What innovations and where?

27 October 2020

An article published in Impresa Sociale analyses the theoretical mechanisms and practical cases of new approaches to innovative policies with the ability to provide a response to the new challenges we face today

Companies and social players are increasingly finding themselves faced with a situation that is not only complex but also constantly changing. The Covid-19 pandemic is certainly now the most significant ‘cause’ of this complexity, but there had already been various other sources of pressure complicating the situation prior to that. What we need are new policies and renewed commitments on all parts — a challenge within a challenge, then, and one that Mario Calderini and Francesco Gerli (both of the Politecnico di Milano) address in their article published in one of the latest issues of Impresa Sociale.

‘Innovazione, sfide sociali e protagonismo dell’imprenditoria ad impatto. Un ripensamento degli ecosistemi d’innovazione per una nuova generazione di politiche’ (‘Innovation, social challenges and entrepreneurship with impact. Rethinking innovation ecosystems for a new generation of policies’) is a complex research article that addresses an ever-changing issue and is worthy of careful reading.

The starting point for Calderini and Gerli’s article is that “the global pandemic that the Covid-19 virus has created and the crisis, with its strong systematic characterisation, that it has caused represent one of the great social and environmental challenges that innovation and technology policies must also now face”. All the more so, in fact, with the two authors immediately explain that the need to face what are referred to as “major challenges” appears “even more pressing in the contemporary post-pandemic context”.

Calderini and Gerli consequently reason based on the most recent literature, beginning by looking at failures, ‘grand challenges’ and an additional challenge in the form of the regional innovation management. One of the potential tasks that will help us to respond appropriately to this change is, in fact, the radicalisation of innovation on the ground. A number of theoretical approaches to understanding what is defined as (positive) “impact-oriented entrepreneurship” are therefore examined and the potential characteristics of an “innovation ecosystem” with the ability to create such an impact in a particular region considered.

This being the case, the study conducted by Calderini and Gerli ends with two case studies, namely those of Mind (the Milan Innovation District) and the Torino Social Impact.

Reading what the two researchers from the Politecnico di Milano have written is no easy task, but it could well prove useful if you feel you are ready to move beyond simply looking at the facts to really understand them in greater depth.

Innovazione, sfide sociali e protagonismo dell’imprenditoria ad impatto. Un ripensamento degli ecosistemi d’innovazione per una nuova generazione di politiche

Mario Calderini, Francesco Gerli (Politecnico di Milano)

Impresa sociale, 3, 2020, pagg. 10-19

An article published in Impresa Sociale analyses the theoretical mechanisms and practical cases of new approaches to innovative policies with the ability to provide a response to the new challenges we face today

Companies and social players are increasingly finding themselves faced with a situation that is not only complex but also constantly changing. The Covid-19 pandemic is certainly now the most significant ‘cause’ of this complexity, but there had already been various other sources of pressure complicating the situation prior to that. What we need are new policies and renewed commitments on all parts — a challenge within a challenge, then, and one that Mario Calderini and Francesco Gerli (both of the Politecnico di Milano) address in their article published in one of the latest issues of Impresa Sociale.

‘Innovazione, sfide sociali e protagonismo dell’imprenditoria ad impatto. Un ripensamento degli ecosistemi d’innovazione per una nuova generazione di politiche’ (‘Innovation, social challenges and entrepreneurship with impact. Rethinking innovation ecosystems for a new generation of policies’) is a complex research article that addresses an ever-changing issue and is worthy of careful reading.

The starting point for Calderini and Gerli’s article is that “the global pandemic that the Covid-19 virus has created and the crisis, with its strong systematic characterisation, that it has caused represent one of the great social and environmental challenges that innovation and technology policies must also now face”. All the more so, in fact, with the two authors immediately explain that the need to face what are referred to as “major challenges” appears “even more pressing in the contemporary post-pandemic context”.

Calderini and Gerli consequently reason based on the most recent literature, beginning by looking at failures, ‘grand challenges’ and an additional challenge in the form of the regional innovation management. One of the potential tasks that will help us to respond appropriately to this change is, in fact, the radicalisation of innovation on the ground. A number of theoretical approaches to understanding what is defined as (positive) “impact-oriented entrepreneurship” are therefore examined and the potential characteristics of an “innovation ecosystem” with the ability to create such an impact in a particular region considered.

This being the case, the study conducted by Calderini and Gerli ends with two case studies, namely those of Mind (the Milan Innovation District) and the Torino Social Impact.

Reading what the two researchers from the Politecnico di Milano have written is no easy task, but it could well prove useful if you feel you are ready to move beyond simply looking at the facts to really understand them in greater depth.

Innovazione, sfide sociali e protagonismo dell’imprenditoria ad impatto. Un ripensamento degli ecosistemi d’innovazione per una nuova generazione di politiche

Mario Calderini, Francesco Gerli (Politecnico di Milano)

Impresa sociale, 3, 2020, pagg. 10-19

The beating heart of the company

27 October 2020

The pathway to promoting the individual as the ultimate production goal condensed into a single book

People are at the heart of everything we do; a statement that might sound somewhat obvious, but one that, nevertheless, always requires some sort of emphasis. Indeed, it is still easy, in some situations, to cast the human dimension aside and prioritise something else altogether when it comes to running a business, although a sense of corporate social responsibility is increasingly permeating the boards of directors and of course the behaviours of production organisations.

