Marketing
With investments financed at rates far subsidized with grants, with the lowest wages, also taking advantage of tax relief for the south, our Japanese friends were able to implement a tough to place our glutamate, keeping prices low is to find buyers, the market is to send out a competing product.
This "policy" was, in a sense, reward for the early years, because the planned results achieved. The Company was able to follow the same policy when wages were high with the changes of level.
remember that at certain times, with the store completely empty, the truck left the trailer in the warehouse, staring at the packaging department, and as you fill the bag and was stacked on the platform, the truck got on the same platform and loaded on the trailer, this is because the production could not fully meet the sales and warehouses were perpetually empty
fact the market "pull" enough, although it was impossible to raise the price of the product to make it more profitable.
For the first year there were two sales offices engaged in sales, one in Rome, headed by my old friend Dr. Yamada, what, when I was in Rome, was to eat at the table with us, the other, more active, which also had its office the Chief Executive Officer, was in Milan in which two employees were working as salesmen Italian, one who took care of the small customers, and another, a graduate friend of the President's family, which ran virtually the whole of Europe.
But the most important sales office that sold most of our product was the Deutsche Ajinomoto, Hamburg, Germany, even if all of its orders always went to the Milan office.
We had many important industrial customers throughout northern Europe and customers served by real wholesalers on all the "squares" the most prestigious. A Dutch wholesale customer, very important, was that, inter alia, purchased for delivery to a freight train to Trieste, train for, with two hundred tons of glutamate, as well as the "Iron Curtain". There were also many
TIR German, Dutch and Belgians, making il carico “di ritorno” dal sud Italia, dalla Turchia o dalla Grecia, traghettavano a Brindisi e venivano a caricare direttamente in fabbrica. Pochi erano i clienti francesi.
L’ufficio di Roma tentò in tutti i modi di creare un mercato “al dettaglio” per la vendita di glutammato direttamente ai consumatori, naturalmente in vasetti da 12 o 24 grammi, da mettere sulla tavola insieme al sale e pepe, proponendolo a grossisti e supermercati, ma il tentativo non ebbe successo e, anche per questo, fu poi chiuso l’Ufficio di Roma e Yamada tornò in Giappone.
L’ufficio di Milano vendeva a tutte le più importanti industrie alimentari del Lombardo-Veneto e del nord in genere, piccole, medium and large, in addition to the Star and Knorr.
When you thought it was time, he began to enlarge the production department, doubling the number of fermenters, increased to four, with all that is needed downstream of the first department, including the recruitment of other workers, resulting, of course , other grants, soft loans and other additional tax relief.
Given the difficulties in the supply of molasses, it also doubles the storage tank of molasses in the factory building, next to the first, a second gigantic tank, more than twenty meters high. In truth I always thought that the second tank had been also built to hide the new fermenters in the eyes of strangers passing through the trunk road.
To address this technical phase, were put under contract to provide a couple of older professional engineers, and was taken to the Purchasing Department, Dr. Cappuccio, from the Terninoss of Terni, and before that, from steelworks Giovinazzo, then expert metallurgical products and steelworkers.
was also recruited a married couple, also from Terni, where his wife was a good interpreter and assist the new director of Japan, provided the signature, then that was what he remained until the end of history but, in brief Like all the Japanese, he learned very early Italian.
It proved, however, very difficult to learn Italian, the new CEO and third, he remained to the end, despite his monthly visits, from Milan to Manfredonia, to "read", when ready, the monthly balance sheet and the resulting indicators.
years "Better" reached an annual turnover of just over 10 billion lire, of which exports accounted for nearly eighty-five per cent. The turnover, export, we ranked among the most important medium-large companies in Italy, although the external dimension seemed small.
With the enhancement of the plant, production capacity was planned and hypothetical 900-1000 tons per month of finished product, for an annual total of about ten thousand tons. I say hypothetical because almost all the glitches that occurred months was not adequate to achieve maximum production.
