Carlo Galli, Galli Spa
To be a step ahead of future trends and to help the leatherware industry become more and more flexible. Galli has set its goals and, to achieve them, has relied on its strength and skills.
Risks? They come with the job. Yet those who think big, must keep doing so, despite all difficulties. This is the best way to describe the philosophy fostered by Galli, company headquartered in Vigevano specialized, since 1970, in the design and manufacturing of leather goods machinery. A trend confirmed by Carlo Galli, Sales Manager: “We have experienced some dark times, but we have pulled through. Stronger than before, larger than before. Entrepreneurs and manufacturers are well aware of the risks they are taking.” Bearing this in mind, the firm attended the latest edition of Simac, putting on display interesting innovations. “Over the last forty years, we have always managed to exhibit something new. This year, we have been incredibly active and we are satisfied with the results. It is not easy, but we must be positive: this is our mindset.” The first development concerns more the company itself, than the products. “We took part in the trade show not as a single enterprise, but as a group, Galli SpA.
Last year, Overmec, our subsidiary for the last ten years, officially joined the Galli group: more than 60 people involved in the manufacturing of over 150 models, a complete range of machinery for the leatherware sector. We have succeeded in showcasing here at Simac more than ten new machines as well as two world previews for leather goods and belts manufacturers.”
The world previews are a true breakthrough for Galli: robotics and automation, this is the way to the future. “We have showcased a machine that performs painting operations via a robot, the latter developed and assembled entirely in-house, without relying on large manufacturers,” explained Galli. “In our opinion, the robotics available on the market is not suitable for the leather goods sector. Therefore, we have chosen to invest in robots purposefully designed for our industry, while managing to level out costs so as to keep a competitive price. The second world preview is a fully computerized machine that brings together three of our models. Four processes assembled on three heads, processes that, in the past, were carried out separately, as the worker had to physically move from one machine to the other; we have created an automatic line that encompasses all functions.”
New machines not only in terms of appearance, but also of design concept. After all, as underlined by Carlo Galli, the leatherware industry is steadily changing. “Nowadays, the sector either deals with large volumes, resulting in the demand for fast machines, or needs versatile models to process small-sized volumes. This hold true mainly for the European market, where large volumes are no longer in high demand or, at least, have fragmented. Therefore, companies are on the lookout for flexible technologies, especially when it comes to the change of parameters and set-ups.”
A requirement that the Vigevano-based company has decided to meet by providing new solutions: “These are cutting-edge machines, maybe derived from old models already in use, yet fully upgraded with regard to interfaces, thus giving to the employee the opportunity to set the machine’s parameters via touch screen or computer. By matching these features with the chance to modify physical set-ups quickly, we have succeeded in developing technologies that can guarantee first-rate performances with regard to the change of articles or formats.”
This strategy encompasses a precise business policy: “We have chosen to support that market segment that was about to be left out, those companies that, due to small volumes, have not relocated their production and have remained in Europe, forced to rely on outdated machines, so much so that, sometimes, they had to use handmade processes.We pay visits to our customers, to see first-hand their situation and to carry out real tests with their machines, a pivotal opportunity for us because, while it is true that we have an in-depth knowledge of machines and products, we are not experts when it comes to production flows; after all, each customer has his/her own needs. We have been focusing on this aspect, trying to provide versatile machines, suitable for all types of articles and workflows.”
The machines’ recent aesthetical restyling is part of the same policy as well: “We are bent on making our models as open as possible, while complying with top-notch safety standards. Today, workers have the chance to see through the equipment, thus creating transparencies and avoiding those “machines’ walls”, usually found in many companies.”
Therefore, Galli’s strategy aims at paving the way for the future of the leatherware sector, as confirmed by Carlo Galli: “Leather goods manufacturers tend to prefer handcrafted processes, yet there are many tools and technical solutions that can help them. We are striving to be a step ahead, without waiting for the customer’s answer, and to develop new work options: for example, we have managed to combine three machines. Today, it is pretty easy to manufacture complex technologies, the real deal is to make them simpler. And if the customer does not use a machine because it is too complicated, no matter how beautiful it is, said machine will be useless.”