 years: even if the machinery has improved, the process that has remained the same. Through the artificial intelligence I show the machine how a man works, so that after a certain number of times it can copy it. It is a completely different approach to current programming, but it is not out of this world, we are designing boards that are already used to drive cars.”
What do you foresee in the medium and long-term future? “I believe a lot in data processing; our systems collect an infinity of information. The difference is that I do not process them by reading the statistics or making the calculations, but I provide the data to the artificial intelligence. Through this flood of data, which can be mixed, come from files, emails, photos and material collected on the internet, come a series of information: production chain can get incredible results, such as predicting the breaking point of the leather during production or that the market trends. It is an innovative system that will characterize the future in the coming years, decades, probably.” www.jekosolution.it