Transmit and acquire skills: our Under25 team

09/12/2020

Transmit and acquire skills: our Under25 team

Our newcomers are our investment

In our newsletters we often talk about our machines and the services connected to them. But in order to make these machines working perfectly and meet the demands of customers, there is the need to have people and resources who constantly devote their time to the continuous improvement of the individual detail.

For this reason, we decided to talk also about the people working in the company, starting from the “fresher” resources, the young people of Solema, a “new generation” that we could nicely call our Under25 team. Solema is a consolidated company with a young spirit that has chosen to invest in young people, enhancing them throughout all the production cycle of the company, from the initial research of customers to the final delivery of products.

Everything is based on the perfect collaboration between the departments: Marketing – Sales – R&D – Software – Purchasing – Assembly. And in Solema we are happy to have at least one "Under25" within each of these productive sectors, which we present below.



OUR UNDER25 TEAM

Michela Gregis, 23 y.o.  Marketing and Communication Department

Degree in Sociology with an address in Organizational Sciences. After six months of marketing-oriented Erasmus in Finland, she realized that this could be her path. When she came back in Italy, she immediately entered Solema making a six-month internship with the task of helping to develop the internal communication. After the internship she has been confirmed to follow the socials of the company within the Marketing department. Among her future goals, certainly there is the role of Social Media Manager, a task in which she is still specializing studying at the Cattolica University of Milan.


Giuseppe Liguori, 24 y.o.  Sales Department

Qualified in Accounting in 2015, then he held a two-year master with specialization in marketing and internationalization of companies. After a couple of internships in the field of Digital Marketing, he realized that becoming a "keyboard nerd" was not his attitude. He was interested in deepening the human relationship and in the contact with the customer, and concentrated his forces in Sales sector. The right opportunity arose at the beginning of 2018 when Solema was looking for a person to enhance the Sales Dept. After an initial period of about one year, he got an indefinite contract with the role of assisting senior sellers in the preparation of offers and in the drafting of layouts in Autocad, technical drawing program that Giuseppe had to learn from zero.


Nicholas Zappella, 25 y.o.  R&D Department

Qualified in mechanic at High School firstly, then graduated in Engineering at University. A year ago he arrived in Solema where he was hired to work inside the R&D Department. At the beginning of his career in Solema, he carried out a training period in the mechanical workshop of Torre De' Roveri and then in the headquarter of Pedrengo, working in warehouse and assembly departments. After six months, its role was defined within the R&D, an office composed of eight people, in which he designs - with the help of advanced 3D programs - everything that will become a machine. Nicholas is also responsible for the study and development of new products and solutions, with the aim of improving the performances of Solema range.


Marco Nembrini, 25 y.o.  SW Department

After graduating as an electrotechnical industrial, he held a two-year master in mechatronics and automation. During this course he met Solema at a corporate presentation as part of a project that included a series of internships. He managed to take part to one of these, carried out in our company between May and July 2019, a training period that has turned into an indefinite contract into the SW department, in which he deals with development and assistance on Solema machines. There are four people in it: three software engineers and one electrical designer.


Michele Tombini, 23 y.o.  Purchasing and Warehouse Logistics Department

Four years ago, just qualified in Accounting, he entered Solema responding to an advertisement. After three years of apprenticeship, he was hired on an indefinite contract. He has willingly accepted to make a trial year in the Purchase office, where there was the need of a young resource to learn how to follow the processes related to the warehouse logistics, to spare parts supply and to the creation of the machine lists for production. He thus discovered that this could have been his way. In the department they are four and he is the youngest. Michele faces daily with other departments providing precise information about suppliers’ schedules. 


Nicolas Pirino, 24 y.o.  Assembly Department 

Qualified as Electro technician, he entered Solema with a two-and-a-half-year apprenticeship contract with the aim of becoming one of the technicians that travel around the world installing Solema machines. His journey has begun with training in the mechanical workshop of Torre De' Roveri where he learned to use lathes to produce parts. After 6 months, he moved to the headquarter where he started to do wiring of electrical panels and wiring on board the machine. He has now reached the goal of becoming one of the 5 technicians that manage installation and maintenance tasks directly at customers’ sites all over the world – their tasks are test the machines in Solema and then go to the customer to install and instruct the operators on them. Recently, because of the Covid, Nicolas had the chance to take care of the maintenance of the machineries remotely through the Solema Service Pack, the service that eliminates expensive emergency interventions on the machines (➜ link). 


