Sponsored Editorial: Promoted by Made in Italy

From Galileo to da Vinci, Ferrari to Olivetti, Italy has a dazzling heritage of manufacturing excellence and success … and now there’s a unique opportunity for British businesses looking to the future to find new markets with Made in Italy.

‘It’ is a tiny word with very big ideas; be it and you are oh so on trend. If you’re on top of your game you are absolutely on it. Now Be IT is an exciting SME business opportunity for British firms to work alongside some of the top designers, creators and manufacturers in Italy.

ITALY IS SIMPLY EXTRAORDINARY: BE IT

This is more than a marketing catchphrase, is it an opportunity to discover the business passion of Made in Italy, a brand of outstanding excellence in the machinery, automation and components sectors.

Think Italy and you probably envisage red wine before robots, but Italy is one of the most automated countries in the world, respected internationally for its quality production of machinery, components, and robots – it’s a huge market.

The potential for UK businesses looking to find new markets for their products or new sources for top quality materials is both varied and huge.

An incredible 18%* of the country’s international trade is machinery, making it Italy’s top export industry and powering it into the position of fifth largest machinery exporter in the world.

It’s a sector which has helped NASA explore Mars, seen superyachts set sail around the world and had motorcycle production roaring at supersonic speed.

The size of the prize is phenomenal. Did you know that:

• 5,000 Italian companies use cutting edge technology to create mechanical instruments and machinery components.

• This sector alone generates 80 billion euros of business worldwide.

• It’s a global powerhouse in robotics.

• The Italian auto industry has an annual turnover of 93 billion euros.

• The motoring trade employs a quarter of a million professionals.

• Italy is the world number one in superyacht and cruise liner production.

• In 2021 the Italian motorcycle market was the fastest growing in Europe.

• The majority of the world’s helicopters are built in Italy.

• Italian excellence has helped successful NASA missions into space.

• The cyber security sector is worth 1.7 billion euros.

HARNESS THE ITALIAN PASSION

And what makes Italy so sought after when it comes to manufacturing, automation or components?

Arguably, the flair that gave the world brands like Armani and Gucci along with the expertise of famous marques like Ferrari and Ducati, has built a heritage that wows the world today. When married to cutting-edge technology and a huge workforce of trained professionals this has generated a well-earned reputation for high technological standards and sales support.

FROM HERITAGE TO THE FUTURE

From the renaissance to today, Italy has been showing the world its excellence.

Leonardo da Vinci designed the first helicopters, and Corradino D’Ascanio designed the first modern iteration in 1930 … today the majority of the world’s helicopters are built in the Italian region of Lombardy.

Aerospace and security are huge markets for Made in Italy, putting them in the world’s top ten. There is Italian technology in the NASA Artemis and Mars missions, with equipment, components, observation satellites and sensors playing a vital role.

DRONES, PROSTHETICS AND A ROBOT OCTOPUS

Emerging technologies are also benefitting from Italian expertise. In Robotics, Italians at the Biorobotics Institute of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna created Robot Octopus, a ‘soft’ automaton which moves like the real thing, walking the seabed and cleaning up the world’s oceans

Sharing knowledge and experience helps mankind. ‘Hannes’, a prosthesis that enables patients to regain 90 percent of the mobility of their hands is a good example of this, developed at Rehab Technologies, a lab set up by the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa and the Centro Protesi Inail with the aim of creating innovative high-tech and cost-effective solutions for patients with disabilities.

And Eurolink Systems has developed an incredible all-electric drone, called Beluga, which can fly at 110kmh, land on and take off from water, and has been used to transport emergency blood supplies.

The respect in the field has been earned not only through the ingenuity of minds but also through adherence to the principle that machines cannot work without – precision. It is the keyword in sectors such as automotive, mechanical components and, last but not least, robotics, where Italy is a world power, thanks to its extremely creative, precise and well-prepared professionals.

Think about it, talk about it, do it, Be IT. Discover your next business connection at https://madeinitaly.gov.it/machinery