Reading ‘Human-centered branding’. CSR, internal branding e dinamiche slow, written by Roberto Grandicelli, is a good way to systematise information on the relationship between man and the production organisation in terms of communication, advertising, marketing and branding in their many and varied forms. The text outlines, in fact, a new branding strategy that places mankind at the centre of all business dynamics. Furthermore, the author looks back at the progress made so far (from the brand to branding), analysing its evolution to date and looking at the human aspects, with a strong emphasis on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), going so far as to illustrate the ‘human-centred branding’ philosophy,

that is to say putting mankind at the heart of the company by adopting a working and business management method that takes the individual as the point of reference with regard to market logic and views profit as a side effect of creating value. The company, as the author clearly explains, is therefore seen as a place where each individual sees their ambitions fulfilled and gets an appropriate sense of satisfaction through the creation of value and with the utmost respect for the community. What Grandicelli describes is not a liberal reality with feel-good aims but rather something that still has profit and efficiency in mind but prioritises broader and more complex objectives.

In addition to the theory itself, Grandicelli also outlines a series of case studies such as those relating to the CoVA (Val D’Agri Oil Centre) created by Eni, the MUMAC (Coffee Machine Museum) in Cimbali and the Imprenditrici Ribelli initiative created by the DRIIN business academy.

Grandicelli’s book takes the reader by the hand along a path that has not ended and that should certainly not be taken for granted. Definitely worth a read.

‘Human-centered branding’. CSR, internal branding e dinamiche slow

Roberto Grandicelli

Franco Angeli, 2020

The pathway to promoting the individual as the ultimate production goal condensed into a single book

People are at the heart of everything we do; a statement that might sound somewhat obvious, but one that, nevertheless, always requires some sort of emphasis. Indeed, it is still easy, in some situations, to cast the human dimension aside and prioritise something else altogether when it comes to running a business, although a sense of corporate social responsibility is increasingly permeating the boards of directors and of course the behaviours of production organisations.

Reading ‘Human-centered branding’. CSR, internal branding e dinamiche slow, written by Roberto Grandicelli, is a good way to systematise information on the relationship between man and the production organisation in terms of communication, advertising, marketing and branding in their many and varied forms. The text outlines, in fact, a new branding strategy that places mankind at the centre of all business dynamics. Furthermore, the author looks back at the progress made so far (from the brand to branding), analysing its evolution to date and looking at the human aspects, with a strong emphasis on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), going so far as to illustrate the ‘human-centred branding’ philosophy,

that is to say putting mankind at the heart of the company by adopting a working and business management method that takes the individual as the point of reference with regard to market logic and views profit as a side effect of creating value. The company, as the author clearly explains, is therefore seen as a place where each individual sees their ambitions fulfilled and gets an appropriate sense of satisfaction through the creation of value and with the utmost respect for the community. What Grandicelli describes is not a liberal reality with feel-good aims but rather something that still has profit and efficiency in mind but prioritises broader and more complex objectives.

In addition to the theory itself, Grandicelli also outlines a series of case studies such as those relating to the CoVA (Val D’Agri Oil Centre) created by Eni, the MUMAC (Coffee Machine Museum) in Cimbali and the Imprenditrici Ribelli initiative created by the DRIIN business academy.

Grandicelli’s book takes the reader by the hand along a path that has not ended and that should certainly not be taken for granted. Definitely worth a read.

‘Human-centered branding’. CSR, internal branding e dinamiche slow

Roberto Grandicelli

Franco Angeli, 2020

Growing social unease, saving for fear of an uncertain future,
and the need for politicians to make the right choices to restore faith

27 October 2020

We are heading for the winter of our discontent, afraid that the pandemic will spread like wild fire once more; worried about the struggling economy, falling incomes and ever-increasing job instability; tired of the poorly kept promises of crisis intervention; alarmed by the mounting social tension and protests taking place in various cities across the country, which are being stirred up and exploited by the radical right and the Camorra, and feeling beaten and discouraged as a result of all of the above. These are darks times in which we are living, increasingly aware of our both personal and social fragility, and we have no real idea how long it will take, this journey to brighter days, waiting for the coronavirus vaccine to arrive at some point in the future. The European Union’s Recovery Plan investments are dwindling, and we can only hope that the government will finally make the right choices to tackle the emergency and support the recovery in the medium term. Today we feel “like the autumn leaves on the trees” — weak, deciduous. When is tomorrow going to come? Meanwhile, in a crisis of confidence, we are not consuming and we are not investing, choosing instead to save the money we have.

