S-Tiles - raccomandazioni

CONCLUDING REMARKS/TIPS

The response of Italian companies to the current economic crisis is grounded in the nature of their market success, first of all innovation technology with high level of investment into research of new material that can be used in a broad range of applications, from coverings for interior furnishing elements to interior design, up to large scale building.

In recent years the R&D investments of the sector’s Italian companies have shown an impact of between 6 and 10% on overall output, contributing in this way to the strengthening of production infrastructure and confirming the excellence of the Italian ceramic industry from a global perspective.

However, the emergence of competitors such as China – less inclined to respect environmental and social standards that characterise western manufacturers – has contributed to flooding the ceramic tiles market with products neither certified nor, perhaps, of great quality, but with very low prices.

Trying to compete on the basis of price is, in general, a competition lost from the start. It is much better, therefore, to strengthen the excellence of “Made in Italy” starting from the aspects most difficult for competitors to emulate, directing R&D investment towards the sustainability approach. This will translate into additional efforts at sharing innovation tools on the sector level and putting into practice common strategies aimed at underlining the less visible aspects of the Italian product: from its respect for the environment and local social issues to recognising the new consumers’ needs.