FAQ 11 – Why do we use FEM mouldflow simulation?

In NTS we accompany the customer right from the start of the development of a product process.

We use software tools for process simulation such as FEM moldflow, allowing us to anticipate possible problems and criticalities before the mould is set up for production.

This approach allows to reduce, anticipating them, all the non-conformity situations of the final product.

Structural FEM analysis (Finite Element Method) permits to calculate the structural performance of a system. These analysis are very important in case you need to check complex structures or to study, from an engineering point of view, the performances of mechanical systems and machineries.

Contact usnow to find out if our integrated approach can bring added value also to your company.

 

 

 

Giorgio Testa
giorgio.testa@ntsmoulding.com

 

 

Marinella Manzoni starts NTS handover to Marco Manzoni.
A generational passage in the name of Business Continuity.

With a formal act – made official by the Board of Directors on the 25th June 2020 – Marco Manzoni became the new CEO of NTS. In this double interview, Marinella – who keeps the role of President of the Board of Directors – and Marco Manzoni – Vice-President and CEO, tell us about themselves and some key points from a professional and human point of view

Marinella, how can this event be included in NTS company history?
We can consider it as the natural evolution of a process lasting for many years.
The handover of legal representation from me to Marco makes concrete what we evaluated some time ago.
Personally speaking, I have always seen myself as a ferrywoman, since when the dramatic and unforeseen events of life – the death of my entrepreneur brother – led me to manage the company. At that time, I put my knowledge, my skills and a lot of commitment at the service of the company and I have always thought that my role –  and generally our family’s one – was to make the company eternal, taking decision to assure its future.
Personalistic visions have never prevailed in NTS, but rather long-term shared visions.
Marco joined NTS eleven years ago, after his engineering degree and some experiences outside the company, with an expressly junior role: from production dept. assistant to sales dept. assistant. Since then, he went through a professional path which I think he perceived as long, but that everyone of us considered necessary to arrive where he is now.
To reach the proper authority for such a relevant role, in addition to practical skills and experience, it takes time and commitment: no shortcuts are allowed.

Marco, how did you experience the path that brought you here?
Looking back on it from today’s perspective, I’d say this time has been precious to me.
A necessary maturation period that, I confirm, often clashed with my youth impatience and with my energy, but today I believe it has been a proper passage.
After my degree, I myself felt the exigence to experience roles in different departments, as I understood – since I was very young – that nothing in life can be taken for granted, everything follows an evolution and therefore each single day must be gained with each single skill.
Growing, training, meeting and testing ourselves with realities out of our comfort zone are all forward-looking actions, that mark the history of managers, entrepreneurs and professionals in general.
The role of President in the Young section of Confindustria Bergamo allowed me to learn, experiment, innovate and widen my know-how, in general, to open to new worlds and especially to get to know other entrepreneurs and managers.
Among all the things I learnt, I like to remember one, or rather two. The first –  a metaphor I experienced firsthand thanks to a training session – has been leading a sailboat at the helm with closed eyes, blindfolded with all the crew on board: it meant to activate some sensibilities which are innate in every human being and go far beyond sight (sound and touch) and that in the company we often  ignore to use; the second is offering my time for guidance of young students in the schools: it’s impressing how it is important for them to have valid referees and how much hope we must have towards the future as there are so many smart young people, much more than we on average think.

Marinella, what does the word “future” include?
Today I’d say that the word “future” is a word that goes hand in hand with the word “speed”: of the strategic vision definition, of adaptation, of decision. A recent market survey suggested that, to keep our competitiveness over time, we had to break step. We have not hesitated to define new competitive strategies and undertake unexplored paths to achieve our goals.
We have also defined a new business model, which is progressively changing our approach towards the market, all this to ensure the deserved marginality to our company. It is evident that the historical time we are living, leads us all to be dynamic, proactive, energetic. Keeping up with these rhythms is not  something that can be taken for granted and for this reason, Marco’s figure, with his energy and his spirit of initiative, represents an important piece for the future of NTS.

