30 years ago, our founder’s ambition to bring technology directly to the client was fulfilled: a pioneering feat told by Ezio Bonetali, the first salesman to test a work method that has since become a Solema hallmark.
“At Solema we have always tried to be innovative by making the best use of technology. This is demonstrated by the fact that we had been the first in the sector to use plasma computers for technical drawing and for designing layouts, the ones with the orange screen, for instance.”
This is an excerpt from a recent interview with Ennio Mazzola, founder of Solema, which you can read here.
And it is based on this comment that we begin today's piece, whose protagonists are precisely those “plasma-display computers” mentioned by Mazzola, technological instruments very different from those used today, considering the story we are about to tell you dates back more than 30 years…
But let’s go in order.
Bringing technology directly to the client: when a request becomes a business opportunity
In the early nineties, Solema was keen to offer clients innovative and cutting-edge solutions. At that time, our core business was bookbinding.
The desire to expand our offering was perfectly matched by clients’ continuous requests for a specific layout of the spaces where their book and magazine printing and packaging lines would be installed.
Until then, this demand had been met by hand-designing the layout, but apart from this practice being somewhat obsolete, it also occupied valuable resources and required long lead times, despite yielding excellent results.
Solema thus decided that it could and should do more.
And so, capitalising on our already excellent ahead-of-its-time computer skills, and remaining true to our founder’s motto of “being technological artisans while remaining artisans at heart”, we put our heads together and decided it was possible to bring the technology directly to the client, thus becoming the first company in our field to use portable computers with an orange plasma display.
Ezio Bonetali, the “pioneer” and first to test this innovative technique
To better explain what it meant, back then, to “bring technology to the client”, we asked for insight from Ezio Bonetali - Project Manager Solema - who in 1991 was the first, together with Mr Mazzola, to “test” this innovative technique, thus becoming the pioneer of a new way of doing business with the client.
Ezio, tell us exactly how things went.
“I remember, clear as day, the first time I had to go to a client to plot the layout of the overall dimensions of a printing plant. It was a bookbindery that needed two book and magazine packaging lines.
So far, nothing out of the ordinary. The surprise came when Solema’s founder, Ennio Mazzola, asked me to go to the client with a portable computer - which we had only just bought - and to have a go at designing the plant layout directly on the screen, on-site, right in front of the client…
A few days earlier, back at the office, we had done some test layouts on the computer to practice and get a feel for this new method. And then, all of a sudden, I found myself needing to design an actual plant in front of the client… Luckily, everything went well!
What were portable PCs like back then?
That particular laptop was extremely heavy, nothing like the notebooks we use today. It was decidedly thicker and had an orange plasma display. And along with the computer, I had also brought with me a small printer so that I could give the client a draft copy of the initial layout, and thus prepare a solution and approximate quote, all within a few hours.
For the bookbinding and printing industry, this innovation was truly revolutionary! Whereas for us at Solema, we were certified as the first in our field to use those revolutionary computers with an orange plasma display.”
Part tailor and part architect: the benefits of a custom layout, instantly prepared in front of the client
Ezio Bonetali thus became the pioneer of this revolutionary work method, conceived by Ennio Mazzola.
Clients were effectively being offered the chance to instantly receive a relatively accurate design during their very first meeting, with Solema aiming to deliver something that closely resembled the final result.
A bit like tailors when they need to prepare a custom suit or architects when they're asked to design a building: What we were offering – and we were the first to do so in our field – was a comprehensive and customised layout, unlike our competitors who simply presented the standard installation layout with a series of elements arranged in the same sequence, every time.
What we delivered, on the other hand, was a final, computer-generated layout, a logically developed architecture and, above all, optimisation of the spaces, with the added benefit of saving the client space and money.
But let’s keep chatting with Ezio Bonetali.
How does this technique work in detail?
“Once I got to the client, I would do a survey and take all the measurements of the available space. Mind you, there were no laser distance meters back then, I had to make do with a 50-metre tape measure...
Once I had the measurements, I opened my portable laptop and drew the floor plan by plotting the spaces and then, through a special menu, I inserted the drawings of the different machines the client needed, considering that in those days, we only dealt with curves, belts, diverters and stackers. All this to scale and live in front of the client.
I would finish the first draft of the layout at the client’s premises and print it on A4 paper with my portable printer. Then, when I got back to the office, I would perfect it. But in the meantime, the client was able to actually see their project and get a general idea of the cost and time involved, and could even ask for changes to the design, even at this very early stage.”
Is there any one episode from back then that you particularly remember?
“The first client to regularly entrust us with this type of service was the De Agostini publishing house in Novara, which back then already believed in the potential of technology.
I remember spending a whole week at the Legatoria del Verbano, a De Agostini satellite office.
It took that long because their plant had dozens and dozens of pillars, so taking the measurements was quite complicated.
De Agostini was one of the first companies in the industry to fully grasp the potential of live layouts. Clients became ecstatic about this new possibility and word quickly spread, resulting in a flood of orders, owing in part to our sales network that effectively marketed the service, both in Italy and abroad. Our success was more dependent on good word of mouth, since back then the tools we know today, such as emails, websites or social media didn't yet exist.”
A gamble of sorts that ultimately became an extra weapon for Solema
Ezio’s story is one that, on the surface, seemed like a bold gamble, but quickly proved to be a valuable extra weapon for Solema, which to this day still represents one of the company’s core values. An added value that is part of what makes us so unique and has helped us stay ahead of the times and our competitors, who for years, continued to go to clients with printed designs that could only be generated and edited from the office.
To this day, in fact, many clients still ask us to identify, in record time, a specific machine layout for their location that would ensure optimised production and guarantee the best possible workflow.
A “custom layout” is an effective demonstration of the importance of Solema’s design service, putting to use the technical expertise allowing us to guarantee a unique consulting service tailored to clients’ specific needs thanks to customised solutions that go beyond the standard, with made-to-measure designs and plants.
To this day, 30 years on, Ezio Bonetali and the other Project Managers at Solema continue to go to clients to prepare computer-designed layouts. The technology has naturally evolved and the PCs are more agile and higher-performing, but their passion and professionalism are the same as always.
For more information on Solema, write to info@solema.it or call us on 035 654111.