Giro d'Italia
FIEGE Italy keeps growing. In the land where – as Goethe put it – lemons grow, FIEGE maintains its third-largest subsidiary after Germany and Poland. Over the past ten years, FIEGE has steadily expanded its logistics space, with a more than fivefold growth in size – and in 2024, too, some ribbons were cut to celebrate the launch of new spaces.
Football can be cruel at times. The Azzuri had to experience this twice last year. While the defending champions from Nogarole Rocca (#TeamShakalaka) lost the women's final of the legendary FIEGE Soccer Cup in June by a narrow margin, Italy’s men’s national football team was knocked out in the round of 16 of the European Championships only a few days later. As they say in Italy: Così è la vita – that's life!
After two consecutive titles, the Italian colleagues from Team Shakalaka in Nogarole Rocca were narrowly beaten in the final of the FIEGE Soccer Cup 2024.
Our colleagues at FIEGE Italy, in turn, had plenty of reason to smile throughout the remainder of the year. Off the football pitch, things went well. “Our business is growing steadily, and we are experiencing reliable growth despite the strained economic situation. This makes it all the more important to have opened four new logistics centres and increased our total logistics space to around 600,000 square metres in 2024”, says Alberto Birolini, who manages FIEGE's operations in Italy.
Wide range of sectors in strategic regions
DFIEGE’s growth is primarily due to long-standing and trusting partnerships in Italy which especially include companies from the fashion & lifestyle, eCommerce, retail and FMCG sectors. FIEGE provides a number of services, from warehousing, shipping and transportation to returns handling as well as comprehensive value-added services.
Over the last year, FIEGE has strengthened its presence in Nogarole Rocca (Verona), Castel San Giovanni (Piacenza), Mantua, the capital of the Lombard province that goes by the same name, and San Pietro in Casale, a municipality in the metropolitan city of Bologna. Birolini explains: “The Italian logistics market is evolving dynamically. We therefore expect demand for warehouse space to increase.” Which explains why FIEGE has been focussing its expansion plans on the key logistics regions in northern Italy. “There is still a great deal of uncertainty in the market. Some experts believe that, depending on geopolitical tensions, it is possible that the market will shrink even further. Nevertheless, we are investing now, for us to remain a dependable partner for our clients and to be ready for the future”, Birolini adds.
Focus on automation
To achieve this, lean management also plays a central role in Italy, as it does elsewhere in the World of FIEGE, Birolini says: “For us, it's all about offering our customers the best possible service. This only works if we constantly put ourselves and our processes to the test, in order to identify and leverage potential for improvement." While there are still huge efficiency gains to be made through automation, as Birolini believes.
Part of the recipe for success – and a genuine USP compared with other logistics providers in Italy – is that FIEGE operates under its own name at many of its locations. As part of this, FIEGE signs collective labour agreements with the respective branches. “These agreements go beyond generally applicable standards and are also based on location-specific conditions. This allows us to increase the number of permanent contracts, offer more social benefits and introduce performance-based bonus systems – many of these things are not a given in Italy”, Birolini says.
Welcoming diversity: FIEGE Italy has been awarded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UNHCR.
FIEGE Italy has repeatedly received awards for its ongoing efforts to improve working conditions and create a versatile working environment, including a prize presented by the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR. Birolini adds: “We want to be a pioneer both as a logistics provider and an employer, within our industry and beyond. The awards show that we are headed in the right direction – and we are happy to have created a good foundation based on which we can continue on our path.”
