Forum Legnoarredo: le aziende italiane allo specchio

Giovedì scorso, 13 giugno, presso la fiera Milano Congressi si è tenuto il Secondo Forum di FederlegnoArredo.

Il presidente di FederlegnoArredo Roberto Snaidero

«Un grande evento per un grande settore, a dimostrazione che il nostro tessuto produttivo svolgerà con sempre maggiore efficacia un ruolo di primo piano nella crescita del Paese. Noi siamo consapevoli di questo compito e siamo pronti» così dice R. Snaidero. 

Il forum si è dimostrata un'occasione di verificare la vivacità di questo settore: più di mille partecipanti e decine di ospiti si sono alternati in una giornata di incontri tematici. 
Anche CN Arredamento era presente e oggi vi raccontiamo un po' cosa abbiamo capito noi e cosa ci è sembrato interessante. 

La prima sessione plenaria, intitolata "Le eccellenze dell'italianità" è stata piacevolmente animata da P. Daverio, che più che moderatore i è posto come provocatore di G. Anzani, P. Gandini, C. Luti, A. Margaritelli, R. Illy e A. Romano, tutti esponenti di spicco del settore, che hanno portato sul palco la loro esperienza e le loro sensazioni, a volte contrastanti, sui modi di porsi delle aziende italiane. Importantissime sono le nostre radici, la tolleranza, la proponesione estetica, il contenuto ingegneristico che sappiamo sviluppare... anche se la realtà ci dice che siamo ancora poco capaci di fare sistema. Ma proprio dalla nostra capacità di FARE il BELLO, possiamo ripartire e fondare il nostro rapporto con l'estero, proponendoci come "educatori alla bellezza e alla qualità".

Abbiamo poi seguito diversi workshop, sdoppiandoci nelle varie sale ed imparando i nuovi modelli di scelta del consumatore, come costruire business e come un bell'ufficio può renderci felici. Riguardo quest'ultimo argomento, è stato interessante scoprire come si stiano sviluppando modelli di lavoro ben diversi a quelli a cui siamo abituati (specialmente qui in Brianza!), dove il benessere del lavoratore è garantito attraverso una serie di asset intangibili, un ambiente di lavoro che stimoli la

creatività, benefit economici e formativi. Importantissimo in questo senso è far capire ai lavoratori il VALORE del loro lavoro e, in qualche modo, restituirglielo. In questo senso è molto importante agire con una business intelligence, in grado di prepare un business plan che sappia esattamente da dove e quando arriverà la ricchezza prodotta, per poterla redistribuire. In CN abbiamo già attuato in ques'ottica, il progetto G.Ma.P., potete approfondirlo sempre sul nostro blog!

New business models! (?)

CN's blog doesn't speak only about wood and design: CN is, first of all, an enterprise, and so it lives the troubled life of the business planet.

CN must be sensible to what is new in its sector, not only regarding techniques, but also regarding the managerial approach.
We have already spoken about how important is the executive education and how, in CN, there is a new management control system. Today we are going a little further, by starting exploring a subject that is an unlimited source for discussion and publication.
What are these "new business models"??




A business model explore how a company creates, delivers and capture value (either economical or social). Its construction is part of the business strategy and it is composed by a broad range of formal and informal description of the core aspects of the business, that are, for example, purpose, offering, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structure, trading practices and operational processes. The business model describes and classify business, but it is also used by creative manager to get a perspective and formulate a recipe.

This process has been modified according to the development of new ways of production, along with the industrial revolution, because it refers to the context.
The economic crisis has forced a new change of these models, because of the changes in financial context, as well as the rise of new needs and ideas.
Adapting our business model seems to be the main road to exit the crisis.

But how can we do that? There are multiple starting points, such as books, courses, meetings...

Regarding the Italian publishing, each publishing house has proposed its own volume.
Here there are just few of them: FAG has published in 2012 a "Manuale pratico" to "Creare modelli di business" (Practical manual to create business models), the Camera di Commercio in Milan proposes, printed by Mondadori, a manual titled "Verso nuovi modelli di business" (Towards new kind of business models), written by M. Magatti, professor at Universitò Cattolica; in the meantime, Franco Angeli and  Springer focus on new models in the services businesses.
Finally, there is a huge number of  specialized publishing, especially for the e-business and new technologies.

This is a success at a global level; as you may know, there are various "best seller", like "Business Model Generation" and "Blue Ocean Strategy".
All authors have some guidelines in common. Here you can find few of them.
Remember that these do not work as a magic wand, they are just a starting point for re-thinking.

