An original study applies the criteria for change identified in biology to the manufacturing sector

 

Industries have changed over the course of their history and continue to change, following evolutionary trajectories that do not conform to a single pattern. It is a question of heritage and current circumstances, one of entrepreneurial culture and of men and women at work. Industries, it seems, whose technical and economic development is comparable – in some respects – to that of living organisms. This forms the basis of Roberto Grandinetti’s argument in his paper ‘L’evoluzione dei settori industriali. Processi invarianti e declinazioni specifiche (The evolution of industrial sectors. Invariant processes and specific manifestations), which was recently published.

The author seeks to apply the three key processes of biological evolution – variation, replication and selection – to specific industrial contexts or sectors. More specifically, as Grandinetti himself points out, the aim of the study is to apply an analysis of key evolutionary processes to different situations in terms of the structure and stage of development of industries, in order to understand which models can be used to represent the evolution of the industry itself. The scope of this approach to analysing industrial development is the (broad) manufacturing sector.

Although manufacturing industries are living entities of a rather unusual kind, they are described in terms of their variations in form and content, their ability to replicate and produce other industrial entities, and their selection process driven by internal forces and market conditions.

Factories as living places, then. And this is perhaps the most intriguing suggestion put forward by Roberto Grandinetti’s research. Industries, their factories and their offices are environments brought to life by human activity. Precisely because they are alive, they are never the same as before; rather, they evolve along trajectories that, while having certain constants, also possess specific characteristics that must be taken into account.

L’evoluzione dei settori industriali. Processi invarianti e declinazioni specifiche

Roberto Grandinetti

L’Industria, June, 2026