More and More Services for Associates

School-work integration, energy savings, economic data of key markets and more: G.I.S.I. aims at offering more and more services to its associates by means of carefully targeted consulting and activities

by Claudia Dagrada

In June the customary appointment for G.I.S.I. associates, the General Assembly, took place. Participants were welcomed by Lino Ferretti, President in office: “The past few years witnessed a deep change both within G.I.S.I. and in the industrial world. Within G.I.S.I., on account of the constant renewal of initiatives aimed at improving associates’ activities; in the industrial world because, due to economic and political crises, a new way of considering technology has been developed. The final result is that those who cannot keep abreast of the times are destined sooner or later to perish, faced with continuous progress”.
With this spirit, the board decided to place its bets on new initiatives, presented during the assembly along with the main activities carried out during the first half of 2019.
Among the new initiatives, study groups stand out, dedicated to the hottest themes such as LNG (liquefied natural gas), the digitization of production processes and energy saving.
These study groups started off as a way of anticipating the future Working Committees, which will develop themes of general interest and will be the subject of the ongoing renovation of the Association’s Charter. The revision of the Charter, which intends overcoming the current Charter’s shortcomings will allow to associate even professionals who might bring along high quality technological knowledge from which members may benefit. The proposed Charter will be sent to all members by September, and it will be submitted for approval by the end of the current year.

Economic data and future forecasts
The President also anticipated the result of the Survey regarding families of instruments carried out by G.I.S.I. in 2018, in order to provide members promptly with economic data concerning their key markets. The 38% datum of control valves stands out, followed by 19% of pressure valves and 16% of flow valves. End markets n Italy remain basically power (the generation of energy) and petrol-chemical.
Regarding forecasts for next year, there will be a reprise of investments in refineries, Ol& Gas will go through a recovery and LNG will grow. Exports in the chemical sector will also grow, and pharmaceuticals and petrol-chemical will also improve. As regards energy. there will be continuous investments in renewable energy, while regarding engineering we shall see the return of the main EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) companies.

The hottest themes of the investigation survey
The baton was then passed to the Secretary General, Claudio Bertoli, who talked about the 2019 Investigation Survey, which ended in April, in order to reveal the topics that G.I.S.I. members would like to deal with in greater depth. The questionnaire, which was filled in by a remarkable 39% of associates, was made up of three sections. Summarizing, the “Training days” section dealt mainly with Industry 4.0, followed by IoT and cyber security. In the “Delivering timely services” section, however, there was a strong request for the development of technical professionals. Finally, as regards participation in trade shows, the interest for collective G.I.S.I. exhibitions at SPS Italia, OMC, A&T was expressed, and a potential interest for MECSPE and H20 was evident.
For its part, G.I.S.I. keeps on offering communication services even on paper and digital media through the industry’s specialists. In 2019 the association is particularly focused on: the Yearbook, with the product guide, printed and mailed, the G.I.S.I. Study Centre’s Product Survey, and the National economic observatory with the 2013-2017 budget data. During the assembly new members were also welcomed: Sistemi Automatici, Petra Strumentazioni and Air Liquide Italia.

Budget, economic picture and GDPR
The 2018 budget, prepared by the Bellavite Fiscal Consulting firm, was also presented: it is in line with the end-of-year forecasts presented to the assembly in December, and the current management reflects the real-time monitoring of earnings and expenses carried out by the secretariat and checked by the Treasurer.
Professor Giampaolo Vitali, CNR-IRCRES, then analysed the 2019 Economic Observatory, focused on the global macro-economic scenario, the industry’s organizational structure and the balance sheets of small and medium enterprises. A generalized crisis of Italy and of all other European nations, including Germany, is ongoing. The indicators of the Italian macro-economic scenario were then analysed in detail. G.I.SI.’s segment of interest, known as SAIPL (Industrial, Process and Laboratory Instruments and Automation) is heterogeneous but placed in a content which provides great opportunities, in spite of such critical issues as technological evolution, global trade and domestic demand. From a financial and patrimonial standpoint, it is solid, with good growth and profitability performances.
Mr Stefano Azzolina, barrister at law, then introduced a discussion on sanctions foreseen by the GDPR, the European privacy regulation which came into force on May 25th, 2018. 2019 may be defined as a test year, but it is essential to commit to applying EU regulation 679/2016 correctly, as the Authority is bound to apply the envisaged sanctions more and more frequently. A study day will be organized to examine the issue in depth and to deal with other legal topics.

School-work integration, energy savings and welfare
G.I.S.I. is increasingly focusing on the integration between schools and companies, and created two interesting contacts, presented during the assembly: e-work, for supported training and continuous training to increase the competitiveness of companies (a purposely designed work table will be set up and associates will be able to benefit from preferential channels for this activity); and Lombardia Meccatronica Technical Institute, to train technicians in strategic segments connecting the school and corporate worlds. A very hot topic was then dealt with: energy, illustrated by City Energy. By means of a working committee in partnership with G.I.S.I. this company will allow associates to obtain consulting and solutions in the energy savings field.
Corporate welfare was then discussed with ASSIPLAN, an insurance and consulting company, which offers an integrative health service provided by Mutua MBA. Even in this case G.I.S.I. members will enjoy a preferential treatment to underwrite the policies.
The assembly came to a close with the opportunities offered by Ambrosiana Viaggi, a partner of the association, specialized in business and incentive travel.