During an animated discussion with the Commission's Internal Auditors, in the presence of Prof. Madam President, these came out, we do not know how spontaneous, a phrase that also accused the workers not meeting the maximum monthly production capacity. Someone from the Commission accepted the challenge and launched the idea of \u200b\u200bthe bet that within six months would raggiunto la piena produttività per 900 tonnellate e il Presidente avrebbe pagato una cena per tutto il personale.
Nei mesi successivi gli operai, ed essenzialmente i Capi turno, furono i principali controllori affinché tutta la lavorazione procedesse nel migliore dei modi, mettendo in evidenza tutte le manchevolezze dell’organizzazione produttiva e, soprattutto, dei servizi di manutenzione.
Al quarto mese il massimo fu solo sfiorato, al quinto mese fu raggiunto e superato. E il Presidente partecipò alla cena con tutto il personale dipendente, operai, dirigenti ed impiegati, nonché quasi tutto il personale tecnico giapponese. La cena si svolse in due serate, distanti una quindicina di giorni, per non interrompere production and to allow everyone to participate.
Administration
The market pull, then, but the price was not profitable, at least enough to allow to close the annual budget in surplus. Can I maybe wrong, but I think for the whole period of the life of the company, only one of the first year the budget was closed with a profit of one million lire, and then only with small losses, not worrying but persistent, but the last years of crisis. With the carrying forward of previous losses, do not spill any income tax to the Exchequer.
INSUD leaving a free hand on the organization of the General Accounting and Tax, the Japanese they focused their demands on the organization's accounting, that, so to speak, which aims at calculating costs of production, the determination of the so-called operating margin and control of economic management.
Also in this field were later compared with Accountants Italians, who called at the time, that kind of recognition of expenses, "American system" or income "to scale" and that became commonly used in Italy only from the mid-70s.
This system is the establishment of a proper monthly budget, of just "American" style, complete and detailed, with the identification of Operating margin, analyzed and compared with the annual budget estimate and of the period, which involved, upstream, the data collected, identified and assembled, they were correct and complete, as well as homogeneous for the comparison with the Budget.
course, in addition to the staff for the collection and processing of "reporting", it was necessary to assemble an entire organization, writing (by machine), photocopying and sorting of tables, and this, according to Italian accounting it was all a waste of resources, because, obviously, if the reporting is completed within a certain time, can allow interventions adjustments, otherwise it is useless: us, the first year of starting production, 1966, we had a budget of every two months and highlight any deviations from the budget.
On November 15 was evaluated and adjusted, if applicable, the annual budget and provided the final of this year: here was expected operating income, loss or usefulness and, in the case, could then decide whether to close in December at a loss or profit, choosing and evaluating the measures to achieve whatever is decided. Normally, you know, the choices and adjustments are evaluated in the closure of the civilian budget in March or April next year, choosing those rules elusive, more Legal or not, which, however, in most cases, sooner or later come back to roost in subsequent years.
In our case, however, was a real choice of action and, therefore, resistant to every point of view, it was enough, for example, start with the goods Trieste on December 28 or January 3 next year. We then
the annual spending bill for the sales commission to the Deutsche Ajinomoto, Hamburg. There was a genuine contract of representation, so almost all sales abroad were prepared from Hamburg who, very often, we also noted the dates of arrival of the shooting.
on these sales, the bill departed from Hamburg for charging of commission income, which we were paid periodically, but not always the commissions were calculated on "all" the goods exported and the same percentage rate: there were of course changes everything but the criteria were decided between them, including Japanese: we just had to pay.
Often some loaded with goods were invoiced directly to the house in Hamburg, so we created a real current account with "Dare" and "have". But the economic relationship with the Japanese do not end with fees and supplies.
The Japanese staff who worked in Italy was paid by the Japanese parent that month, we charged on a bills that required payment, indicating only the total amount and the total bill. The list of names of such persons, and perhaps even the individual cost was in the hands of the Japanese or the Managing Director, also Japanese, not excluding that, if required, could be shown to the Italian partner, the INSUD that, in my opinion , for a long time, especially at the beginning, they are apathetic "elegant."
