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Milan - ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Machinery Manufacturers, has named Alessandro Zucchi as the successor to outgoing president Raffaella Carabelli.

Born in the province of Bergamo in 1958, Zucchi is married and a father of two children. He has garnered multi-year experiences in the textile machinery sector, and is currently Managing Director and a partner at Ferraro, a manufacturer specializing in finishing machinery. In addition, he is a shareholder in another company in the sector, Burocco Valvole, of which he is Executive Vice President.

Zucchi has long been active in the life of the association, lending his support to outgoing president Raffaella Carabelli over the past two years, as Vice President. Since 2015, he has been involved with ACIMIT’s delegation at Cematex, the Committee of European Textile Machinery Associations.

Following Zucchi’s election, the assembly expressed its warm gratitude to the outgoing president, Raffaella Carabelli, who for four years guided the Association with enthusiasm and professional expertise.

Along with the new president, the assembly also elected new Vice Presidents, Messrs. Federico Businaro (Isotex, Santex Rimar Group), Cristian Locatelli (Marzoli, Camozzi Group), Andrea Piattelli (Unitech) and Michele Riva (Reggiani Macchine).

Elsewhere, the latest figures show that Italy’s production of textile machinery rose 5% in 2016 compared to the previous year, reaching a value of €2.7 billion. During the same period, exports were up 4% to €2.3 billion. According to ACIMIT, these figures reinforced the positive trend from 2015 and were a result of improvement in both foreign and domestic markets with the latter increasing by 14%. According to Carabelli, the industry was also boosted by some of the government incentives introduced over the last couple of years. “The measures linked to Industry 4.0 are the main tools that will allow our industrial sector to take a step forward,” she said. “Italian manufacturers must take advantage of the evolution in digital technology to further boost production efficiency and competitiveness globally.

"For the textile sector, and machinery manufacturers especially, Industry 4.0 represents a challenge aimed at stimulating dialogue between businesses operating within the sector. But is the textile machinery sector ready to take on these challenges?"

To outline the latest state of the art trends and track possible future scenarios, ACIMIT quoted a study of its own associated members, conducted by Rina Consulting SpA and presented at the recent General Assembly. The study points out the high level of awareness by Italian manufacturers regarding the latest technologies and their adoption (particularly cloud and cyber security technologies), with positive outcomes on productivity.

“Our survey,” concludes ACIMIT’s president, “undoubtedly highlights the need to better understand how new technologies can be proposed to industry, and specifically for the textile sector. New trends in terms of demand, which are well synthesized by the phenomenon of fast fashion, and characterized by the speed of time to market, require production processes that are just as swift, and capable of providing an immediate response to consumer needs. The digitalization of our associated manufacturers can thus trigger a further competitive advantage.”

 

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