We asked the guys to tell us a particular episode that impressed them in their early years of business in the company:

Michela — «During last spring’s lockdown due to Covid, the company expressed the desire to be more present on social media with contents linked also to the health emergency. This led to a project involving Solema employees, which consisted in collecting home-made photos made during Easter holidays, to be placed in a nice video-collage to wish happy Easter to customers, collaborators and all those who follow us on social media. The post had numerous interactions. This is a project that I’m proud of, because it came at a particularly difficult time when the company was trying, with everyone’s help, to keep the group close and motivated with a bit of lightness and good vibes.».

Giuseppe — «The most beautiful part of my job is the relationship that could be created with the customer. It is curious to discover, trip after trip, features and characteristics that differentiate one country from another. The episode that most impressed me was the meeting with Shandong Hongije, a Chinese company that prints books and catalogues. (we have talked about this here: ➜ link), which was held last winter here in Pedrengo and during which I got to know their particular approach to work, very different from ours. Following this customer closely was a great experience: I got in touch with their culture and with traditional Chinese habits that I did not know. One thing I will always remember with pleasure is the rite of the Gān bēi, which usually takes place at the table during an important lunch or dinner and in which you toast for three consecutive times as special thanks».

Nicholas Z. — «I have been working in Solema for a year and the “particular” episode has not yet arrived. However, I can say that, in my brief experience, what struck me most was the good relationship that was established immediately with my colleagues. Solema is for all of us like a big family. I felt welcomed from the first day and I tried in every way to repay the trust shown by keeping me always ready to face every request, even the most difficult one.».

Marco — «Also for me, as well as for my colleague Giuseppe (see previous answer n.d.r.), the episode that I remember most involves the Chinese company Shandong Hongije, with which I had been engaged in a particular remote assistance. The first production line had been sent to China arrived at destination in conjunction with the lockdown of last March. It was a matter of carrying out the work "at a distance", being unable to go to China to install the machines on site. For Solema it was the first large installation made entirely from remote, and the first partially made thanks to the use of Solema Service Pack (we have talked about this here: ➜ link). The installation, performed in videocall via WeChat, was carried out perfectly in two intense weeks with sessions at dawn, due to the different time zone between us and the Chinese technicians. I do not conceal that during the installation some little issues have arisen, in particular with a machine, a Girapile ( link), a device used to rotate the boxes and that initially, due to particular configurations of use, didn’t work at all. A problem that made us to waste enough time. But then, with the commitment and tenacity of team working, everything was solved in the best way. A happy ending adventure I’ll remember for a long time». 


Michele — «Recently I have been personally involved in the purchase of all the items which are now part of our Remote Service Tool, including the interactive glasses (we talked about it here: ➜ link) and which are needed to make the remote monitoring of machines. Working closely with Marco Nembrini of the Software Department, who selected the glasses model, I have tried to find the most convenient and professional suppliers among the many that crowded the network. It was an interesting experience, as well as a particular moment of growth for me and for the company.».

Nicolas P. — «I will never forget the day when I was asked to perform an installation alone for three weeks in Pennsylvania (USA), after I had trips at customers’ premises just alongside more experienced colleagues. I told myself that at 22 years an opportunity like this does not happen every day. And so I immediately accepted this important challenge. The trip went very well, everything went smoothly. Of course, at first it wasn’t easy, but the installation ended without any issue. For me it has been a really satisfying experience as I had also known later that the customer was very happy with the assembly and the training I carried out. Once again I would like to thank Solema for giving me this opportunity. I don’t know how many other companies would have made the same choice to send a young guy alone in the US. Probably the company felt sure of this, knowing that when I would have had any difficulty, I could count on my colleagues able to support me from Italy».


Solema’s headquarter is in Pedrengo, Bergamo, an area particularly affected by the first wave of Covid19. We asked the guys how their way of working changed during the lockdown.

Michela — «In the critical months, I worked a couple of weeks from home, then it was necessary for someone to come here in Solema to manage the post-sanitization operations and to coordinate the installation of the signs related to safety. It seemed useful to help the company in this particular moment».