Marco, what was your mood when you decided to take on this position?
With a great sense of responsibility: the one that, after all, my family has always transmitted to me. When I was a kid I just had two occasions to stay with my father: during the (few) summer holidays and in the company. It was a habit to spend Saturdays or Sunday mornings accompanying my father for some control activities he carried out while machineries were not working, it was normal.
I’d say that, just like Marinella, I immediately experienced the concepts of sacrifice, moral duty and respect for work. Similarly, I got the same ferment that animated my father and I also believe that  it animates every entrepreneur, in having and pursuing his own vision, in looking for new paths as well.
I am motivated to honor the value and business heritage that I have been given, here comes my will to put myself into play and spend all my commitment and abilities in NTS. This ongoing passage towards the third generation is in the name of continuity and innovation, common values and sharing.
Marinella and I have a common idea which is deeply-rooted in both of us: the company is not a private entity but it is a common good. I also believe that our approach comes from what we have lived in our history.
Differently from the companies that are still directed from their founder, our history – that has been marked by the premature death of the two founders, father and son – imposed a managerial approach to everyone: delegation and continuity. We have taken – and we take every day – the founding values as our dowry and then we interpret our professional role  also following our attitudes and personal experiences.
A mix of experience, history, courage and personality that is always a must when you have great projects on your mind.

Let’s talk about entrepreneurial risk. Marinella, how far is it necessary to go further?
As for each business action, NTS has a balanced and rational vision.
NTS financial soundness is an important aspect that can never be put in the background: experience shows us that the life of a company can be interrupted by unexpected moments, like the one we are living right now due to pandemic.
By the way, financial soundness is always a good base to overcome the inevitable difficulties and to approach more ambitious projects of development and growth.
Marco has always been attentive to all these issues, he is in charge of Risk Management for years, we have a shared approach. And also in the next three years we will share the strategies about risk management, as well as all the necessary actions to manage it.

Marco, in NTS can we talk about generational handover?
More than a generational handover, I’d say it is about generational continuity: the respect of those who preceded us and the trust of those that will continue.

You said you are changing your business model, what do you mean?
In the last years we investigated a lot to better understand who we are and the results we want to achieve. Recently, we signed three prestigious partnership with companies that will share a new path with us. We wish to propose ourselves more and more as an Industrial Solutions Provider to satisfy the new requirements of the market: more service and higher speed. We think we can reach these evolutions with different modalities, if possible also through new acquisitions in a perspective of horizontal and vertical growth.
We aim at an economic well-being  to keep making new investments, innovations as it concerns technology, organization, skills, human resources to build a safe workplace, healthy and stimulating; we have been analyzing punctually our costs for years and, recently, we are also identifying the quality of the turnover to focus on.
Right before the lock down, and for sure accelerated by it, we made commercial proposals through new digital instruments and with great innovative and consultancy features, also supported by the new high added value services such as NTS Tech and NTS Academy.
Thanks to our constancy and commitment, the market is now recognizing values that before were not fully expressed and we have reached a great result: we are selling technical consultancy, technical problem solving, without moving any polymer or metal shavings.
This novelty reveals the propensity of the market to recognize our know-how in addition to the fundamental and more and more innovative manufacturing. This is our direction, as also clearly stated in our industrial plan till 2022, a guiding instrument for the managerial action, a defined and challenging direction shared by all of us.

Marinella, what should we expect from Marco?
Continuity, bus also innovation and energy.
Marco’s entry in the company brought many innovations, some of them deriving from his personality, some from his education. I am referring, for example, to the use of instruments of strategy and sharing: I think of Business Model Canvas and Lego Serious Play training method or  the necessity of an Industrial Plan, these instruments allowed us to get in black and white many features of our company that were unexpressed and to share them with our collaborators, having a guideline to state with awareness the direction we want to follow.
NTS has always believed in the centrality of the person and Marco will continue on this path, with his undeniable relational and communication skills.

Marco, how will NTS invest in people?
All those who know me know also this: in my office, among many others, there are always two post-it stating these words: “Business Model” and “The Person at the center”.
NTS is, and will be more and more, an active environment, dynamic, productive, reach of prepared and energetic people. The introduction of a HR figure focused on career development and continuous training highlights our belief in a business climate strongly based on the values of professional and personal growth.
Increasing the cultural level in the company is a  long-term daily challenge that may reserve some disappointment but, in an overall view, gives always great satisfaction in raising the bar of organizational growth goals.

Last question.
Marinella, 2020 is proving to be a tough year, certainly one of important changes. NTS decided to change its CEO right in 2020. A change within the change?
Marco’s role represents a change in continuity.
Some time ago we scheduled this date for the transfer of delegations and we proceeded according to our plans. From an economic point of view we are living this moment as we lived the financial crisis of 2008: we believe that life (human and professional) is reach of unforeseen events and it is always necessary to face them with rationality, method and vision.
We have never thought that contingencies could change our long-term plans.
NTS is a sound company where the shared vision always comes first.

