What is the common thread that characterizes SCM’s presence both in its home territory and in the international markets where it operates? Pietro Gheller reveals it to Xylon trade magazine, emphasizing the strong – and far from obvious – link between the Group’s roots and its global presence. We publish below an excerpt from the interview with Luca Rossetti.
Pietro Gheller joined SCM in 2019 as Sales Director of the Wood Division and became its Director in April 2024, taking responsibility for industrial functions, technologies, customer care and business development. A truly “all-round” experience and role, which undoubtedly give him a 360-degree vision: exactly what we needed to try to take stock of the situation in what is undeniably a complex phase…
“There is no denying that uncertainty reigns at the moment, even though this does not prevent us from identifying certain trends”, Gheller begins. “Italy has regained momentum and we closed 2025 with results I would define as decent, growing compared to 2024 and at levels that bring us closer again to the record figures of 2023. This result was achieved thanks to strategic consistency, which allowed us to regain market share. Spaces that we also made our own in Europe, a substantially stable market, where we achieved particularly important results – in addition to Italy – in France, Spain and Poland. Things did not go the same way in the DACH area (Germany, Austria and Switzerland, ed.) and especially in Germany, where the automotive crisis has dragged, and continues to drag, many other situations with it that penalize us and all our competitors.
We achieved still solid results in North America, despite the uncertainty triggered by the issue of tariffs, with a “real estate” universe that is performing quite well, while we have witnessed a downward trend in South America, especially in Brazil. Oceania is holding up, while it is the Asian economy that is worrying, China above all: Chinese construction is in a state of severe distress, with a surplus of properties and thousands of unfinished buildings that cannot fail to weigh on the world of wood and furniture as well, even though the Chinese government is working intensively to reactivate the virtuous cycle. Not to mention an increasingly aggressive local production…”.
A topic, this, that is increasingly worrying…
“… and not without reason: we must be very attentive to Chinese competition, which has undoubtedly grown and which we encounter significantly in Asia and South America. We are nevertheless talking about an offering that still has several gaps to fill, first and foremost guaranteeing a continuous relationship with the dealer and the customer, a plus that is not in the DNA of Chinese industry in general. For us at SCM, on the other hand, it is a strength to be able to boast quality relationships with customers and dealers: a stable relationship with our partners is an unparalleled and probably unmatchable value.
This distinctive trait is an example of our ability to “think globally” and to adapt choices, strategies and priorities to the needs of different markets. You see, just to touch on the “focus” theme in which this interview will be published, SCM is a company that by history, choice and vocation is deeply rooted in the territory in which it was born and in Italy in general, but it learned very early on to think about different markets by customizing its actions in every geographical area where it is present. We are able to develop very different “go to market” models: in some countries we are in direct contact with our end customers, in others we are completely connected with the work of our dealers”.
Doctor Gheller, in a changing world are the “things that matter” always the same?
“Absolutely. The value of the relationship with the customer, for example: a commitment that goes beyond the moment of sale; a strategy, a closeness over time that in recent years has seen us invest heavily in people and tools. The term “servitization”, not one of the simplest, actually sums up aspects that are fundamental for us, such as the loyalty of the relationship with the customer, which we are amplifying thanks to digital tools that, from a service perspective, allow us to always be at the side of those who have chosen us: a continuous exchange of information to be not only reactive but increasingly proactive, even intervening before a problem can arise.
To do this, we have significantly increased the level of “sensorization” of our machines and systems, creating a true ecosystem through which we can collect more and more information and turn it into high value-added services. We are talking about an enormous amount of data, coming from over 4,000 machines connected to our “Control Room”, information that we collect, manage and analyze also thanks to that artificial intelligence that is talked about so much and that has long permeated the content of our work”.
Read the full interview on Xylon.it website: “Valuable relationships with the customer”: the most important goal for SCM - Xylon.it online daily newspaper