-> Rigorous method
-> Remarkable creativity
-> Do more and better, with less
-> Incrising the immaterial assets, to create added value
-> Appraise the production chain
-> Value all type of resources (human, social, environmental)
-> Caring about sustainability



Here in CN, since a year, we have been re-thinking our business model, along with the purposes here above.
The result is still in progress, but, essentially, we have chosen to present ourselves at the SOLE REFERENT for our clients, giving them a COMPLETE SERVICE.
This policy has created the possibility for the client to refer only to a person for an entire project, that go between the various actors of the production; moreover this process can crate a network in which different organisations can cooperate.

And what about YOU?

Leave a comment and tell us what have changed in your business!

i SALOON di CN - CN SALOON

Nuove idee e nuovi progetti, come già annunciato all'inizio dell'anno, iniziano a prendere piede ...
Parte la rubrica "i SALOON di CN"!

L'idea è partita dalla volontà di far conoscere la realtà di CN a tutti voi, come già accennato in altri post e dunque.. cosa potrebbe essere meglio di far conoscere le persone che ruotano attorno a questa realtà?
Abbiamo quindi elaborato un progetto di interviste, che coinvolge tutta la scala gerarchica, dai dirigenti agli operai e che sia allarga anche all'esterno, con collaboratori, anchitetti...
Insomma, un vero e proprio "salotto" di casa CN.
Ma il salotto è un luogo privato, dove il padrone di casa gestisce gli eventi come meglio desidera, è una parola che rievoca un po' un mondo elitario.
Quindi il saloon. Perché? Eccovi 5 buoni motivi:
- perché è il luogo di ritrovo di tutta la comunità,
- perché ci si sente liberi,
- perché si parla di tutto: lavoro, famiglia, hobby, politica...
- perché servono buona birra,
- perché ha dei bellissimi arredi in legno.


Se l'immagine che vi evoca è quella dela sparatorie alla Tarantino e pestaggi alla Bud Spencer e Terence Hille, ci sarà da ricredervi!
Il saloon nasce infatti come ristoro per commercianti, cowboy e banditi del mitico Far West, ma si trasforma ben presto in un luogo di aggregazione per tutti, dove persino politici e personaggi molto influenti trovano modo di esprimere e discutere delle loro idee.

Questa rubrica vuole parlare delle persone, semplicemente, come si fa davanti ad una buona birra al bar!



New ideas and new projects, as we have seen at the beginning of this year!
Here we start with a new rubric... CN SALOON!

We want to make you aware of what CN is and how CN works. This idea can not develop without let people, who work in CN talk about it. The company is made of people, that play different roles and have different ideas and way of looking at things.
So, we started this project based on interviews. We want people to speak about themselves and their work. Every person that works in or collaborates with CN will get involved! Carpenters and managers, designers and architects, sales people and friends...
Why do we choose the saloon? Here 5 good reasons:
- the whole community can meet there,
- you feel free to express yourself,
- you can talk about everything: family, work, hobby, politics...
- there is beer,
- there is a beautiful wood furniture.

If you imagine shootings like the ones in Tarantino's films, or fights to the way that Bud Spencer and Terence Hill usually did, you are wrong!
Even if saloons were born to serve trappers, cowboys, miners end gamblers, it became a place with an adaptable social nature, where everyone can talk and be heard. Even politicians and influential people used to meet with all other people there, to discuss their ideas.

Here, we want simply to talk and express ourselves, to know each others like in... a saloon!

Io la cucina... tu il soggiorno!

Per oggi il nostro blog abbandona gli argomenti seri e professionali (ai quali torneremo prestissimo però, non vi preoccupate) per un articolo un po' più... sentimentale!

Surfando sul web, infatti abbiamo trovato una notizia molto interessante, che riguarda il mondo dell'arredamento: ben il 70% dei litigi di una coppia che ha appena iniziato a convivere, è causato dalla scelta dei mobili! Seguono a ruota il 20% dovuto al colore delle pareti, il 14% a causa di complementi di arredo (come dimenticare le terribili bamboline/macchinine che la tua dolce metà si ostina a non mettere via) e addirittura il 10% per la scelta delle tende. 

Furniture by Agata Ruiz de la Prada - Vondom

In particolare, se il 34% discute su che mobili servono o meno, un altro 27% fa dello stile dell'arredamento una questione fondamentale. Se gli uomini, nel 36% dei casi preferisce uno stile classico, le donne, invece, oramai stanche dei merletti e pizzi della mamma/nonna vorrebbero un arredamento contemporaneo e moderno. Buone percentuali di giovani conviventi desiderano per la loro casa uno stile minimal o addirittura hi.tech, rivelandosi più attente alle nuove tendenze (e tecnologie) dei loro compagni.

