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INTEGRATED REPORT |
The Integrated Report, promoted by Assopiastrelle and SNAM and produced in 1998 by the Bologna Ceramics Centre in collaboration with the Enrico Mattei Eni Foundation, represented a first, important step in the creation of a tool for monitoring the state of health of the Italian ceramics industry. Its investigation involved 160 productive units spread over the national territory, out of a total of 379 (equivalent to almost 15,000 of a total of 31,000 workers). In general, the research focussed on two aspects: quality of production and environmental quality. Factors analysed in detail included production systems, product quality, line control, safety, energy, hygiene and the environment.
Especially in situations such as the interrelationship between the environment and worker safety, its integrated approach demonstrated how only by putting into operation the unified vision that is fundamental to sustainable development can it possible to operate efficiently. Among the significant elements that emerged from the investigation, special note must be made of the discovery of an insufficient attention on the part of the companies in the sector to the mechanisms for quality certification, at the level of both the company and the product. The limited success obtained by the ISO 9000 series should be noted in particular. More specifically, if considerations of 'system quality' turn out to be totally inadequate, companies demonstrate a greater sensitivity to issues related to a more immediate impact of their activities on the market (e.g., testing customer satisfaction).
Another, important tool - functional and complementary to the Integrated Report - is the project of Benchmarking (this too integrated) put in place by Assopiastrelle in order to know the ranking of its associated companies in terms of performance. The project uses the same indicators as the Integrated Report: environment, energy, safety-health and quality.
The overall picture drawn by the Integrated Report of 1998 describes an industry in evolution, aware of the necessity of environmental protection and management of resources. On-going technological evolution and the market pressures to which the sector is exposed have provoked differing companies to adopt management tools, to assign clear responsibility for the problematic of environmental protection and to improve internal and external communication. In these circumstances one factor for success is represented by the integration of quality management, environmental management and safety management. The process of achieving sustainable development makes necessary an entirely integrated management, modelled on programmes of total quality, the so-called TQEM, Total Quality Environmental Management.
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