A new arrival in NTS

Even in difficult times, we, now, invest in the future.
We are pleased to announce a new arrival in NTS, the High-Performance-Line C 42 automatic-loading milling center by Hermle, the prestigious German brand of machine tools.

Why have we done this important investment?

Because we have always believed in innovation and because, especially in this period, we wanted to equip ourselves with a new ally in terms productivity, quality, precision and also to be even more ready for upcoming challenges.
We are talking about an avant-garde automatic-loading milling center, able to process parts of moulds of all shapes for every sector where quality and precision are required: medical, aerospace, automotive, electromechanical.
We will be able to build more moulds in less time, together with the support of the organization improvement, meeting the requirements of our customers with even greater effectiveness.
With this jewel of technology our mould workshop will be able to raise with continuity the quality standards.

How has this new arrival been welcomed?

Marco Manzoni replies: “In these times, such an investment brings a wave of positivity and at the same time of responsibility: we believe that our guiding light must always be the prospect of improving, growing and acquiring new projects. We are aware of the historical critical moment we are living and right for this reason we have to think about the future and offer something different with strength and enthusiasm. We have been on the market for 60 years, we know that tough moments can always be hidden behind the corner but we also know that, it is right in these moments, that determination, sharing and team-play have a fundamental role in recovery. This investment is a strong signal and all our team has welcomed it with enthusiasm. We can be proud of it and feel even more empowered, but after all, courage and resilience are part of our company DNA.”

We have already talked many times about Metal Replacement.

It is one of the high added value services provided by NTS to the customers willing to innovate their product.
An exclusive service of consultancy and technical support (integrated, if necessary also by specific know-how of third parties, our partners) starting from the choice of the material to the re-design of the part geometry together with the customer, from prototyping till the construction of the mould and the moulding of the pieces as mass production.

In this video-pill we reveal you how Metal Replacement (that starts from a technical-economic feasibility analysis till the delivery of the final product, moulded and assembled) in NTS is a very appreciated and requested service.

Contact us now to find out if our integrated approach can bring added value also to your company.

 

 

Giorgio Testa
giorgio.testa@ntsmoulding.com

 

 

Update: partial opening NTS

Dear customers, suppliers and partners,
NTS will partially and progressively restart its production activities on Monday the 6th/4/2020 to give continuity to the chains of our strategic and essential customers requiring it.
We continue to work in conditions of maximum attention and safety for all our staff according to the health dispositions provided. We seize the occasion to thank all the workers that in these moments show Professionalism and Spirit of Service in full #ntspeople style.
Further difficult weeks, as the last ones, are expecting us and we have to always keep our attention high to win this Covid-19 challenge.
With strength and determination we #keeppushing

#fullspeedahead #wedontgiveupaninch

Click here for the full information

Update: NTS Coronavirus communication – CLOSURE

Dear Customers, Suppliers and Partners, it is now time to stop.
NTS is closing all its activities from the 23rd/03/2020 until the 3rd/04/2020 included, due to major forces according to the principle of the DPCM Decree dated 22/03/2020, i.e. restrictions extended to productive activities which are not essential and not strategic for human life.
We seize the opportunity to thank with esteem and gratitude each single worker that, in the last 15 days spent under difficult circumstances, showed in any case Professionalism and Spirit of Service in full #ntspeople style.

Further difficult weeks are expecting us and we just have one weapon to win this Covid-19 challenge: our strength to stay strong in order to limit the contagion. We have already done it and we will keep doing it, all together.
Bergamo and Italy are alive and vital and are strongly reacting to overtake this intense challenge.
We #keeppushing

#fullspeedahead #wedontgiveupaninch

Click here for the full information

 

Update: NTS Coronavirus communication

Dear customers / suppliers / partners,
following the DCPM Decree of 8 March 2020, we are all called to do our duty as responsible citizens, with a capital R, together with our role as Professionals of their activities.
We are working hard to achieve the number one target of this moment: limit contagion, keeping the company activity to a sustainable minimum.
We all remain united in this showdown and we will come out stronger and ready than before. Let’s not give up an inch, the world must know that despite everything Italy is alive and proceeds forcefully to overcome this intense challenge.
#fullspeedahead

Click here for the full information

Marco Manzoni
NTS S.p.A.

