Aircom Original is a SME boasting a long tradition in the design and manufacture of automatic spray guns for the tanning sector. The company looks to a future of growth through sustainable innovation and market diversification, without losing contact with the customer.
Aircom’s origins date back to the second half of the 1960s, when the entrepreneur Giorgio Bria, responsible for the spraying in a tannery located in Piedmont, decided to transform his home garage into a workshop for the construction of those spray guns, which at the time were imported mainly from Great Britain, an expensive and difficult operation. From the success of the initiative was founded A.PNE.S, acronym for Special Pneumatic Equipment, today Aircom – A.PNE.S Srl, so called in the early nineties when, due to lack of heirs, the company founded by Mr. Bria was sold to the Trione family, still at the helm of the company together with the second generation.
In the 1970s and 1980s tanneries were widespread in this area of Piedmont, but today they are no longer there and Aircom is, so to speak, a “voice out of the chorus”. Nevertheless, it enjoys a strategic logistic position: 15 kilometers from Ivrea and 30 from the province of Turin. Castellamonte, the town where the company is based, is at the crossroads of know-how rooted in the fields of information technology, mechatronics, automotive, inextricably linked to companies like Olivetti and Fiat, which have contributed to making Italy’s history great in the eyes of the world.
Annapaola Trione
Annapaola Trione, director and sales manager of Aircom Original, tells us about the evolution of a totally Italian company, which aspires to become a “pocket multinational” in the field of automatic spray guns for industrial painting.
Annapaola Trione, what is Aircom Original’s core business today? Logically, Aircom is no longer what it was in 1993, when my parents took over the company. We have seen a surge in new products: from a spray gun we have come to a dozen versions, in addition to accessories, resulting from in-house ideas coming from the ability to listening to the requirements of the market and the real needs of different customers. We boast a well-equipped production department, always subject to new investments, and we rely on only Italian suppliers for a product totally made in Italy. From the design stage, each processing step is handled internally – the only exception are aesthetic finishes such as anodizing and nickel plating. Our main market remains that of leather, but we plan to grow in other sectors.
What impact has the worldwide health emergency had on your business economy and what countermeasures have you adopted to react to the subsequent state of uncertainty that has hit the market? 2020 has had a huge impact for us and for everyone. Two weeks of actual closure and the operational difficulties suffered in the months of March and April led to an initial drop in turnover by 60-70%. In May, we recovered a bit, thanks to the possibility of shipping, but the real recovery took place from August onwards until the peak in December: we managed to close the year at a break even compared to 2019. We are a little disappointed for not being able to meet the growth forecasts based on the results obtained in the first quarter, however, given the general situation, we don’t complain. We have to thank our international vocation, essential to survive even in the pre-Covid 19 era, and the strength of the entire collaborators’ team: I’m grateful they hold on despite the concerns and uncertainties, letting us carrying out the deliveries on time and properly. We will see what the impact will be on 2021, the most difficult year, even if it could also surprise us.
According to the current travel and contact restrictions, how did you guarantee a top-notch customer service? Fortunately, even before the pandemic we were equipped to work on digital platforms, in order to foster new marketing strategies and to develop ad-hoc online services for customers. Today, also thanks to the support of specialized personnel, we are getting more and more prepared under this point of view. Nothing can replace the human and direct relationship, but the digital means have proved to be the perfect tool to communicate more easily, more often and more timing. For example, through our YouTube channel we are able to spread tutorials to illustrate products, provide remote assistance, respond quickly to any need. A positive aspect that we have implemented thanks to this experience.
Aircom embodies the 4.0 business model. What are the new frontiers of technology in the field of automatic spray guns? The national industry 4.0 plan has given us a great opportunity, a decisive push towards machinery innovation and the production process digital transformation. The future idea is to introduce a collaborative robot, the so-called cobot, which assists the employee during the assembly phase, relieving them of the most tiring and repetitive actions. Alongside the need for a state-of-the-art machine fleet, the unceasing improvement of our products is essential to optimizing processing times and reducing material consumption as well as the related polluting emissions. In 2019 we launched two new models and we are waiting for a response from the Italian Patent and Trademark Office with regards to another patent we filed. Filing patents has become a custom for us. My long-cherished dream is to use, in the construction of spray guns, only materials selected on the basis of their environmental impact. Attention to sustainability represents an obligatory topic for all companies and is now a concept that hits all sectors. We pursue this goal with the collaboration of outer bodies such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Polytechnic of Turin.
What added value does your product feature compared to the competitors? Competition is legitimate if it is fair. Our competitors range from multinational companies, whose catalogs include spray guns along with hundreds of other products, to those like us, more focused on spray guns and accessories. I don’t like making comparisons, judging who is the best, also because it depends on the intended use of the product. I can only say that we carry out our job very well: as a matter of fact, we are known all over the world and if they copy our products it is also because our brand treasured. Unfair competition from Asian markets obviously penalizes us, but we sell a lot there, too. The strategy is to always stay ten steps ahead, constantly launching new items that can win over unfair competition. We also stand out for other competitive features, such as the service – we treat every customer, even the smallest, as if it were the most important, – and the ability to customize the product. We have a very attentive eye on the market demands and we always strive to find a possible solution: an opportunity to grow, as well as to please our customers.
Aesthetics and style: is there room for these aspects in the design of a spray gun? It is pleasant, even in our sector, to open a box and find an object with that extra something not only about its functioning, but also its look. Between 2008 and 2010 we started a collaboration with an industrial designer from Turin who gave some inputs to our in-house designer. The goal was to revolution the aesthetic identity of Aircom products, combining it with the functional aspects. It was a wonderful first experience which will be followed, throughout 2021, by a new collaboration with another industrial designer and the Turin Chamber of Commerce, which aims to give the company a boost under different points of view: from product design to digital marketing, to the production organization.
How valuable is the ‘Made in Italy’ label in your sector? ‘Made in Italy’ is not a slogan, but a real commitment, a brand to be used with credibility and concreteness. It is an absolute, global, recognized and perceived value all over the world. It is necessary to realize the great potential it represents in every sector and to keep on enhancing it.
What challenges does the post-Covid-19 future hold? When we return to a normal world, which will still be very different, our challenge will be to increasingly diversify markets, without losing the focus on customers. The tanning sector represents a consolidated niche and, in that field, we must keep on investing in innovation, but we believe that it is necessary to explore new markets in order to further grow. We have laid our foundations with investments in production and innovative projects and we are now ready to face further development, building it a little by little, with the right steps. I have always liked the expression used by the media “pocket multinational”, a definition that fits perfectly with our vision: achieving an international appeal, inspired by the logic of large multinationals, while maintaining a strong relationship – essential, in my opinion – with your customers.
www.aircom-original.com