Tecnofar

Tecnofar, resilient enterprise

Created with a strong, family-devoted and territorial structure, Tecnofar is one of the world’s main protagonists in the production of needles for dental anaesthetics, tubes and industrial automation. An entrepreneurial structure that owes everything to technology and resilience.

Who is Tecnofar today and how does it approach the

The arrows to our bow? Technology and resilience. What helps us get our old enthusiasm back. We are coming from a period of erratic restructuring. After internal redefinition and reorganisation that ended in 2019, 2020 was supposed to be a growth year. But as you well know, things turned out differently and we are now starting to march.

Our activity is split into three business units. The most important is the production of stainless steel, but careful, we are not pipe-makers. We make pipes to order for special niche areas. It is a product required in very different sectors.

Thanks to that I can boast a privileged position for analysing the global economy: based on the orders we acquire. I can understand what is happening in the world from an economic point of view.

I can guarantee that an incredible recovery is in progress and the hope is that it is not just due to excessive coverage of stock to avert a lack of materials due to a peak in demand and ongoing speculation.

The production of needles for dental anaesthetics is our second business unit. We sell them all over the world through private label contracts. An internal study has showed us that this sector grows 6% every year.

The other business unit is industrial automation: along with producing our plants, we can supply assembly machines, an activity much appreciated by customers.

These three areas mean we do not need to worry and have a high growth rate. The will to start again was in the air: we had no difficulties from that point of view. The only problem we are having is with finding human resources. We are having difficulty finding people willing to question themselves and work. That is why our personnel turnover is so high: people have problems remaining with us even though their jobs are well-paid. However, this difficulty has enabled us to design new prospects and opportunities, increasing the percentage of female employees.

What are the Tecnofar values today?

Our first entrepreneurial value is being present in the territory that can mean a lot of things. Let’s start from the assumption that our company was created with strong family imprinting. This was definitely one of our great strong points, but something that was overturned over time.

For that reason, we have hired an external manager to guide our activities and show us how to improve. We are at the third generation and have not got all the right skills needed to manage the activity. Without forgetting that interests have changed: for example, of my two children, only one works for me stably. The other one is not interested and does something completely different.

Our objective was also to enable the territory to grow, hence create new jobs. We wanted and still want to give people in the area the chance to use their skills and abilities in our entrepreneurial activity.

Territory that also means paying attention to environmental impact. In 2013, work started on the new offices where we are now. At the same time we: eliminated use of solvents, adopted a new purification plant and installed solar panels. We are hungry for innovation: we belong to the innovative SMEs group because we feel it is a must for this period.

Another of our important values is the customer: for us listening and satisfying are a must, along with advising; whatever is needed for its product creation expectations to be satisfied. We want to be reliable, with the will and strength to follow our customer’s evolution.

What does being innovative mean for you?

Having the privilege to work in different sectors thanks to our three business units means being able to change and explore new horizons; grasp new opportunities and perceive new entrepreneurial scenarios.

Mechanisms that truly match our academic collaborations: we are involved in research with the most prestigious Italian universities. Because we pay considerable attention to how the market evolves.

For us innovation also means knowing how to welcome change. Naturally, we could not transport our factory into our workers’ homes, but we did not have too many problems enabling the administration and/or commercial department to carry on working from home. What we found was that once the lockdown was over, our workers wanted and needed to come back into the office because direct interaction is fundamental.

What characterizes a person who work for you?

I really appreciate those who approach the job with humility and patience. Working in Tecnofar means acquiring specific, special skills: that takes time, dedication and attention. Those are characteristics that people do not have and do not necessarily want to cultivate. To do so, we need to share our company mission; hence the ability to react to challenges is certainly a fundamental element.