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Home > UNITED KINGDOM > Spotlight
Technogym - an Italian miracle
Rome - (Adnkronos Multimedia) - "When did I get this idea? Over twenty years ago. I used to go to a gymnasium in the district where I lived, here in Cesena in Romagna, and I realised that in order to develop muscle power it was not enough just to do the usual exercises, but there was a need for specifically designed machinery. And so I began to build equipment". Nerio Alessandri, 43 years of age, from Romagna, tells us about the start of his Technogym (www.technogym.it) a first for Italian industry, and also among the first in the world dedicated to the production of fitness systems and equipment. More than 200 million euro of sales, 850 employees, of which 250 in 9 branches spread throughout the world: these are the figures for an entrepreneurial success which make Technogym and Nerio Alessandri today an extraordinary happening on the entrepreneurial European scenario. Official and exclusive supplier to the 2000 Sydney Olympics and for world famous football teams such as the new champions AC Milan, as well as Inter and Juventus, official supplier for the winter Olympics in Turin scheduled for 2006, Technogym is today the indisputable international market leader, in continual and rapid expansion. How did Technogym begin?
"In my garage at home. I began on my own and built the first machine, the "hack squat", designed to increase muscle power. I took it to the gym and people began to queue up to use it. I knew that I had hit the bull's eye, that I had built something that had never existed before and that I could resolve the needs of people using gyms and sporting centres. So then I began to design other machines, new prototypes, I developed new ideas. I also involved my cousin to give me a hand, followed by a neighbour, and then always new collaborators, young people, above all. That is how Technogym began".
What make up the ingredients of such a rapid success?
"I believe that there are at least three. The first is having ideas, not just for a new product as much as having the insight and the ability to respond to a very real and widespread need. The logic behind the whole story of Technogyum is to design and implement innovative solutions able to give physical and psychic wellbeing to people, to be able to improve their quality of life. The second is continuous research and innovation. The third is always to leave a firm and its strategies wide open to social needs, to solidarity".
On these two points, the commitment of Technogym continues to be very strong. As far as technological development is concerned, Alessandri has created a research centre where today 130 specialists, engineers, bio-engineers, doctors specialised in the field of sport and orthopaedic doctors are working together. "An interdisciplinary approach was needed - says Alessandri - to be able to produce equipment which is ever more efficient, physiologically perfect and safe". In this framework, Technogym has also decided to develop an even wider service, becoming available to gyms and sporting centres, which will go way beyond just the simple supply of materials and equipment. A division for the supply of a complete service, "ready for the road", has now been created, which includes plans for environments, the supply and starting up of the installations and equipment, training of personnel, consultancy and assistance for a continuing improvement in system performance.
Lastly, the social aspects. In 1998 Alessandri launched his Technogym Social Choice project, from which dozens of specific interventions have been developed, aimed at improving mobility for the elderly and the disabled. In 2003 The Fitness Foundation was born, aimed at developing integration between firms on the territory aimed at promoting improving health for people. Then there is the certification, according to international standard SA8000, of Corporate Social Responsibility for the whole Technogym group, putting the seal on all the work carried out in just twenty years, which has led to the creation not only of one large firm, but also of a new culture for firms.
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