Lo studio che ha fornito questi dati (ArchitettaMi), inoltre, ha rivelato delle differenze fondamentali tra uomini e donne: i primi sono più attenti al soggiorno e alla camera da letto, mentre le seconde vorrebbero concentrare le risorse su bagno e cucina. 

L'indecisione (di lui) e il repentino cambio di idee (di lei) non fanno che aumentare i contrasti: trovare una soluzione che accontenti entrambi non è affatto facile!

Per questo le soluzioni "su misura" sono quelle che riescono a rispondere meglio: progettati insieme alla coppia, discusse con esperti e testati personalmente, i mobili su misura di cui CN è produttrice potrebbero essere la soluzione a questo genere di conflitti.

Ma ricordate: la soluzione migliore è quella di non litigare... l'amore supera tutti gli ostacoli! Buona festa degli innamorati a tutti!

Today's post isn't about professional or technical subjects (but don't worry, we'll be back on track soon), but for Valentine's day we have some more... sentimental news!

Surfing on the web, we found an interesting research, regarding both furniture and love: 70% of arguments in a couple, that just started to live together, is caused by the choice of furniture! Then we have 20% of fights about the color of the walls, 14% regarding accessories (how can we forget horrible puppies and mini-cars, that our sweetie can not live without) and, at the end 10% caused by the choice of curtains.

Furniture by Agata Ruiz de la Prada - Vondom

In particular, about 34% argues for the need of certain pieces of furniture, while 27% fight for the right style. 36% of men claim a classical one; on the other hand women, that are tired of laces and old-style sideboards, prefer a contemporary and modern one. A lot of your ladies want for their house also a minimal or hi-tech style, revealing themselves more attentive to trends (and technologies) than their men. 

Furthermore, this research (made by ArchitettaMi), has ascertained that, while men prefer to decorate and take care of the living room and the bedroom, women care more about the kitchen and the bathroom.  

At the end, also different approaches to this subject have a big part in the battle: he is usually more irresolute; when she changes her mind too many times in little time!

At this point, bespoken furniture is one of the answer that better suits (literally): furniture can be drawn by experts together with the lovers, projects can be discussed and the final pieces can be tested personally, by her or by him. CN provides this type of services with a complete productive path, that enable this company to be the sole referent for the entire project.  

But remember.. Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges and fighting to be together! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

G.Ma.P. 1.0: what we think about our future

We have already written about the executive education.
Yes, that article is in Italian and the automatic translation doesn't work so good, I know. But I think that it's pretty unnecessary, because it was dedicated to an Italian public, composed by MSE (medium and small enterprises), and its objective was to underline the importance of this kind of managerial training also for small and familiar enterprises. Supposing that international public take in great consideration this kind of training (as the great number of international courses proposes by universities shows), this choice is motivated and we can go on with this article.

Today we are going to start a series about management control that we are implementing in CN: you can call it G.Ma.P., that means Getting a Managerial Prospective. 

As said in the article we were speaking about above, our company decided to get en executive course about managerial approach, moving away to the familiar and "as-we-were-friends" approach that Italian companies usually have to the market and to themselves too.
This project is developed in collaboration with Cube Consulting, that helped CN to quit the day-by-day approach and having a rational and anticipatory one. 

This change is felt as compulsory for lots of Italian MSE: they are at the second or third generation, they have a strong identity and well.developed know-how, but they have to compete on an international world, that is very different to the one they were born in.
This international point of view needs not only an important know-how, but also a managerial approach, to survive and communicate in the same language.
Survivor in such an environement means knowing well who we are, which kind of resources we have and how we can rationally organize them.
All of this take part from the ensemble of managerial control tools. An entrepreneur that handle all of this subjects and get ahead of the game, is likely to win.

G.Ma.P. project is composed by 3 phases:

1)   EmployeeAnalysis: how to rationalize roles and tasks, for getting an empowerment? How can we assess employee satisfaction? How can we assess the perceived competence-map?

  2)   Budgeting e costing: which and what kind of costs do we have to face? How can we measure peformance? How can we have a rational and antipatory approach to the governance? How can we analyse the results, according to the previous budget? How can we find out responsabilities?

  3)   Web-Experience: How can we create a web identity that is coherent to the company perceived image? How can we interact directly with our clients? How can we reach new clients and new markets? How to develop engagement by our clients?