Always decide on the number and the Japanese people to be employed in Italy, while we paid the monthly bill of complaint. In many years, the personnel changed very often with fast turnover, at least at the level of deputy heads or assistants, a little 'less for chemists and department head for the directors.
It did not take long to realize that our factory was, for the Japanese, a real gym to train their technicians. The counter to this assertion is that, in two or three cases, young engineers, after some years, returning to Manfredonia, who received the bows, it was clear that had changed their hierarchical position in the company, the better.
Moreover, we think that, if Japan was unknown and strange to us, as was the Western world for them, except that "they" were moving and trying to know each other.
Of course there was a reason for all this, but to us at that time was unknown or at least it did not matter that much. The most important thing was that when the losses piled up and reached the annual rate of one third of the share capital of the Company, the Directors called for the members to make cash deposits to cover those losses.
The Jewel
Chemists Italians who had built the plant, once started, they were immediately replaced by others but by the same Japanese technicians only after some time it was assumed a degree in chemical was assigned, nominalmente, la funzione di Capo della Produzione, anche per affibbiare la responsabilità civile e penale ad un cittadino italiano, considerato che i tecnici giapponesi erano, nominalmente, solo dei “consulenti”.
Sui Reparti rimase qualcuno dei Periti Agrari che svolgeva la funzione di Vice ma che, in pratica, eseguiva le istruzioni dei tecnici giapponesi. Dove occorreva, divennero vice capi un paio di Periti chimici provenienti dal Laboratorio, sostituiti da altri Periti chimici. Con calma, col tempo, furono assunti giovani laureati in chimica alle prime armi.
In verità, come mi avevano spiegato i tecnici a Roma, la fabbrica era una vera novità per l’Europa, sia sotto il profilo del processo di produzione, sia per le soluzioni tecniche adottate, anche nei servizi tecnici industriali, come, per esempio, il sistema di lavorazione dei rifiuti e degli scarti di lavorazione, che non danneggiavano in alcun modo l’ambiente.
Gli scarti venivano prima letteralmente prosciugati, separando l’acqua dalle altre sostanze concrete, poi separatamente, l’acqua e le cosiddette farine, venivano rese completamente "inerti”, cioè non contenevano più alcuna delle sostanze organiche da cui provenivano, infatti si buttava via acqua demineralizzata ed una specie di terra inerte e non dannosa, filtrata per togliervi qualsiasi traccia biologica del “batterio”. Questa terra diventava abbastanza smelly after a while, after having accepted and put to death, other organic substances from the environment, such as insects or wind-blown seeds and leaves.
The primary purpose of this place was a real "pest control" of waste processing, it was always the maniacal desire to protect the secrets of their patent processing, these live bacteria, the cause of all the work.
Any "treatment" of waste in the Italian and European chemical factories, at the time, not only was almost never done, nor expected: more than one program or pretended to make them "not dangerous" for people.
In each case, therefore, young engineers, chemists and not had much to learn and learn, also on the organization and management of human resources. Except that, once recruited, after knowing the person directly above Italian, will realize that other superiors, and Japanese nationality, not willing to teach them anything.
Duplication of heads created some confusion in the mind of the vice and, while some had no qualms about working with the Japanese leader, others were provided to snatch as many concepts, even by the workers, before finding other employment opportunities, perhaps even more attractive for logistical reasons.
In fact, many engineers were persuaded to leave their wives to not make it to live in a "desert", for lack of diversity and entertainment, especially in winter, but especially for the distance from their places of origin. Those who stayed until the end, or came from neighboring countries or had married on the spot (the famous rocket effect of Siponto).
The most common reasons it was abandoning the latter, the logistical difficulties, or the will of his wife, but in administration, there was a genuine mass exodus due to the flexible structure, but above all, the fact that, for the most part, the administrative staff was sourced locally.
In deference to a vague and unwritten principle of business management, someone, at first, believed that, in key posts, there should be only and exclusively from outside personnel to the detriment of the indigenous. In a few cases, the outside is clearly revealed with a child of our experience, or with insufficient knowledge and expertise as needed.
