Light is also one of the many innovations that make the technology hub at Settimo Torinese the most advanced in the Pirelli world. In fact, it is thanks to technological research and innovation that the factory is now illuminated, even in those places that until recently had remained in darkness. Like the mixing room, necessarily dark on account of the damage that the sun's rays can cause to the materials used. Research, however, made it possible to develop special panes of glass that block harmful rays without preventing light from entering the affected areas.
It is also thanks to the theme of light, chosen - not by chance - in the International Year of Light promoted by the United Nations, that the Pirelli technology hub became one of the stars of the Settimo Torinese Festival of Innovation and Science. A link that arose not only from its geographical proximity, but also because of the theme the festival addressed this year, with over 100 events including workshops, exhibitions and conferences.
In view of this theme, that of light and technological progress - elements that have always been in the company's DNA - Pirelli played an active role in the festival event dedicated to innovation, in a meeting between the Executive Vice President and CEO, Marco Tronchetti Provera, and the Director of the newspaper La Stampa, Mario Calabresi, entitled "The example of Pirelli: innovative industry". A meeting that provided the cue to tell the story of the transformation and growth of the Settimo Torinese factory.
Resulting from the integration of the two Pirelli plants already present in Settimo Torinese into a single area of 250,000 square meters,
The redevelopment of the hub was implemented with three basic concepts in mind: technology, training and, of course, light.
Thanks to the purchase of technologically advanced materials and machinery, the Pirelli Hub is now a benchmark for excellence in the world of Industry 4.0, the new paradigm of industrial production based on maximum computerisation, with the aim of taking the factory as far as possible into the future. A future which, for Pirelli, will involve further technological innovation, with the computerisation of information and the cross-referencing of data collected making the machines capable of providing not only feedback on the performance of a given process, but even feedforward, in other words a preview of results or problem areas based on historical data. An innovation that covers processes but also products, through the production of green and increasingly high-tech tyres.
But technology inevitably interacts with people. Not only those who create it, but also those who use it. In order to launch a new factory with machinery never before used by workers from a different environment, it was, in fact, essential to invest in people and especially in training for new professional roles. Today, in fact, the workers at the Settimo hub all have the kind of training that allows them to use their knowledge to help optimize processes, overcome critical problems and contribute to improving the machinery, thereby actively supporting the engineers charged with transferring know-how to the other Pirelli production sites worldwide.
Telling the story of Pirelli's Settimo Torinese plant therefore means telling the story of a journey of evolution, growth and self-confidence. A journey that starts with darkness and ends with light. Not only in metaphorical terms - with the difficult conditions experience by the old factory in the ‘60s - but also in real terms. It's a story of innovation and technology but above all a story of people. Because the redevelopment of the hub has put people in the spotlight.
