Minifaber, a future of awareness and innovation

Minifaber has been operating for more than 50 years in the sheet metal working and custom mold construction sector. Let's discover together on which principles the company is based and what is the future that awaits it, already started with the adoption of SAP.

"Those who have been in Minifaber for a short or long time, know that in these years we have achieved important results, [...] that come from a history of over 50 years of work, a history made of people and goals that have to do with what Minifaber is founded on: work, will and honesty": these are the phrases of Raffaello Melocchi, Minifaber President and founder. These words represent the attention that the company is putting on the future, made of innovation and improvement. 

Angela Melocchi, HR Manager at Minifaber, points this out in the editorial of the March House Organ: "At Minifaber, we have been working for some time to improve our communication to the outside world, but also to the inside. It is a path that takes into account many factors: expectations, objectives, the point from which we started, the needs dictated by new circumstances...". How? Let's see together what Minifaber has undertaken to optimize internal and external operations and communication. 

SAP, a revolution in progress

Perhaps the most important change in Minifaber's working structure has been the adoption of SAP, the software par excellence for the integrated management of business processes. It is a revolution for the company, which will bring benefits in terms of process optimization, data organization and in general the way of working. 

However, like all changes, it must be communicated and accepted by everyone in the company. "[...] the person responsible for communication is the one who communicates and not the one who receives the message. This leads to the question of what we can do to make sure that others understand what we are communicating to them," Angela Melocchi continues. For this reason, Minifaber has decided to undertake a path to improve its internal and external communication: communicating one's strengths, but also one's weaknesses, is fundamental to growing and improving.

Photo Credit @Sap Italia

"You presented us with a dream, not an offer."

With these words, the President tells about the answer he received from a very important multinational company (which chose Minifaber among many other competitors) to the question: "Why did you choose Minifaber?". The precision in the work, the quality of the products, of course, do their part. But it is what the company believes in, the desire to improve the lives of its customers, that makes the difference. And that has allowed Minifaber to achieve important and long-lasting growth over the years.

The growth in 2022

Not only the numbers but also the difficulties encountered during the year due to the extraordinary period created by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have entered the 2021 year-end budget. "We look at our results thinking about the difficulties we faced, dribbling between the extraordinary prices of raw materials and their complex availability, between the difficulty in scheduling production and finding qualified personnel, to which were added the requests of customers ‘out of budget’, difficult to manage at a time that was already critical in itself," says President Raffaele Melocchi. 

Despite this, the numbers were excellent: 82 million euros as of December 31, 2021, that is + 4 million over budget. Which mirror those of production: as of October 31, 2021, 42,200,000 million pieces invoiced, material purchased:

• 1,540 t of stainless steel;
• 8,500 t of carbon steel;
• 62 t of other materials (copper, brass, etc.).

And what about the future? The medium-term (next 2/3 years) requires consolidation. Minifaber has a "digital transformation" project (3 years of news and changes), i.e. the transition to SAP, already underway. In addition, the insertion of new managerial positions and the consolidation of others encourages the future of everyone through the training of young talents. 

Attention to employees, a second family

Speaking of training, in 2021, 145,000 euros were invested by Minifaber in staff training activities, a +30% compared to the previous year. The company's leitmotif is that the happiness of the employee is that of the company itself. 

This is also what emerges from the words of Matteo Brembati, a welder in Minifaber's Production 5 department. After various temporary jobs, Matteo joined the company and stayed: "[...] they saw that I wanted to learn and that I had a desire to grow, and this is appreciated at Minifaber," he says. He talks about how his job has transformed in recent years, moving to weld programming using robots. When asked what he loves about his job, Matteo replied, "I like having the opportunity to think about a new piece. At Minifaber, they allow me to compare myself and come to a conclusion with others...I have the opportunity to have my say...they get you involved right away."

Physiotherapist, nutritionist, psychologist

The attention to employees also passes through the choice of supporting them with professional figures aimed at increasing the psychophysical well-being of the person, not only of the worker. A listening desk with a psychologist, a physiotherapist and a nutritionist: are the three anchors available to employees. We'll go into more detail about these benefits in future articles... Let's close with Angela Melocchi's beautiful words: "This first quarter has already seen important changes in our company: changes to grow together and to benefit together from our successes. When we start to see, feel and perceive the strength of our contribution, then that's when we discover the way to make others understand us...and it's all easier." Into the future, and beyond.