First 'Kentral Partner Forum' held one year after set up
Just a little over one year since the setting up of Kentral, the first Italian super-center for optics distribution, the Salmoiraghi & Viganò Group and the Vision Service Group organized the first 'Kentral Partner Forum'. The event was held in the conference room at the Salmoiraghi & Viganò Group's new headquarters. It was an occasion for meetings, exchanging views, verification and for discussing what had been already achieved and future objectives.
Proving that the formula was a success was the participation of a considerable number of top managers from the major players in the Italian optics industry. An active participation which led to the sharing of development plans for next year.
It was a meeting with a packed program of contributions: Dino Tabacchi (president of the Salmoiraghi & Viganò Group) opened the event and Mr. and Mrs. Isolani of the Vision Service Group welcomed the participants; Prof. S. Castaldo (SDA Bocconi) gave an overview of consumer scenarios and the development of optics distribution in Italy; Riccardo Perdomi (president of Kentral and CEO of Salmoiraghi & Viganò) and Marco Procacciante (CEO of Kentral and the Vision Service Group) presented Kentral members' organization and development plans; lastly, Daniele Anselmo and Gianluigi Spanu, Purchasing Managers at the two partner companies, spoke about Kentral's purchasing strategies.
At a time of general concern about the economy, the optics sector has grown by +4.7%, but only in terms of prices and not volumes. Moreover, optics distribution is characterized by an excess of outlets and little innovation in distribution systems. To tackle this stalemate situation, Kentral aims to be a privileged interface for its partners and intends to fully optimize all distribution and logistics processes thanks to the critical mass of outlets involved (almost 1,250), a strategic vision of the market, long-term development plans and wide-ranging, diversified services. Following the agreements reached, the partners that supply the Salmoiraghi & Viganò Group and the Vision Service Group recorded a 12% average increase in billings. Greater distribution efficiency has meant that certain costs have been reduced and resources have been reinvested in optimizing processes, advertising and marketing aimed at enhancing the optics sector and supporting consumption.
The results of this first year of activity have been more than reassuring, but they are only the start of a long process that will help Kentral and the suppliers of Italy's optics industry to continually increase the efficiency of their purchasing choices and distribution.
It is with this constant improvement in mind that one of the super-center's objectives is to set up a Kentral optics observatory, which will also be totally new to the market. The sector data currently available are in fact fragmented and the result of plausible, but 'unscientific', estimates. The proposal is to create a permanent observatory that will study the changes in the market and provide reliable data on the basis of which increasingly targeted commercial and distribution strategies will be planned and aimed at more selective and price-conscious consumers.
