Massimo Materassi tells how El.En. reacted to recent challenges.

My experience in El.En. began with a dissertation on the CO2 laser discharge spectrophotometry under particular operating conditions. My supervisor was Prof. Masotti, an enlightened engineer and co-founder together with Mr. Clementi of the current Elen Group. From this first experience, the step to joining El.En. was short and today, after more than 20 years, I can say that I had a great honour in being able to be part of it and the privilege of experiencing an exceptional technical and human training path: from the development of sensors for analyzing the beams of laser sources for industrial applications, to the development of metal laser cutting processes with the installation of the first systems of Cutlite Penta (a company of the Group that is today one of the world leaders in industrial laser cutting), and then the development of medical sources and their production processes, up to the current role of operations manager.
And it is through these experiences that I have become aware of how crucial it is to have a team of capable, well-trained people with a strong sense of belonging and motivated by a passion for this work. These are all elements that the company has always sought by placing people at the centre,  their ability to innovate and increase knowledge, creating value for the community and our  stakeholders, and to work as a team. Factors whose importance we have probably never realized more than in this recent period: for all the world’s manufacturing, the pandemic period was a traumatic time, characterized by shortages of raw materials and components that effectively brought production activities to a standstill. Nevertheless, El.En. has experienced two years of very strong growth, characterized by a dynamism of operations probably never experienced before and which has seen the company rethink its procurement strategies and working methods extremely rapidly.
Despite the uncertainty, we have continued to invest, on the one hand through digitisation and streamlining of operational and Demand Planning processes (MES, WMS, DPM), together with major investments in logistical and technical infrastructure (automated warehouses, internal production line and electronic prototyping, 3D printers, internal production line and mechanical prototyping), and on the other
hand in personnel training, with great emphasis on technical preparation and quality of processing, but also on soft-skill and collaboration.
In fact, apart from the technicalities, which are still very important to ensure effective development over time, the real driving force in the most delicate moments was the full and synergic cross-functional collaboration between all the company functions, from Development, from Product Engineering to Planning and Production, passing through Sales and Quality. We have from time to time challenged together the countless difficulties that arose, amplifying the potential of individual talents and ending up transforming what at the beginning seemed
impossible to accomplish, into opportunities for growth and improvement. The values and human factors that unite us and characterize us have given the company the ability to perceive the changes taking place and to react effectively as one body, enabling us to meet the most difficult challenges. Ours is an innate ability.

Massimo Materassi

Operation Manager at El.En.