Back in Omag’s offices, this time we stop in the purchasing department. Here Massimiliano, together with his co-workers, manages the purchase of the components needed to assemble the packaging machines, commissions the production of them from Omag’s Mechanical Workshop, and manages spare parts.
Name: Massimiliano Gorgolini
Class: 1971
Origin: Pesaro
Precise, tenacious and perseverant, lover of autobiographies and former Taekwondo champion. He hung up the Dobok to devote himself to cycling.
Massimiliano, you are one of Omag’s historical people, have you always been in the purchasing department?
I have been with Omag since September 1992, so that’s 32 years, twenty of them as head of the purchasing department.
When I arrived, there were still only a few of us, and as in any small company, everyone was in charge of several things at once. So I started in the workshop, working on the lathe, and then moved on to machine assembly. Later, as the company grew, I moved to the purchasing department but that was not my only responsibility. I was also in charge of the warehouse: I therefore ordered components from suppliers or from colleagues in the workshop, and once I received them I was then in charge of storing them in the various racks and registering them. When it was time to assemble them on the packaging machines I would pick them up and record them. Twenty years ago we still did not have vertical warehouses that made our lives easier, it was all done manually!
The time spent with my fingers in the pie comes in very handy in my current work, to actually realize the timing and components needed in the machine.
How is the purchasing department structured?
The department is made up of young colleagues who are precise, consistent in following estimates, and I have a very good relationship with each of them. We take care of selecting suppliers, with whom we often have partnerships that last for years. When choosing new suppliers, we arrange visits to their plants to evaluate their machinery and organization. Thanks to the experience I gained in my first 10 years in Omag I know our product perfectly and it is easy to understand whether or not there is compatibility with a possible new supplier.
Personally, I also take care of the whole part related to spare parts, from quotations to ticket management, I manage the order and interface with service. A whole world apart opens up here, consisting of challenges, races against time, and sometimes real miracles.
Would you like to tell us more about this last part?
A few months ago, a very important customer in the pharmaceutical industry who owns our lines had a snag and was asking for a spare part that as a delivery time the suppliers were estimating us in 50 days. Faced with those delivery times I could have thrown up my hands and said, “I can’t do anything about it,” but no, that is not Omag’s philosophy.
Then together with the technical department we came up with an alternative solution: starting with a different component, we adapted it, and in within 24 hours the customer received the spare part to return to full speed production.
These are advantages that come only from choosing companies that are flexible and still follow the philosophy of the manufacturing spirit, where the customer is not just a number. In fact, the relationship with the customer is consolidated only after the sale. There is no point in selling a machine to a customer who is then dissatisfied with your response and listening time. This allows you to make a profit in the short period, but in the long run?
That customer will not return if he realizes that he is merely a number to you. If, on the other hand, he has demonstrated that the company is made up of people who are committed and go out of their way to solve a problem, that is a satisfied customer who will come back and put in a good word for you.