—————— Introduce yourself:
I’m Maurizio and I’m 41 years old. I was born in Modena, I’m married and I have two children, Leonardo and Eleonora, ages 6 and 4.
—————— How long have you worked at Sitma?
I’ve been working at Sitma since June 2018, so a little over two years.
—————— What’s your educational and professional background?
I attended liceo scientifico, or scientific high school, and later studied Mechanical Engineering. I had the chance to work on my thesis with Ducati and earned the highest possible score, finishing within the five years allotted for the course. In my varied professional experiences, I’ve held many different roles: lathe turner, designer, tester, project leader, project manager, R&D manager and technical manager. I’ve taken these steps after being transferred to different companies or even sometimes within the same company. They’ve given me a broad view of the technical field.
Alongside my professional commitments, I’ve taken evening courses to develop my English language skills, and in 2017, I began the Project Manager certification process, earning my PMP® certificate.
—————— What do you do at Sitma?
My official job title at Sitma is R&D Manager. I listen to what the market needs, and I look for innovative solutions that respond to those market requests and to market development, with the goal of helping Sitma provide new products and offerings.
Day in and day out, along with what I mentioned above, I also have the technical responsibility of carrying out important orders in the logistics sector for international postal operators, which requires overseeing internal and external Sitma teams, in constant contact with the client and the client’s representatives.
—————— What’s the most stimulating part of your work? What have you brought to Sitma?
My work is never repetitive. What’s more stimulating than that? “Projects” are, after all, unique by definition. To carry them out well, you need resilience and adaptability. So I really think I’ve brought energy, a willingness to work and a little bit of humor to Sitma. In my role, skills often take a backseat to the ability to boost the morale of those around me. In my opinion, it’s essential to never stop smiling and joking around, even in what appear to be the most difficult moments.
Experience has taught me that good manners and smiling will open many more doors than authority and strictness. I hope to set an example and live this out each day.
—————— What specifically ties you to the company? What values do you share and what do you think are the ones to focus on?
Passion.
From the very first contact, it’s clear that the company’s solid foundations rest on ties between colleagues that in many cases extend beyond simple working relationships. Events outside of work—dinners, parties, tournaments—see significant and totally voluntary participation by team members at all levels. At work, it’s common for there to be contrasting visions and sometimes heated moments of confrontation. In these instances, passion can emerge in an overwhelming, amplified way, but it’s always paired with respect and a desire to help the company succeed. Strong technical skills, together with individuals’ passions and group strength, have allowed Sitma, through the decades, to develop incredible solutions.
—————— What do you do in your spare time?
With a wife and two small children, we should define what we mean here by spare time… Joking aside, my free time is the time I spend with them! Playtime, walks, trips … we always try to make the time we spend together the best way to spend a day. However, I do try to carve out some space for myself for sports and exercise. Running, mainly, but also skiing and swimming. In calmer moments, I try to pick up the guitar again, but my repertoire is not what it used to be – today it’s mostly about entertaining my kids.
—————— How would you describe yourself? Do you have a motto? If so, what is it?
“My” motto is “together we stand, divided we fall.” The first time I heard it was while listening to Pink Floyd, but then I discovered that its origin was not Roger Waters’ genius. It describes me perfectly. At all times, in every situation, you can’t hope to achieve anything if you can’t completely rely on the person next to you. In life just as in work, to win, you can only close ranks and stand shoulder to shoulder with the person next to you; it’s only by trusting his loyalty that you can withstand the strongest impacts. If there’s a fracture or breakage, if the person next to you moves away or, even worse, turns his or her back on you, there’s no chance of overcoming the challenge. You fall.
—————— A topical question on Covid-19 and Sitma – how did it affect you? What challenges did you face and how did you confront them? What is the positive side of this situation?
Covid-19 has taken from us at Sitma. It took from us a moral guide, an example, a man. A lot has already been said and written about this, and so I won’t expound further, but for those who, like me, had few opportunities to talk to him or see him in action, it was very painful news.
Professionally speaking, Covid-19 has accelerated a change that the company would have been forced to embrace anyway. Company digitization is a necessity, even for a historical and traditional business like Sitma, and flexible working is just a logical operational reflection of this. The way in which we took this step was sudden and put everyone to the test.
In our little family, we had to completely overhaul the domestic balance, to find and carve out new spaces and new ways of managing everyday life. It was a difficult and thankfully limited period. We only got through it thanks to our compatibility – but it once again made us stronger and more aware of how true my motto is!
