Aviation and transport
“What do we do? We supply our customers – aeronautical or transport companies – with certain products that are essential for their business. Therefore, first we identify the real needs of the company we support, we carry out a detailed planning of the needs, then we purchase the products, store them in our warehouses and guarantee a fundamental quality control and possibly testing activity. Finally – in a logic of just in time delivery e Direct Line Feed – when the customer needs that good, we deliver it directly to the production lines”. So he answers Truth&Business Fulvius Scannapieco, President of Ala, a leading international supply chain partner for the aerospace, defence, railway and high-tech industries. It is among the European leaders in this particular business and aims to increase the share of turnover accrued abroad.
The classic example of a product is nuts or bolts for aircraft. Special alloys, the supports must be checked and certified also due to the particular vibrations to which they are subjected and the extraordinary temperatures of the means of transport when they are in motion. Ala purchases them, and then supplies them to the company – Leonardo is one of his historic customers – when needed.
The growth of the group is gradual until 2021 when a further leap in quality arrives with the listing on the Stock Exchange. Still, the head office and mind of the company is and will remain in Naples. The president and founder Fulvio Scannapieco does not hide that “from a financial point of view, places like Milan offer the opportunity to expand contacts, but the pride of being able to value the origins and contribute to the growth of the territory has no equal”.
Is staying in the South just a sentimental choice or does it also guarantee economic benefits?
“Vittorio’s (Genna, the other founder as well as vice president) bond with Naples, our city, is undoubted. But it is equally true that we were born between the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s working with Alenia aeronautica which has its headquarters here. Just as it is true that an important part of the workforce (we have many engineers) comes from the Polytechnic of Naples and that the fact of being one of the few multinationals present gives us a competitive advantage. When we concluded the first acquisitions, many told us that for tax reasons we would certainly move to London or abroad, however we are still here and we are proud to have stayed”.
The headquarters remain in Naples but the ambitions are to grow across the border.
“We know there are margins and we are always careful to evaluate all opportunities. For example, we recently closed a major acquisition in Spain. The logic is to identify groups that are complementary to our business. Our ambition is to grow to complete our offer”.
Which markets do you watch most closely?
“In the short term, Europe remains the focus, but in the long term, we think Asian markets may also become interested, such as China and India, which are growing at a very high speed and which presumably will increasingly need aircraft and means of transport and therefore they will be an opportunity for us”.
Growth, to finance it you need liquidity. How you do it?
“I repeat, it all depends on the circumstances. If advantageous situations were to arise for us, we would certainly not hold back and to finance the operations we will find the most advantageous formula for the company. However, the truth is that at the moment we are focused on making the business grow organically and managing daily activities, also in light of the recent listing which sees us engaged in numerous meetings with national and international investors”.
Instead, you have digested both the pandemic and the geopolitical consequences of the conflict in Ukraine very well.
“The pandemic has had a great impact on civil aviation, but in recent years – I am referring above all to 2021 and 2022 – civil activity has been replaced by cargo, so in the end we have not been significantly affected. Just as we have not suffered major repercussions for the war. On the contrary, it is possible that if in the future – as it seems – the share of GDP that each country allocates to defense were to increase, our business could benefit from it”.
If the business grows you will have to make new hires.
“If it was necessary we would certainly not back down. Also because we continue to increase the workforce. Last year we practically doubled it for the incorporation of the Spanish company I was telling you about. Today we are more than 500 people, most of whom work in Campania, Italy. To date, the main market remains ours, but the medium-term objective is to arrive at a balanced division between the share of domestic and foreign revenues”.