In the next (translated) articles, we'll analyse these different phases of the process.
Now, how did it started here in CN?
Massimo Memmola, researcher and professor at the Cattolica University of Milano, is our principal contact in Cube Consulting. We asked him to answer some questions, just to explain that this is not only theory and academic exercise, but really touches everyday life.

·         Are there any peculiar facts that permitted this "change-of-view" in CN? There were problem with implementing it?
      CN is a structured company, that has its own costs and a fixed productive path.. Costs can be organised in cost centers, even if sometimes that results difficult. Yet, without an adequate cost accounting system, that is taken for granted. the first step for the change is understanding who we are and how our business works, a sort of anatomic study of the company. If Silvio and Davide Cappi hadn't get involved, re-discovering the system they worked in for years, nothing could have been done. Problems are, most of all, caused by a different "way of thinking". There were not specific problems, but we had to overcome several difficult points in the "anatomy" structure of this company.

·       How important are people in this change?

People is the crucial point : as I mention before, we first have to change the way of thinking and acting. A critical and improvement personal approach is the base for such a new system. Teamwork is necessary and essential.

·        How much can CN develop from this project?

We can go further and further, in space and time, because a managerial approach can makes CN competitive on international market and give long-terms prospective. CN wants to get competitive not only on the product, but also on governance.
Being able to enlarge its custom with a strong decision taking policy will be the winning card for CN, especially during this crisis. 

·        How long will it take to get results?

Results are already tangible: knowing the cost structure is already part of the knowhow, and now we are studying processing and engeneering. This blog, with the website and social networks (Fb, Tw, LIn) is part of a developing web strategy. As a good car, it takes few kilometers to assess all the systems.
Year by year, then, the project must change and adapt to fit the develop of CN.

Waiting for... SALONE DEL MOBILE 2013

E come poteva il nostro blog mancare una notizia così importante come la presentazione del Salone del Mobile 2013?
E infatti eccoci qui, con una rassegna stampa sulla presentazione tenuta ieri da Cosmit a Palazzo Unicredit, per la presentazione del Salone di quest'anno.

Critter - Elia Mangia

Il milanesissimo Corriere, presenta nella sua rubrica riservata alla casa e all'arredamento un articolo molto ottimista, concentrato sia sul mondo degli interni d'ufficio (uno dei filoni di "esercizio"più importanti per gli architetti in questa esposizione) sia sul mondo al di fuori del salone e le opportunità che Milano ha studiato per lo sviluppo di tutto quello che possiamo far rientrare nella grande categoria del "fuorisalone", allungato in un lasso temporale di due anni che lo collega direttamente all'Expo 2015. Grande spazio anche ai grandi nome del design di interni, dal Pritzker 2008 Jean Nouvel, a Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola e Antonio Citterio, alle grandi idee e alle innovazioni, in un "capodanno" che non manca di novità e buoni propositi (e di un'ottima colonna sonora).
*Piccolo appunto: già l'anno scorso sul blog si vociferava delle novità di questo salone... mostrando questo prototipo, la cui produzione è realizzata proprio in CN!

G. Pisapia e C. Luti

Grande spazio ai grandi nomi anche sul blog di Repubblica, dove la fanno da padroni gli spazi dedicati agli uffici, all'illuminazione e il salone satellite "Design e artigianato" e la voglia di innovazione, fil rouge di questa edizione.

Il Sole24Ore mostra da una parte, l'anima innovativa e attenta alle novità del design, con un occhio particolare alla realtà aziendale, che difende in un altro articolo, che sottolinea l'importanza del settore legno e arredo per il nostro stato e la grande importanza che ha il distretto del mobile di Monza e Brianza, dove ci troviamo. Il salone si pone quindi come una (delle tante) calamite per questo territorio. L'articolo non nasconde una certa vena critica-politica, da parte di chi scrive molto apprezzata.

Archiportale dona una grande e bella varietà di citazioni dalla conferenza stampa e una fila di foto sul progetto dell'area Garibaldi-Repubblica, mentre Il Giornale sottolinea le grandi aspettative in numero di visitatori e propone una riflessione economica sui numeri (di esportazioni e di tasse).

How can our blog miss such an important news, about the Salone del Mobile 2013? So, here we are, with our press review.

Critter - Elia Mangia

The Milan Corriere, presents in its blog dedicated to interior design a very optimistic view, regarding both  the world of offices design and what develops outside the Salone and all opprtunities given by Milan during that week (public transportation integrated ticket, free access to civical museums...) and stretching out proposal and links for two years, when there will be that great (and debated) event, the Expo 2015.  

