“Analysing how much a plant is worth does not necessarily mean finding out the lowest price”.
An Interview with Daniele Capetta, Purchasing Director for production lines and buildings, Barilla G. & R.
  
Mr. Capetta, what kind of guidelines does Barilla normally follow to evaluate a supplier?
The potential supplier has to cope with the stringent requirement that our purchasing managers have studied. The suppliers are preventively selected according to the market segment in which operate. Our department can rely on engineering competences, consolidated in at least 10 years of working experience inside Barilla. When we begin a new project a very important parameter that directs the following choices is the determination of the value of the plant. This value allows us to calculate - together with the colleagues of the engineering Dept. - the budget of the project, its criticality and its strategic value. 
After determining these values we can select the market segment where the potential suppliers operate, we ask for quotations and we subsequently analyze them. The supplier will have to guarantee: 
- observance of Barilla technical guidelines;
- high levels of automation and flexibility; 
- hygienic safety to obtain a high-quality product; 
- innovation (greater potential of development); 
- attention to maintenance costs; 
- unification and standardization of the components; 
- attention to energy saving. 
The financial status of the supplier is also attentively monitored.
I would like to underline that analysing how much a plant is worth does not necessarily mean finding out the lowest price. The detailed analysis completed by our division for every new project judges its correct value in terms of machine quality, price, reduction of running costs, simplification of the operational activity. For instance our Bakery Division uses 37 different production technologies; every 3 years each product is improved by modifying its recipe. This is why Barilla production lines are designed with flexibility, automation and innovation in mind. These are the kind of considerations that matter in determining the value of a new project.

Among the criteria of selection of the suppliers you also mentioned energy saving…
I noticed in the last 5 years an increasing attention for the energy saving of process plants and production plants, not only for their impact on the running costs, but also for the environmental implications that derive from their use.

What preferences does Barilla have as regards the geographical origin of the suppliers?
The production of Barilla covers the whole European market and the American market; for Barilla G&R Europe is a domestic market and all the European suppliers of production plants are considered "domestic suppliers."

From the privileged observatory represented by the Purchasing Dept of Barilla what kind of evolution have you noticed in the technological offer of the food production plants in the last 10 years?
As regards the process plants the offer is a static one; I don't remember breakthrough innovations, but only refining touches and optimizations (for example putting electronic controls and automations on existing plants). As regards the packaging in our field of activity I noticed that on the most important markets an evolution has taken place from electro-mechanical machines to electronic-controlled machines, although in many areas - notably Eastern Europe - most machines are still mechanically controlled. Working with great numbers, Barilla tends to adopt traditional end-of-line with palletisers. Robot palletising solutions have primarily been used for new production facilities, where it is possible to optimize the line layout for their use. 
Working with big numbers also means that the lines are normally used for a single package format and frequent package changeovers are not required. When we periodically launch new advertising campaigns on the market using "display" pallets we use dedicated lines. 
Our attention is thus focused on obtaining high efficiency lines with simple operating and maintenance procedures using traditional palletising solutions.

The advent of electronic controls has pushed the development of production lines that interface directly with the warehouse, with invoicing Dept, with raw materials purchasing Dept. Their control software is directly connected with Company's ERP software and exchanges data on a real time basis. What is your evaluation of such systems?
The integration and fast data exchange among the different Departments of a Company like Barilla is fundamental. I believe that, while the mechanical technology of the production plants is substantially mature, the management of the information and the functional integration are very important innovations for the next future. Barilla can control the whole production process from the field of wheat to the small retail shop; therefore it is in very important to facilitate the exchange of information to optimize all activities involved. For example: for a long time now Barilla has been using a software system that allows advance planning of line production from a minimum of 3 days to 10 days. In this way we are able to work in" just in time", without warehousing, with both raw materials and packages.

The ability of a supplier to perform high-quality after sales service is important in your opinion?
The after sales assistance is fundamental, both for maintenance interventions and for line upgrades and modifications. Barilla operates with its suppliers in co-design: the competences of both are used to find out the best solutions and to improve them. Considering that the obsolescence of an end-of-line in our sector is very slow (up to 20 years) the maintenance is very important to guarantee the reliability. Barilla is internally structured to perform programmed maintenance interventions on all its production lines but I believe that for new production facilities signing an agreement for programmed maintenance interventions directly with the supplier can be an option to consider.

Can you tell us something about your experience with Procomac Packaging?
The collaboration with Procomac Packaging has begun at the end of 2002 with the supply of two robot palletising systems and handling systems for the Barilla production facility of Ames, Iowa in the United States. 
Following the guidelines I mentioned before, we chose Procomac Packaging because all selection criteria for a Barilla supplier were met. 
The positive results of this first plant and of the others we made together with Procomac Packaging are also the result of the constant exchange of information between Barilla Engineering Dept and Procomac Packaging technical office: I believe this exchange of information has been beneficial for both companies.
Our primary objective has always been to furnish a quality product to our customers (quality of the product is paramount for Barilla); it is then necessary to use highly selected raw materials and cutting-edge technology for the production plant. The fact that Procomac Packaging has demonstrated the same attention to its customers and the good relationship between our companies have surely been conclusive factors to renew the trust in Procomac Packaging as partner for two important plants that are now in the commissioning stage, one for the Barilla production facility in Rubbiano (Parma) and one for the Pavesi production facility in Novara.