With over 3.5 billion euros in turnover, a strong propensity towards exports and a notable quantity of innovations and patents, the subcontracting companies for household appliances are an excellence of Made in Italy: this is confirmed by the data of APPLiA Italia, published on the Firstonline website. As underlined by Marco Imparato, general director of APPLiA Italia, the role of Italian component manufacturers is of absolute importance, with a largely positive trade balance (over one billion euros) and a production value that ranks second in Europe, only behind Germany. Subcontracting is able to add value to finished products of both national and foreign manufacture, sold mainly on the Italian and European markets. “In fact – journalist Paola Guidi explains on Firstonline – the subcontracting manufacturing alone with its 3.5 billion fuels and keeps working factories not only in Italy but also in the – best – Chinese, European and American ones in the sector because it has built, in its historic districts, since the 1960s, a tradition of unparalleled skills, flexibility and reliability. In 2022, Italy ranked 4th in the ranking of the main global producing countries in the sector, behind China, the United States and Germany, and confirmed itself as the 3rd world exporter of the sector, preceded only by China and Germany. And, again in 2022, the sector reached an all-time high in euro values; even if, in quantities (tons), production was downsized last year (-8.4% compared to 2021), anyway at levels still higher than pre-pandemic ones”. Italian subcontracting companies, which export up to 80% of their production, are increasingly international. They have invested in innovation and technological updating and are able to create customized solutions, offering a high level of flexibility. Furthermore, the costs of raw materials and energy have accelerated the process of eco-sustainability and manufacturing efficiency.