Giuseppe — «During the lockdown I worked two months from home in smart working mode, while remaining in direct contact with customers, even if remotely. They had been strange days, which have wiped out the human contact with people, one of the main features of my work. In the company we never gave up and we passed through the experience of Coronavirus facing the situation and working on reacting. I remember there was a widespread optimism throughout the company despite the overall situation. And this helped to finalize two important contracts in England, for which I must publicly thank Mr. Paul Bratherton, our agent in the UK, for his exceptional contribution».

Nicholas Z. — «Personally, I never stopped during the lockdown. I had to work from home for 2 weeks, in which I managed to complete large part of the work, even if I didn’t have the right "tools". But after the first few days, I adapted and everything, or almost everything, normalized. For the rest of the lockdown I worked in the company, because Solema was part of the authorized production chain and could continue a part of its business, even if adopting strict rules against Covid spread for the safety of employees.».

Marco — «I did two weeks at home in smart working to follow a newly installed machine at one of our customers in Belgium. The completion of the work was essential to allow the operators to use the machines at their best. After that, I returned to operate in the company, as it was practically impossible to work for the lack of the appropriate tools that I have only in the office. We were struggling with the launch of the Cast, a new prototype box-mounting machine, which required special technical care. Then I have not returned to smart working, also because the whole company reopened».

Michele — «Coronavirus has not particularly changed my way of working and I never stopped coming to the company to follow the handling of spare parts and customer service, two services that have never stopped even during the lockdown. In fact, for a month Solema decided to voluntarily stop the production and assembly of the machines to protect its employees. Anyway, I also faced for a week the challenge of smart working».

Nicolas P. — «The first month of lockdown I was forced to stay at home. In April, before all the departments reopened to full activity, I came in Solema for a week to test a machine that had to be installed in May. This because we wouldn’t have been able to install and do maintenance at customer site. If the Remote Service Tool case (➜ link) would have been ready at that time, I could have done it remotely, but the service was still being refined. ».


Finally we asked the guys to indicate the "strengths" that distinguish the way Solema works and that could make a difference for a potential customer.

Michela 
— «For sure the Availability of those who follow the customers, trying to satisfy every particular request and Quickness in providing answers and solutions, even in the most complicated cases. And then the Trust that the company reserves to us, "Under25 team", teaching us the work patiently and accepting the consequences that involves this type of choice: I am referring to the added value of each of our new ideas and also to the inevitable errors due to inexperience that our colleagues promptly remedy – it is the most effective training ground.».

Giuseppe — «I was struck by the Responsiveness of all departments in finding solutions out of the ordinary. Last year, for example, an Austrian customer asked us to insert a particular scale into the palletizer basement. R&D department immediately began to study the project thinking about what type of balance could be integrated into the machine. The result led to the assembly of an adapted B-Pal (➜ link) built in a tight timeframe. A typical non-standard request case perfectly fulfilled.».

Nicholas Z. — «I say the Experience, because it is something that you can feel going around all the company departments and that we try to convey also to customers. At Solema every department has always the right answer to any request. When you have experience and you treasure it, solutions would arrive easily».

Marco — «For me, Solema’s strong point is its Open-mindedness, a distinctive quality that guarantees our customer continuous assistance and attentive listening to all requests at any time. Thinking about the SW department, I think the Remote Service Tool (➜ link) represents an innovative and almost unique type of after-sales service. A real feature that distinguishes us from competitors». 

Michele — «In Solema I noticed that there is a lot of Expertise, especially in the way we work and in many company choices, such as, for example, to send my colleague Nicolas Pirino three weeks in America alone to install a machine. And then the Freedom that we, even if young, have in proposing innovative ideas that are always listened to and carefully valued».

Nicolas P. — «Reliability and Dynamism: in Solema if a customer asks for a last-minute solution, maybe special and not expected at the beginning of the project (and it has already happened) we always try to meet his requests. And generally we succeed, thanks to the perfect teamwork between the departments».



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We will meet you in next newsletters in which we will present some members of the "Senior category", a selection of employees present in the company for many years and who will tell experience, path and curiosity of their long-lasting working activity in Solema.
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For more information about Solema write to info@solema.it or call 035 654111.

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