When technology blends with the skills and the temperament of a land historically devoted to the excellence search.
The history of Italian industry must be found in the albums of families who, with passion and initiative spirit, gave birth to workshops and small factories, intended to grow with their descendants. And this is also the story of Glem Gas, which for 55 years has been manufacturing free-standing and built-in household appliances for the cooking sector, and for the wider world of kitchen. Its plant is located a few kilometers from Modena, in a land that, for geographical characteristics and productive vocation, has few equals in the world.
Tradition and innovation: how do they live together in your mission?
The two elements coexist in our way of thinking and working since 1959. Only through their mix we will be able to provide the right answers to our customers. In fact, we believe that innovation of product or process is vital to enable us to keep pace with the times, but without forgetting our past, inexhaustible source of experience and knowledge. For example, our company has always consider gas the fundamental element for cooking. Thanks to innovation, over time we first have been able to propose solutions in which this component is put beside innovative elements, in order to achieve a more effective and efficient cooking. I refer to the ventilation, thanks to which the gas oven offers performance similar to those of an electric one, or hybrid solutions in which gas and electric coexist to allow the user to take advantage of both types of cooking.
Has the balance between these two components led to specific measures in terms of productive organization?
Yes. In the presence of a more and more pulverized demand, production, logistics and design needs, had to comply. We found the answer in the automotive industry, pioneering field, in which Lean logics (such as the famous Toyota method) were established. Since 2006 we have been committed to make our these concepts and methodologies. It is a long and challenging change process that gives us every day the goal of improving ourselves as individuals and as an organization.
How do you manage to intercept or anticipate new trends in demand?
To intercept the current trends is certainly the most motivating activity in our field, but I do not think that a unique way for success exists. The actors who take part are manifold: first, customers and buyers, who represent our “ears” on the market. It is more difficult, sometimes at the limits of the bet, being able to anticipate trends.
To succeed in this, we rely on sharing and listening to all the actors of the areas in which we operate, trying to be contaminated by segments or markets close and complementary to ours, as the professional world, home furnishings and product design. We have been working for 10 years now with specialized studies in the design to give the right answers in these areas: as Italian brand we want and must do it.
What tools allow you to meet the specific needs of a buyer?
Being ‘specialists in cooking’, as we are perceived in the market, the main tools that we offer are the product quality and the breadth of the range. A complete offer both in free-standing area (kitchens) and in built-in one (ovens, hobs, hoods, sometimes also Cooling and Washing appliances), which combines functionality and aesthetics in a proper balance. We provide a clear business strategy that protects the buyer and let him be performing, with the primary objective of establishing a relationship of partnership. We set ourselves as a reliable supplier, we believe in long-term relationships and we do not put limits to cooperation. Ultimately, we believe that there is no alternative to the close relationship with our buyers.
Which positioning do you intend to pursue in the future?
The brand Glem has always been positioned in the high level of the market. Our aim is to insist in this way, relying primarily on a product strategy that goes to this offer direction, but also investing more on dialogue with the end-users, through the great potential offered by new communication tools.
Are the international certifications an opportunity to reaffirm the intrinsic value of your production?
We consider them important, because they helped to give a standard of quality on the market. We are also convinced that the real balance needle is the market itself: its verdict is the real dividing line between success and failure.
What does the expression “Made in Italy” suggest to you nowadays?
I think it goes far beyond an origin indication, and is, and should be, more and more perceived as an expression of values such as creativity, style and know-how. Personally, I believe that the “secret” of these values derives from our land. Among economic times, more or less positive, the work culture, the expertise, know-how and passion are the lifeblood that in Italy, and especially in Emilia Romagna, our people bring in their everyday activity. Intrinsic values of Made in Italy, that we must keep alive, feeding them and instill them every day in what we offer to customers.
What characteristics allow a national product to stand out in the global market?
The national product stands out if it mirrors and reflects the Made in Italy values. Its design should always be an expression of style, propose creativity and original solutions, express our know-how in materials and engineering of the product.
How can they represent an added value for a buyer who invests in an Italian brand?
Globally, Made in Italy is perception of quality, refinement, reliability. These elements are highly differentiated in the market and provide an added value on which the buyer can and should focus on.
Do you think it would be desirable a stronger synergy among producers to strengthen the made-in-Italy in the world?
Absolutely yes. I am sure that in our sector we will come to a greater collaboration and to the development of synergistic projects in various fields. The mere competition, albeit very healthy, implies the loss of opportunities and benefits to which we can no longer afford to renounce. At the Country system level, it is also desirable that they finally undertake ways and reforms that support and facilitate the expression of our Made in Italy. Beyond all, do not we lose the hope that this will happen.
| Marco Guerzoni "My experience in business starts in 2006, after completing my studies in Italy and after a brief stay in England. I invested the first few years in the understanding of the various processes that characterize the company, from production to administration, up to the marketing area. In this area, since 2009, I was part of the team dedicated to communication. In 201, I moved full-time to the product area. Since May 2014, as Product Manager, I have been following the coordination and development of the product." |
| 55 years of constant growth Glem Gas was born in 1959 by the intuition of the three partners. Guerzoni, Lei and Manicardi, hence the acronym Glem. The 60s and 70s represents a boom for the company, that from a small reality, first local and then national, sees its presence growing in international markets. Besides its headquarters at San Cesario sul Panaro (Modena) in which 320 employees work, with an annual output of 320,000 appliances including hobs, kitchens and built-in ovens, other direct subsidiaries are present in Australia, France and Portugal. Glem and Glem Gas brands reach over 50 countries. |
A new emotional approach to the product  After 55 years in business, continuing to be "specialists in cooking" remains the main objective of Glem Gas. Added to this, there is the wish to meet more and more the expectations of our customers, providing them with the advantages of a guaranteed simple technology and design, to transform the experience of cooking in a both aesthetically and functionally pleasure. The testing of new materials is combined with the most modern technology, through a new emotional approach to the product, able to transform its design, aesthetics and function in an attractive and unexpected way. The collection Progetti by Glem, which was born by the close collaboration between the Research & Development Office of Glem Gas and Marcello Cutino (BCF design), interprets the home appliance no longer as a mere tool that ensures efficiency and effectiveness, but as a "feeling” object dialoguing with the contemporary design and suggests new emotions, recalling distant cultural and ethical roots.   It is just with senses, eyes and color that the oven Ambiente by Glem plays: the colored light indicates the different stages of cooking of the oven and takes a decisive emotional role, giving a special atmosphere to the kitchen space. Brushed steel, black or stainless, profiles, minimal and immediate controls, completely flush with the oven door handle, triple glass for an optimal temperature inside and an higher security on the outside, enamelled copper color cavity with lateral telescopic guides, and user friendly programmer. By modulating its intensity, the light shows the various functions of the oven: if the temperature is low, as in the case of defrosting, the light remains blue, while, in other cases, it gradually becomes red. Amber color indicates the "ambient light", transforming the oven in a sensitive and evocative presence in the kitchen design. |