Great names are presented as well: Pritzker 2008 Jean Nouvel, Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola and Antonio Citterio, with their great projects and innovation in a "new year party" that doesn't miss any news or good proposal (and a beautiful soundtrack).

*Something special: last year this blog wrote about this prototype, that will be presented next April... and has been realized in CN! 

On the blog of Repubblica, great names and concepts. Themes like offices, lighting and "Design and handcraft" communicate all a huge desire of innovation, fil rouge of this year edition.

Sole24Ore shows in one article its attention to new design, but always with an eye on Italian companies, that it defends in this article, underlining the importance of the furniture trade for our country and in particular for  Monza e Brianza, where CN is located. Salone acts as (one of many) magnet for this area. This article doesn't hide a critical/political vein.

Archiportale reports some quotations of important people, given during the press conference and some photos of the palace and the area where it was located (thei are still working to finish it, the Garibaldi-Repubblica area in Milan), while Il Giornale underlines the expectation of a great number of visitors and porposes an economic reflection with real numbers (about import-export and taxes).

Wood SLICING

Hi everybody!
As we have wrote in the first article of this year (you can find it here), we wanted to improve our international side, also by making available articles in English, for all our foreign online visitors.. So, here we go!
First of all, I'm going to translate the articles speaking about techniques.

Wood SLICER machine, is a device that, from an entire log, obtains sheets of wood, from 0.3 to 3 millimeters thick. If you think about that, it's a very precise and delicate processing, as the sheet can be thinner than your skin! (take a look at this scale of the universe, just to be aware of the dimension we are talking about). The name of this machine come from the fact that the piece of wood is literally sliced by a putting it on a lathe, with a fixed or moving blade. This sheet will be used, then, for the veneering process, that creates furniture at a lowest cost, but not always at a lowest quality, as we'll see soon.

Now we are going to describe some cuts and their result.

1) lengthwise cut (also said italian): the log is cut in the middle and the slicing is made parallel to the plane face. The result is a variegated figure, called flame or cathedral (you can easily see why!)

2) quarter slicing (or french slicing): in this case, the log is cut in 4 pieces and every piece is sliced parallel to the annual growth rings of the three (probably the image will explain much better then the worlds). The resultant sheet will have a straight grain appearance.

3) rotary cut: this is one of the two cases of slicing with a fixed blade. In the examples we have just spoken about, the wood was fixed, while here it rotates and comes nearer to the blade. if you can imagine it, it's like a spiral slicing. This kind of slicing is used for poor wood, that can be used afterwords for plywood and multi-ply.

4) half-round slicing: here is the second type of slicing with a fixed blade. As the rotary cut, the log rotates on itself, but it is not sliced all along its circumference, but on an arc parallel to the center of the log. 

This type of slicing is made on very precious essences and on small logs: in this way the wood don't get damaged and there are very few residuals.

Every type of cut gives the wood a very particular appearance; the sheets can the be combined as you like and create million of different patterns.

If you need some more information, don't hesitate to contact us!

I remember you that you can find us also on twitter and facebook! Our web sito is alwais available, both in English and in Italian language!

Un buon 2013

Buongiorno a tutti e bentrovati! Il Blog di CN Arredamento Design riapre le sue porte dopo le meritate vacanze (sempre troppo corte) ma il fatto che fin le visualizzazioni siano state più di 2000, in pochi mesi di attività, ci dà la giusta carica per questo nuovo anno!

Che programmi avete per il 2013? In questo mese si sta cercando, qui in CN, di trovare il giusto calibro per i mesi che verranno, guardadoci intorno e indietro, perché, come ricorda il vecchio Rafiki e il più giovane Max Pezzali "RICORDATI CHI SEI"!

Per quanto riguarda questa rubrica, le idee e i buoni propositi abbondano. Ci siamo promessi infatti di:
- creare una rubrica GGD: giovani/grandi designer;
- continuare gli articoli tecnici che riguardano le lavorazioni del legno;
- crescere sui social network;
- tradurre gli articoli in inglese (so che alcuni di voi lettori ne saranno lieti... don't you?);
- approfondire le analisi gestionali;
- cercare di definire le altre idee che frullano nell'aria dei nostri uffici.
I buoni propositi sono molto più numerosi: essere simpatici, accattivanti, moderni, attenti allo Zeitgeist (per chi non lo conoscesse, eccolo qui), europei, mondiali (ma prima di tutto italiani!), roundhead e un po' cavalier ...
E voi invece? Nuovi progetti per l'anno nuovo o vecchi progetti ancora da concludere?