Diego Borgna, the new Acting CEO: My mission is to guide Raimondi towards a new era

Raimondi Cranes is one of the most important European manufacturers of heavy lifting machinery, with an experience of 150 years on the market and more than 16,000 cranes sold all over the world, so far. Recently, the Italian company made an important change in senior management, by appointing Eng. Diego Borgna, one of the most experienced professionals in the crane industry, as the new Acting Chief Executive Officer.  Borgna, who’s most challenging mission will be to oversee the entire shifting process from the old headquarters to the new main production facility and offices in Arluno, shared with us his ambitious plans inside Raimondi, which include (among others) the rethinking of product portfolio and the strengthening of the technical team, by changing perspectives on production processes.

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FC: This is your second appointment in a new position for Raimondi Cranes in less than a year. How would you describe your professional experience inside the company, so far?

Eng. DB: I would like to start by thanking the senior management team of Raimondi Cranes for the new role and the trust they have placed in me. The appointment as Raimondi’s Acting CEO is mainly linked to my previous experience where I held a similar role. Raimondi is an important entity in the world of tower cranes. From the day I joined the company, I have tried to utilize and share my experience at the entire corporate level from production to administrative offices, while also supporting the commercial team. I found a group of very capable people at Raimondi who work with enthusiasm and professionalism. However, to raise Raimondi’s international profile, the first aspect I wanted to increase was cross-department dialogue. Breaking through any ‘walls’ that could possibly create division was an essential first step to reinforce cooperation amongst the staff, which, in my opinion, is one of the key aspects for success.

FC: What are your responsibilities as the new Acting Chief Executive Officer of the company?

Eng. DB: As soon as I was appointed, I began to reorganize the company at all levels with the singular aim of increasing efficiency and productivity. In addition to the duties of CEO, I’m also guiding the Raimondi team towards a new era by overseeing the entire shifting process from the old headquarters to the new main production facility and offices. This shift symbolizes a turning point for the company as there will be a significant change to our previous production logic, but also to the modus operandi of the team with a more proactive approach. The aim is to enhance Raimondi’s competitive edge by developing new tailored products and solutions.

FC: What is the biggest objective you want to achieve in the new position?

Eng. DB: In the short term, the main objective is to improve the product quality to best serve our existing and new clients, while ensuring market competitiveness. Secondly, it is essential to move the current factory and offices to the new site of Arluno by the end of the current year as this will represent a company milestone. The third short-term objective is to restructure the company’s departments with a more tailored and innovative approach. In the long term, the main goal is to create a range of products capable of competing with the major tower crane manufacturers, thereby better meeting market demand.

FC: What are the biggest challenges that come along with taking over the new role inside Raimondi Cranes?

Eng. DB: The primary challenge is to complete the works of the new site to move in as soon as possible, and to begin to produce - using the most innovative production techniques of the lean manufacturing - starting from some of the models in our product portfolio. The second challenge will be changing perspectives. Indeed, when a shift of this dimension occurs at a corporate level, the impact of it resonates in across many aspects including the way of working. It’s important to ensure that each member applies a problem-solving approach and recognizes how essential it is to work as a united team aiming for the same goals. Another key area I will focus on is the strengthening of the technical department to renovate the range of products and meet market needs and demand.

FC: You are acknowledged in the crane industry as an expert in factory internationalization and modernizations of production plants in various locations around the world. Are you planning on implementing similar projects for Raimondi in the following year?

Eng. DB: I want to maintain and reinforce Raimondi’s prime characteristic of being an historic Italian company that it is recognized worldwide for its ‘Made in Italy’ signature. I think it is essential to stress on this aspect without planning to relocate the production facility abroad; exactly the opposite, we want to strengthen and optimize Raimonid’s Italian heritage with our new factory in Arluno. That being said, to compete on a larger scale and in a wider scenario, some additional changes must be made. In the beginning of the year, Raimondi completed the acquisition of a carpentry in Turkey to boost product quality and optimize pricing. One of our primary tasks will be understanding and analyzing the production capabilities of this new plant in order to maximize its return.

FC: What differentiates Raimondi Cranes from other leading manufacturers from the crane sector, in your opinion?

Eng. DB: Historically, Raimondi has always been considered a manufacturer that is able to adapt to specific client requests in terms of crane functionalities. Also, Raimondi has always been recognized for its reliability and durability of products in a variety of different scenarios and jobsites. While we will keep respecting these characteristics, in the upcoming months Raimondi will turn its focus into differentiating itself for the high quality of products starting from the design and production stages. Additionally, we will reinforce our customer-centric business model by deeply understanding market needs in order to better satisfy the demand. This will be done via an attentive production method having the key focus on cost vs. policy ratio, but that will also aim to increase the level of production while ensuring a degree of customization.

FC: How did Raimondi’s activity evolve in 2021 and what will your contribution in achieving the development plans/objectives for the second half of the year/first half of 2022 (expansion, growth) be?

Eng. DB: At this stage, there are several major changes occurring at the organizational level with the first one being the relocation of the entire team and production to the new facility. This is where we are mainly focused now as it will ensure us some competitive advantage, as well as the possibility to penetrate new markets. A second aspect that we are working on is the expansion and renovation of the product portfolio mainly in the flattop tower cranes segment, along with the development of a new crane cabin that focus on comfort, technology, and ease of use.

FC: How do you see, as an experienced professional, the evolvement of the crane industry over the past few years?

Eng. DB: The crane market has always had a up and down trend with alternative periods of high demand and periods of low demand. If we want to successfully overcome the downturns, we need to evolve towards bigger and higher performance cranes intended for larger infrastructure works. To do this it’s now necessary to establish a more fleshed-out technical department, that thanks to the support of the marketing and sales teams, will have the ability to come up with innovative solutions. We need to make sure we have the right production environment, and the capability to build and sustain these types of products.

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