1. From the beginnings to the ’90s
Between the 20th and 21st century, the Apulian area, an inland plateau known as “murgiano” belonging to the Department of Bari, well-known for its bare and stony environment, its scarcity of vegetation and its rural and pastoral tradition, was characterized by the development of the upholstered furniture sector. This sector had no historicity in the territory (as it was the case for the textile manufacturers in Prato, Tuscany , or for the goldsmiths in Vicenza, or the artisans of leather in the Marche region or the furniture producers in Brianza, Milan). The production of upholstered furniture was not even a previous tradition and the inhabitants of the murgiana had no useful skills or knowledge to develop an economy in this field. Nevertheless, the production of upholstered furniture will develop incredibly, making the “murgiana” the greatest production area in the world.
Today, economists and scholars in this field cannot explain the phenomenon, which, even if in an historical period of global crisis, represents excellence in craftsmanship, together with all the Italian products that constitute the so-called “Made in Italy”. It represents a ransom for the inhabitants of this area in Southern Italy, an area characterized by scarcity of primary resources, an extremely slow process of industrialization (in comparison to the fast-growing North of Italy), a lack of infrastructure and the consequent difficulty to trade with the major cities in Northern Italy, not to talk of the complexity of having links with the rest of Northern Europe. Moreover, the high rates of local crime were often capable of deeply influencing the local bureaucracy. Since the last century, Southern Italy has been characterized by important emigration flows and, currently, by a serious phenomenon, the so-called “brain drain” of young graduates, who leave the Puglia region to find new job opportunities abroad and, therefore, develop and use elsewhere the knowledge and skills they acquired during years of academic studies.
During the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s many craftsmen, who produced sofas for the local needs, began to specialize in the production of items ordered by shopkeepers in the North and centre of Italy. Someone contacted the sellers of the large retail chain, such as Germany, to execute orders and expand the sale over the national market, focalizing and specializing in export. Within a few years, the same shops and local businesses burst onto the national scene, “exploiting” some favourable factors and reaching the first rank at international level. Among these positive factors, there are a major competitive advantage due to lower average costs of local subcontracting, the high quality of the product thanks to industrial design and advanced manufacturing technologies, the excellent product engineering, a strong control of the different processing phases, a product differentiation, the activation of subcontracting networks, good logistics and strategic marketing. Some local companies specialized and set themselves on the national and international scene for incredible volumes of business, beginning to count a huge number of employees.
Natuzzi stands among these companies. Natuzzi was created in 1959 by Pasquale Natuzzi, the “genius” of upholstered furniture. He understood how the concept of a leather sofa could be “democratized” and began to target the middle class with affordable prices. He created an empire that, in 1993, began to be rated and traded in Wall Street. He became the first Italian manufacturer in the furniture industry and in the world production of leather sofas. In 2006 the holding company Natuzzi Inc. reached 123 markets on five continents, with a turnover of 735.5 million Euros. However, the Natuzzi Group is not a single case and, in neighbouring municipalities (Santeramo in Colle), some other small-medium sofas enterprises began to enter the global market (Tirelli, Max Divani, Contempo in Altamura, Nicoletti, Calia, Piquattro and Incanto in Matera). All these companies contributed to the creation of the “Leather Sofa District”, the first one in the world. The “Leather Sofa District” catalysed the 10% of the worldwide upholstered furniture production. In 2002 the turnover was of around 2.2 billion euro, with 550 companies and about 14,500 employees; with the 80% of the production devoted to export. The “Leather Sofa District” represented then the 55% of the total Italian production of living rooms and the 11% of the worldwide production.
2. The global crisis and the decline
An entrepreneurial spirit, the passion for their land of origin and the strong link with the territory have been fundamental elements to the creation of a product able to express the harsh condition that characterizes the life of the murgiana and of the rest of southern Italy. The desire for redemption has created an Italian excellence, expressed by the ability of skilled craftsmen, spokesman of a tradition that remains tied to local roots. Unfortunately, the field of upholstery has not been spared by the global crisis and has seen a production decline of almost 80%, a sharp fall that includes a large number of bankrupt companies and thousands of layoffs. The business class has not been able to address the problem properly, neither to take decisive and effective solutions. Why? Firstly, because there was never a case of such a disastrous crisis in the earlier decades, secondly, because of the “inexperience” to manage difficult moments – as was the case for other production that had already experienced similar situations (such as companies of fabrics in the Province of Prato, Tuscany, or craft businesses in the Veneto region). Risky choices (participation in international trade fairs with expensive and prohibitive costs) have caused the sudden destruction of years and years of sacrifice. In some cases, the entrepreneurial class lacked adequate academic preparation in human resources (expertise in finance, accounting, marketing and engineering management) and was not able to understand the “symptoms of illness” and put the right remedy in place.
The international political situation (after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001) and the severe global crisis contributed to the decline of the upholstered furniture production. In addition to this, the “unprepared managerial staff” to which we referred above, together with other factors, caused the fall of the upholstered furniture production and the loss of thousands of jobs (from 2002 to 2007, the number of collaborators fell from 12,000 to 7000, and the number of companies was cut from 560 to just 163). Among these factors, there was the relocation of Puglia’ and Basilicata’s local production to countries where labour comes with a lower price (Brazil, Romania, China, Bulgaria and Albania), the strong appreciation of the euro against the dollar (that makes exports not favourable anymore) and the role of the “Chinese colossus”, whose imperialist character sees a virtually unlimited production of products placed on the market with a lower price, due to lower costs of labour. We have to mention that in China there are no trade unions to protect the rights of workers, which are constantly violated.
3. The current situation and some proposals for the future
Today, the upholstered furniture sector is considerably reduced, thousands of workers are laid off. For them it seems difficult to reintegrate the same company or other productive institutions. This is due to the lack of suitable and vocational training courses. The decline of the purchasing power has decreased the spending power of citizens, which brought about fewer orders to companies and massive layoffs. As a consequence, the unemployment rate has augmented (national average of about 12.1%, ISTAT, as at the first half 2013) and, even worse, the rate of unemployment has raised especially among young people aged from 15 to 24 years of 35.3% (source: ISTAT data updated to December 2012).
To face this emergency, the local and national economic authorities focused on export, offering an high-quality product to luxury consumers, often coming from the so-called BRIC’s (acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China), which demand products with high standards of quality and design. Many companies of the murgiana achieved high quality standards and have won awards and quality certifications (ISO 9001-2000-14001). In other cases, the production has been “converted” to different but complementary local sectors (such as furnishings for the marine industry, an excellent Italian production which shows a good level of growth in this period and which requires highly skilled and competent resources).
The demand for Italian style and taste – for the so-called Made in Italy – is still high, but in order to compete international manufacturers and the Chinese economy it is necessary to invest in research, development and design and to foster the production of refined and innovative products, able to impress an audience whatever the season may be (as is the case for the fashion industry). Regarding the training, examiners have been studied for many years the proposal of creating a course of study for professional industrial design and furniture for living rooms, in order to form competent professionals to work in local companies. Furthermore, partnerships between universities and enterprises should be intensified, proposing new courses and training sessions to form qualified human resources in local production and avoid, in general, the harmful brain drain effect.
The serious current situation requires a careful reflection on the mistakes that were made, as well as an analysis of the proposals, in order to implement correct management decisions and business organizations. The implementation of the right development policies does not concern just the increasing sales and turnover, but it should repay those who invested in a project that represents a local tradition. This last should remain intact in a global concept, representing the typical values of this land, which, though barren and poor in raw materials, is full of passion, tenacity, pride and dedication (translation review by Chiara Vannini).
