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Home > FRANCE > Coup de projecteur
THE "DAILY MAIL" PRINTED ITALIAN STYLE
Rome - (Ign) - "You want to know if I'm satisfied? I should say so; we were faced with a challenge and we won. A machine 104m long and 14m high, one of the largest in the world, able to print up 160 pages for almost a million copies every day of the Daily Mail, one of the largest and most historic English daily newspapers". Giancarlo Cerutti (in the photo), managing director of Giovanni Cerutti spa, the leading Italian company in the world of printing Systems, does not hide his enthusiasm at successfully clinching the supply contract for the great British daily. As he says, "This is the confirmation that innovation and research make success possible on all markets. Our 'Flexo' printing system is unique and our choice has once again been rewarded".
This is a traditional family business, today run by Giancarlo Cerutti. It was established by his grandfather Giovanni, in 1920, in Casale Monferrato, in the Langhe region of Piedmont, more suited to farming and great wines than industry. Giovanni Cerutti's passion for mechanics, and above all printing, would lead him after the Second World War to build the first all-Italian rotary printing press for the publishers Palazzi, then for the great Italian publishing house Arnoldo Mondadori, for the French Cino del Duca and lastly for the Italian weekly, Famiglia Cristiana. In 1956, the company opened the new plant in Casale and began to develop new printing and plant construction technologies that, in the space of 20 years, would make Cerutti famous the world over. Today, the Cerutti group works in three distinct segments of the market: that of rotary presses for periodical magazines, where the brand holds 55% of the world market; that of rotary presses for daily newspapers, where the Daily Mail supply contract, together with those already obtained with Italian newspapers, places Cerutti second in the league after the German Kba; and that of machines for printing packing, a sector in which Italian industries are at the international forefront, with an overall market share of over 40%. The turnover of the Cerutti group in 2004 was thus almost €300 million, and is set to rise over the coming years.
Mr Cerutti, how much has technological innovation counted in the development of your company?
"I can answer with a few statistics: to develop the design for the new machine used at the Daily Mail we invested around 12,000 man hours of research and development. If you consider that the overall value of the investment to be realised by the publisher, Associated Newspapers, amounts to around € 120 million, you will realise that the design alone has an extremely significant influence. Our new machines for printing newspapers represent a clear technological step forward. None of this would ever have been possible if we had not continued to invest in research and innovation".
In addition to knowing how to build, it is also important to know how to sell. How important is the commercial side of the business?
"Extremely. Above all because we offer not only a product, but also quality, creativity, innovation, service and assistance to our customers. A rotary press lasts for decades, and is obviously not a consumable, so it's important to know how to offer the customers a constant and comprehensive high-quality service".
What are your aims for the future?
"First of all to consolidate our leadership in the sector of machines for magazines and periodicals. Then, to exploit to the full our position as a major international manufacturer of machines for newspaper printing, looking at the Italian market but also at Europe in general. Lastly, to further develop in the sector of printing systems for packing, particularly looking towards the Far East and China, which will become the great markets of the future".
Contacts:
Officine Meccaniche Giovanni Cerutti SpA
via Marcello Adam, 66
15033 Casale Monferrato (Al) - Italy
Tel +39-0142 459411
www.cerutti.it
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