 

NTS Coronavirus communication

Dear all,
we wish to strongly affirm that NTS is continuing to provide its service regularly until contrary obligations imposed by competent authorities. Further to the Coronavirus – Covid 19 contagion, starting from Monday the 24th February 2020, we have immediately activated containment measures according to the regional and ministerial instructions. In detail, we have:

1. Created an internal specific task force with Management, Head of the Prevention and Protection Service, Chief Operating Officer, Logistic and Human Resources, constantly updated with the indications of the Authorities;
2. Informed all our staff by all channels: from email to printed documents and images/videos in our coffee break area;
3. Mapped all NTS employees /workers who have been at risk in the last 15 days;
4. Implemented a restriction policy for external people entering NTS through a signed auto declaration;
5. We have monitored and, where necessary, limited business activities of our staff outside NTS
6. Sent an official communication from our Management to our stakeholders, to transmit confidence and normality;
7. We are including into our Risk Management list of “risk evaluation” also the “epidemic risk” and what to do if;

We therefore committed ourselves to manage this Coronavirus Covid-19 situation with attention and sustainability and also because of this, there is only one thing we decided to avoid: the idea of stopping ourselves.

Let’s all remain united in this trial of strength and we will come out stronger and more prepared than before. We don’t give up an inch, the world must know that Italy does not stop despite everything and, rather, proceeds with strength.
#fullspeedahead


Marco Manzoni
NTS S.p.A.

Paradox lies in a number: 15. Even though we work in less than 2 square meters, every day we risk going back and forth across the company for 15 kilometers. It’s the distance we risk covering step by step to recover materials, tools, components or ask for instructions and information. Often waiting for replies from somebody else. It’s such a waste of time. Another wasted resource. And company wastes, often without realizing it, are hidden behind each functionality of productive processes. This also has an aggravating aspect: man’s work is not put at the center.

It’s been sufficient to assemble a wooden bicycle according to two different methods of organization and working areas – traditional and innovative – to measure the difference: productivity increased up to 30%, reduced final set-up time up to the 45%, number of assembled items tripled in the same time. It’s a recovered competitiveness. «Time is nowadays a small resource, it is necessary to give more attention to the working area, its organization and people. I believe it is a real opportunity even to let talents in the company emerge».

 

There is above all him, Marco Manzoni, owner of NTS in Lallio, 250 employees, family company in the strict sense and leader in design and construction of moulds and moulding of items in plastic materials, sitting right in the same room on the day of the official inauguration of the Academy of the company. It’s the effort of NTS to make internal training even more a constant, able to comply with the necessity of the company and of people. «These are investments to raise the professionalism of everyone and their well-being at work. We have to keep in mind – explains Manzoni – that there is always a better way to do things in comparison to what has been done before: it is the sense of who is committed to make industrial production still sustainable». It is also the day on which NTS decided, during his 60th year of activity, to make a change and adopt  its own a tailor-made organizational model. On the other hand, the advice of the specialized company EY. We begin with an exhortation: «Using our hands we are able to understand the perspective of lean manufacturing at is best» announces Massimo Trebeschi, EY operation manager.

 

These are the two magic words of the day: lean and manufacturing.

The method is plain, Japanese origins and acronyms, Toyota as absolute reference of lean company. Even because it taught the logic of this method: it is not adopted only to reduce waste, overproduction, down-time, process losses, stocks. «Standardizing a working process – explained Manzoni – means to set a fundamental priority: certifying the safety standard».

Extract of an article taken from Skille – Eco di Bergamo – Wednesday 15 January 2020

Click here to read the complete article

 

Link to this post

A TUxTU

The business of generating work today may seem almost impossible.
But thanks to the determination of many entrepreneurs, in Bergamo you can breathe an air of positivity and dynamism.
A tu per tu” was held at the Dalmine Oratory, an evening of value with the participation of Marco Manzoni, Don Cristiano Re, Giovanna Ricuperati, Marco Lupi, Giacomo Perletti, Tommaso Minola.

 

The story of the entrepreneurs involved was particularly suggestive as each of them recalled how often the family dimension is an immense source of propulsion, which then allows you to bring creativity and innovation to the company.

Giovanna Ricuperati, entrepreneur in the world of communication, said: “My most typical expression is that of wonder. I am passionate about it, I get carried away by enthusiasm and I am often induced to look for new paths. But all this would not be possible if I were not supported by the network of relationships that I have built up over the years. It is personal relationships that make us solid and that allow us to evolve. ”

 

Giacomo Perletti, a young entrepreneur in the agricultural world, said: “It was not obvious that one of my age would fall in love with a rural nucleus of the 16th century, Contrada Bricconi in Valle Seriana. During the last years of Agraria I started to imagine a recovery project and, slowly, I developed the decision to live there. But without the collaboration of my wife I wouldn’t have made this choice. A beautiful but demanding choice, all the more because now it also involves a new life: my son ”.