From possible closure to re-launch, concentrating on higher added value production to growing niche markets. The Saint-Gobain group is, once again, betting on the production pole of Pisa, where there …
From possible closure to re-launch, concentrating on higher added value production to growing niche markets. The Saint-Gobain group is, once again, betting on the production pole of Pisa, where there is the oldest industrial installation of the French multinational group in Italy (the first plant dates back to 1889). After the crisis of the market blocked the plan announced three years ago, which foresaw the restructuring of the old float furnace for flat glass, and with 100 of the 280 Tuscany workers being laid off in June 2009, the top management of Saint-Gobain even took into consideration the idea of transferring production. The decision was, on the other hand, that of re-launching, investing more than EUR 900 million to set up a European level par excellence technology centre for high-performance glass processing. The destiny of the plant was not certain but, at the end, the conviction that we would be able to come out of the crisis “from the top“ and not “from below“, as the French say, explained Gianni Scotti, managing director of Saint-Gobain Italia. We believe in the Italian market, which the Pisa plant works for, and, above all, we know that we can count on important human resources and responsible union relationships in the country. We will invest EUR 93 million, he added, as well as setting up a new coating production line for the transformation of basic glass into high-performance products, able to respond to the needs of the modern building sector in terms of energy savings, thermal and acoustic comfort and eco-sustainability. The new plant will be operative next spring and, in the meantime, from January 2011, those workers laid off will be called back, for training. There should be 25 more workers, says Scotti. We will be closing this year with another loss (in 2009, with EUR 130 million turnover, the loss was EUR 46 million), but there will be a turnaround in 2011, thanks to investments and new technologies, as well as to the comeback of the construction market that is still at a standstill but which should start to move again at the end of this year.