Hi!

Why am I offering this gift of a free of charge trip for two people to Italy?

To celebrate the opening of the first Blog about FLEXIBLE PRODUCTION where I will share useful concepts and ideas with people who are associated with the world of machining parts to specifications through the removal of chips with the target to PRODUCE WHAT YOU SELL, with NO STOCK, NO STRESS, MORE CASH!

SINCE 2008, EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED IN THE WORLD OF PRODUCTION, AND ELSEWHERE.

Many companies have been forced to come up with new ways to stay competitive, and there are many cases where company owners simply gave up in the face of horrendous market situations.

Typically, Asian countries, China in particular, attack the sector with aggressive, almost cut-throat prices. This is possible thanks to a combination of cheap labour and government aid, operating a scorched earth policy to combat long-established companies that had been working for years in the sectors of the production of custom-made components.

To hold on to the market shares they had earned through years of hard work, this entirely new market dynamic forced these long-standing companies to take a short-cut and react with the fastest, but also most dangerous response: cutting prices and thus sacrificing profit margin or even selling below cost.

This strategy inevitably hit the finances of the companies hard, translating into a social problem, with many companies being forced to lay people off or, in the worst cases, go out of business.

We have been a manufacturer of high-productivity systems from 1958, when my father first embarked on this adventure. Over the course of those 50+ years I was able to ascertain that there has been an increasingly frantic race to produce systems that are more and more powerful, increasingly fast, and where the key performance figure was the hourly production of components.  Each new machine tool model was praised as it increased the hourly production more and more.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE COMPETITIVE AGAIN IN THIS DAY AND AGE AFTER THE ASIAN TIGERS HAVE MERCILESSLY LAUNCHED THEIR ATTACK?

I certainly don’t intend to convince you that optimism can overcome all difficulties; it is not enough to take a course on motivation to become galvanized and then hope for the best. If you are operating in this sector, you will surely understand that in the case of a brass fitting for garden applications, for example, where quality and application are truly basic, it will be quite difficult to successfully produce this item in the US or Europe and beat the Chinese competition.

At the same time, a vast majority of other products can be made by adopting an approach that is different from the usual approach in place for years. The new challenge is to produce only what you sell, and not to produce for the warehouse.

This makes it possible to reduce the value of the stock on hand and of all costs associated with it. Only producing what you sell is, in and of itself, an idea that sounds good to many people, but it must be undertaken with the right tools.  Quickly meeting the customers’ needs with medium-sized lots, in other words from 500 to 5000 pieces, is a race that the Chinese simply cannot win!

That being said, this book aims to help you examine all the issues associated with production or, better yet, Flexible Production. In fact, this is the concept from which my work takes its name.

As of today, you can concentrate on understanding different ways of being competitive in the world of manufacturing, without pulling your hair out due to the sale price that Asian countries are ruthlessly imposing on you.

Now, let’s go back to the trip in ITALY:

WHAT TYPE OF TRIP I WILL WIN?

DAY 1

Leave from North America and arrive the next day in the morning at MILAN Malpensa Airport.

A private Shuttle with the PORTASOLUTIONS logo will take you from Milan and drive to a The 5 Stars Hotel Downtown Brescia. (http://www.hotelvittoria.com/en/index.html)

At your arrival you will be assigned a room and can relax before meeting with me in the Lobby at 7:30pm so I can welcome you to my city with dinner together in a special restaurant that I love.

DAY 2

In the morning, 9:00am, after breakfast you will be picked up with the private shuttle and taken to Villa Carcina, where PORTASOLUTIONS headquarters is located, to tour the company for around an hour.

After this brief visit, a car with a private driver will drive you to SALÒ just East of Porta Solutions.

Salò is a historic Italian town situated in a natural inlet near the South end of Lake Garda.

With the beautiful mountains on one side and pristine lake on the other you will have the opportunity to walk along Salo’s famous promenade, the longest in Italy, taking in views of medieval, late-gothic, and renaissance architecture while visiting authentic Italian shops and museums along the way.  Lunch will be served next to the lake.

The driver will take you to LIMONE DEL GARDA, a unique place to visit along the Lake, this place cannot be described but only visited.

Later you will be driven around Lake Garda, passing through many historic small towns.  With the lake on one side, Italian villas on the other, passing through rock and natural stone tunnels, while also taking the same famous drive as James Bond in Quantum of Solace (without the danger of course), it is a route you will never forget.

You will arrive in GARDA TOWN where your second hotel will be. Garda Town is an old commune with an intact historic district with characteristic narrow streets.  Many sights to see including historic palazzos, churches, and castles.  Here in this old town you will be served dinner.

DAY 3

After breakfast at 10:00am the driver will pick you up and take you South along the water to BARDOLINO, a town on the lake famous for its red wine, festivals, and history. Take in the sights of the medieval castles, walls, and churches that saw real use in this historical military outpost city.  Enjoy walking around shops and have lunch served outside.

From this town on the Lake, you will go into VERONA.  The town of Romeo and Juliet as well as the famous Arena.

The Arena of Verona is a Roman amphitheater in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy built in the first century. It is still in use today and is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind.

In ancient times, nearly 30,000 people was the housing capacity of the Arena. Nowadays, for security reasons, the maximum attendance is 15,000 people.

You will be stay in a hotel in this town for 2 nights.

DAY 4

Spend the day in Verona touring and exploring the breathtaking churches and piazzas, museums and architecture; the famous Verona opera awaits you for a night to remember.

DAY 5

The driver will pick you up and drive to VENICE where you will be spending the Saturday and Sunday.

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy. It is situated across a group of 117 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges. These are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork. The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site; unsurprising as one of the most well-known and picturesque destinations in the world.

DAY 6

Pick up will be early in the morning to drive to MILAN airport for return to the North America.

HOW TO WIN THE TRIP IN ITALY FULLY PAID FOR 2 PEOPLE

4 steps:

• You need to fill up the box under with your company email (not private, private emails will not be considered)
• You need to prove you are a potential customer, does not means that you will buy a machine in the future.
• How do You Know if you are a potential? You need to have to produce parts within 250mm cube envelope, with qty. from 500 to 5/10.000 per batch.
• Have or be able to get a passport in case you win.

Be ready to enjoy Italian history, food, & wine!

Maurizio Porta
Expert in Flexible Production