With the advent of Dr. Italy, all the administrative organization had been rearranged and local staff framed in right, taking responsibility for their tasks, even if you do not pay. With the disease by the absence of Mr. Italy, all the administrative structure was in a sense, tried and tested and the result was excellent.
This was the reason why the Japanese, then did not allow many changes of positions, but only some small progress and, therefore, who succeeded Dr. Italy, found already in order and efficient administration, introduced only a few possible Improvement in touch, shall we say, non-invasive, creating in this area as "a little jewel."
This might seem a My boast is instead a fact verified and proven. The Tax Office acknowledged the visit of VAT Foggia, in one of its first "out" after the tax reform of 1974, closing their All tests only with lavish praise, acknowledging the tightness of registers and records, and the perfect accounting system of record keeping.
In this regard it is worth remembering that, even before the entry into force of the tax reform, our administrative study to deepen the reform laws in a course organized in Milan, at the Montecatini-Edison, as it was then, and taking by the authors and authors of those laws. Just as, for all my reasoned request, allowing me to participate in courses and seminars to improve knowledge of my work, as they changed the laws and mechanical support to the company.
I remember at the beginning, quando ero l’unico addetto dell’Ufficio paghe e stipendi, usavo un sistema di sviluppo delle paghe molto manuale con l’utilizzo di una normale calcolatrice Olivetti, opportunamente modificata nel carrello.
Con il Dott. Italia, arrivò uno dei primi “elaboratori” meccanici, grosso e complicato, marca Burroughs, utilizzato anche per la Contabilità generale, che, però, si bloccava molto facilmente, naturalmente proprio quando lavorava elaborando le paghe.
Con Fraschetti, prendemmo uno dei primissimi elaboratori elettronici, un vero Computer Philips che si programmava ogni volta con le schede perforate, con gli archivi su schede a pista magnetica, ed anche con questo ci facevamo accounting and payroll. Cipriani forced the company that gave us the software to teach at least two of us to program computers independently.
We who lived in and were working in that reality, especially in the beginning, we did not fully grasping this "excellence" even though, increasingly, EFIM submitted and recommended by the inspectors, we had a "visit" of administrative staff from from other group companies EFIM to study our organization and seek information and advice to solve their various administrative and logistical problems.
Precisely because of the many official awards, for a couple of years, we under the administration, we were able to give us a sort of bonus to Balance, a prize into cash and not subject to taxes and subsidies, taken from those "funds blacks' interest in the old assets deposited in savings books, produced and now accumulated only other interest income.
It must be said at this point, it's the INSUD EFIM that, at the central level, compiling a consolidated annual budget, in that it included all the portfolio companies and, in doing so, had created a Service Inspection own, which controlled the accounts and budgets, including for Mayors, or auditors, to prepare the secure report accompanying our financial statements.
visits of inspectors took place at least four times a year, especially the first year, then at least once, but the phone calls were consistent, because, on a monthly basis and are transferred to the budget and statistical reports prepared by the same service.
Almost immediately, the inspectors became our best friends and promoters in the other Group companies and, in some cases, those who were also invited our colleagues to accept other locations, with transfers, of course, accounted for promotions and awards.
At the end of my work experience in the Ajinomoto-INSUD, I found employment in other EFIM group company and, on this occasion, I had the opportunity to compare the administrative organization of another company and wanting to improve it, I had to do is call and apply the rules of my previous experience.
I also explained the reasons for the wonderful working relationship with the inspectors EFIM: ours was the only company that had always presented statistical reports to the inspection service on time and completed properly.
Perhaps it was this reality that convinced Dr. Cipriani to agree to come for the Director to Manfredonia, however, also becoming director of the Company.
was no longer young and rampant had nothing to prove to the Group on its professionalism: his job, told us, was to understand what was the future of INSUD participation in society and what we could "get away" or earn from it.
Courtesy of Rag. Michele Brunetti
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