Design Best Practices! for Furniture Clusters!

Transcription

1 TCI-Network Mediterranean Conference! Cluster Session 2: Furniture Clusters! Izmir. June 15, 2012! Design Best Practices! for Furniture Clusters! Alessandro Deserti! Politecnico di Milano. Design School!

2 1. THE EVOLUTION OF ITALIAN INDUSTRIAL CLUSTERS!

3 The Italian industrial clusters! Italian clusters, even if clearly recognized by Italian regional and national governments, are much less formalized and organized structures than others in the world. They are bottom-up networks, based on local resources and capabilities, according to the description of many Italian economists, such as Becattini and Rullani.! While in many international situations the management of clusters is based on a clearly identified and organized structure, the Italian case is significantly different.!

4 The Italian industrial clusters! There is almost no experience of management of Italian clusters through institutional structures, while there is a pretty significant experience in support systems, conceived as lighter organizations that are not meant to control the cluster, but to support it in terms of knowledge, networking, internationalization etc.! The institutional funding also took this direction, supporting single projects and initiatives rather than overall management structures.!

5 The Italian industrial clusters! One of the main problems to be faced by and through this support system is that of leveraging innovation, as a driver of competitiveness, in its multiple manifestations. The traditional idea of innovation, mainly based on technology and production, appears today just as one of these manifestations.! While new ways of intending innovation emerged, among which the design driven innovation, the institutional support system is still based on the idea of supporting technological change and production.!

6 The evolution of Italian industrial clusters! The evolution occurred to industrial clusters during the last years is linked with the overall changes affecting the economic framework in a period of globalization: while some new clusters in emerging economies were outperforming others with longer tradition, in many cases the evolution of traditional clusters was based on the change of their geographical base, through the construction of new relations with external manufacturers and suppliers, in what we could call an extended value chain.!

7 The evolution of Italian industrial clusters! The idea of the industrial district as a close system, characterized by the proximity of companies and by the dynamics of interaction that are linked to the physical and cultural closeness, turned into what we are now calling metadstrict or long network, based on the substrate of the traditional district, but with a much more extended and complex value chain. Districts loose their borders, and the leading companies tend to build a system of relations which is still locally based, but with many possible links to a wider territory, up to a global scale.!

8 The evolution of Italian industrial clusters! The extension of the networks was sometimes a matter of survival for the main companies, particularly when the competition was based on the economic control of the factors of production.! At the same time, the delocalization led to many social and economic troubles, and to a reorganization of the activities within companies, based on the subdivision between the strategic and the non-strategic ones.!

9 Industrial commons and soft innovation! Design is included in the strategic activities that were not subject to delocalization, even if many foreign designers are normally working with Italian companies, but we have to point out that there is a big contradiction that is normally underestimated.! The very idea that soft knowledge related to productive sectors could possibly survive the absence of an industrial background is pretty difficult to believe. Many historical cases tell us that it is almost impossible to keep a design culture in a specific sector without the relation with a strong industrial base.!

10 The evolution of Italian industrial clusters! The dramatic economic downturn and the reorganization of the networks led in many cases to the weakening of the traditional system of mutual help within industrial clusters, affecting the smaller companies (in particular the handicrafts) and the external suppliers, who mainly paid the price of the downturn. This led to a strong tension between the leading companies and the suppliers operating within industrial clusters, a problem that we are now facing in its productive and socio-economic aspects.!

11 The evolution of Italian industrial clusters! Even though companies are facing a deep crisis, leading in some sectors to the delocalization of entire districts, we have to say that the idea that all the production of mature economies has moved to emerging countries is the result of a simplification.! In this period of downturn, we have some signs of the return of production. Ikea is progressively shifting back to Italy part of its production, due to higher automation and quality standards, lower logistic costs, together with the growth of salaries in emerging economies: Italy is now producing 8% of the whole Ikea turnover.!

12 2. THE ROLE OF DESIGN IN THE ITALIAN FURNITURE CLUSTERS!

13 An economy of beauty! The clusters of Italian SMEs, and particularly those operating in the furniture sector, are the framework where the phenomenon of Italian design was born.! They can be described as a very particular environment: companies and entrepreneurs used to operate within a confined space (the territory of the cluster) in which their motivation to emerge was mainly linked to social legitimacy. This led many Italian companies, even the big ones, to a craftsman s mindset, and to a tension towards the creation of beautiful and well made products, where the integration of design practices found space.!

14 The strategic role of design! In under-structured companies, where the marketing function is still missing, DESIGN PLAYS A ROLE OF MEDIATION IN THE RELATION BETWEEN COMPANY AND MARKET, developing what we are now calling a STRATEGIC APPROACH.! Within this frame, Italian designers are not just providing new shapes for new products, but an overall design direction activity, building a bridge between companies and socio-economic needs.!

15 Design as a mediation system! Technical role of design! Visionary role! of design! WORLD OF CONSTRAINTS! WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES! Design! engineering! Advanced! design! Design can be described as placed in a constant tension between the need to consider constraints - linked to functional, technical and economic requirements, and the need to explore new opportunities.!

16 Design as a mediation system! In Italy, design is not just a more or less significant area of work within companies, but part of their culture, giving them the opportunity - as an Italian say goes - to be with the head in the clouds and the feet on the ground.! Culturally born within the schools of architecture, Italian design developed a strong visionary attitude, that was integrated in companies and turned into their capability of looking far beyond daily needs, to explore and interpret new socio-economical directions.!

17 3. THE EVOLUTION OF DESIGN! IN THE FURNITURE SECTOR!

18 From material to immaterial value! The focalization of companies in advanced industrial economies is progressively shifting from the management of tangibles to the management of intangibles. This does not mean only that our economy has partly moved from tangible goods to services, but that tangible goods require a tough integration of intangible values.! This is a big challenge both for the companies operating in clusters, traditionally linked to the materiality of the factory, and for the design practice, which is in modifying its fields of application and tools.!

19 From material to immaterial value! The idea of PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM represents the expansion form the core historical interest of design in the materiality of the product, to the combination of tangible and intangible elements linked to communication, service and presence in the point of sale.!

20 From products to lifestyles! While the lifestyle is normally representing the behavior and needs of an individual or a social group, in the furniture sector it is turned into a set of qualitative characteristics that can be applied to products and spaces where the products are presented and perceived.! Lifestyles introduce the idea that companies can build value through an atmosphere, which can be designed and managed, shifting communication to an emotional level. In this change brand plays a significant role, becoming a strategic issue for most of the furniture companies.!

21 From products to lifestyles! Through lifestyles, companies have the opportunity of extending the lifecycle of their products, continuously refreshing them, or adapting them to different tastes and situations.! In this view, lifestyles can be designed, defining new atmospheres based on environments, sets of colours, materials, and finishing, which can be adopted to offer the opportunity to keep the products in the market and update them at the same time.!

22 From products to services! The strategic role played by the capability to build value around the product is driving the attention of furniture companies from the tangibility of the products and the points of sale to the intangibility of the services and the overall customer s experience. The POS becomes a strategic place not just in terms of experience.! For Brinna, a new high-end Brazilian furniture brand, we developed an advanced service design project. The company is now communicating in international magazines the attention to the service as part of its differentiation strategy.!

23 From fixed to customized products! While in a first period customization was meant to provide more choices and a richer shopping experience, now companies are facing the problem of simplifying the process of purchase.! Some companies and markets are running towards the offering of completely customizable products (this is the case of Italy), while some others are adopting a more conservative approach, basing the customization on the combination of pre-defined modules and accessories (this is the case of the north European countries).!

24 Thanks for your attention!