There is one figure that represents, with extraordinary clarity, this sense of unease and widespread distrust: 1,682. 1,682 billion, to be exact. That’s how much money the Italians are holding in their current accounts, just sitting there, doing nothing, giving next to nothing in the way of returns (according to data from the ABI, the Associazione delle Banche and Bankitalia). In August, this figure stood at 1,671. At the end of 2018 it was 1,476 — a good 200 billion less. “With confidence at its lowest ebb, saving levels hit record high”, read the front page of Il Sole24Ore on 22 October.

The phenomenon of increased levels of saving is not, of course, unique to Italy but is one that has been observed to some extent across all of the Western countries affected by Covid-19. The average rate in the Eurozone is 24.6% — a figure that has doubled over the past six months. The rate in Germany currently stands at 21.1%, in Spain 31.3% and in Great Britain 28.1% — a three-fold increase on the 9.1% of the previous three months.

In Italy, meanwhile, the average rate of saving stands at 19.6% — below the EU average. This does not, however, mean that we are less sceptical here in Italy, but rather, according to Bankitalia data, that we had already depleted our resources more over the last twenty years than the other large European countries had, the consequences of this including a decrease in purchasing power and the propensity to save — a notion that becomes all the more concerning when you consider the strong and deep-rooted attitude of Italian families to saving.

In a nutshell, then, what we now face is a culmination of a number of negative phenomena — the fall in income and purchasing power (on average, we in Italy did not recover the GDP lost during the great financial crisis of 2008), now aggravated by the pandemic, a decline in consumption, and the stagnation of investment (most companies had slowed or frozen their investments under the previous 5Stelle-Lega government owing to the uncertainty of the political and economic context and the ill-considered political decision to cease tax breaks for Industria 4.0 innovation). We’re not making money, we’re not spending and we’re not investing, meaning that we are at risk of getting stuck in a vicious circle that only aggravates the recession we are currently experiencing. Indeed, as Donato Masciandaro, one of Italy’s most authoritative financial economists, confirms (Il Sole24Ore, 24 October), “[t]he system has fallen – or is falling – into a liquidity trap. It is a perverse mechanism. A stagnant macroeconomic scenario causes the liquidity transmission mechanism to break down because rather than creating a temporary excess of prudence, what uncertainty does is create a structural surplus of fear, as a result of which households do not spend, businesses do not invest, banks do not lend, and the macroeconomic situation gets even worse”.

How, then, should we respond? With all those measures designed to rebuild a climate of confidence, which is vital in such a large and widespread context of crisis. We need the government to keep up with the times and finally demonstrate awareness, a sense of responsibility and competence with consistent, timely and effective decisions. Emergency measures that will help reassure families and businesses, guaranteeing incomes and opportunities for those who, especially in certain service sectors (tourism, culture, catering, leisure, etc.) have lost their jobs, and far-sighted choices that will promote long-term economic recovery. The ESM, for example, could also finally be used to show public opinion that this 35 billion’s worth of debt at extremely low interest rates will all be used to improve healthcare (borrowing from the market on any other grounds would fuel the idea that it were to be used to support the prevalent welfare culture, which would be met with fleeting consensus but quickly eat through resources). Then, of course, clear plans for the over 200 billion of the Recovery Fund would need to be outlined, for the green economy and the digital economy, sustainability and innovation, and thinking about the new generations.

We still have more difficult, painful months of loneliness, even with only partial closures, fear, social tension and growing uncertainty ahead, and the danger is that this sense of distrust will intensify and the ‘demoralisation’ about which President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella warned us will create new political and social divides. We are, in short, at a truly critical point, on the crest that separates the worsening of the disease, on one side, from the recovery, on the other, and never before has our salvation been so firmly in the hands of a community that must now regain a sense of civic spirit and be able to rely on responsible democratic leadership. We simply cannot afford to allow any acts that do not reflect good governance or behaviour that is not civil.

We are heading for the winter of our discontent, afraid that the pandemic will spread like wild fire once more; worried about the struggling economy, falling incomes and ever-increasing job instability; tired of the poorly kept promises of crisis intervention; alarmed by the mounting social tension and protests taking place in various cities across the country, which are being stirred up and exploited by the radical right and the Camorra, and feeling beaten and discouraged as a result of all of the above. These are darks times in which we are living, increasingly aware of our both personal and social fragility, and we have no real idea how long it will take, this journey to brighter days, waiting for the coronavirus vaccine to arrive at some point in the future. The European Union’s Recovery Plan investments are dwindling, and we can only hope that the government will finally make the right choices to tackle the emergency and support the recovery in the medium term. Today we feel “like the autumn leaves on the trees” — weak, deciduous. When is tomorrow going to come? Meanwhile, in a crisis of confidence, we are not consuming and we are not investing, choosing instead to save the money we have.

There is one figure that represents, with extraordinary clarity, this sense of unease and widespread distrust: 1,682. 1,682 billion, to be exact. That’s how much money the Italians are holding in their current accounts, just sitting there, doing nothing, giving next to nothing in the way of returns (according to data from the ABI, the Associazione delle Banche and Bankitalia). In August, this figure stood at 1,671. At the end of 2018 it was 1,476 — a good 200 billion less. “With confidence at its lowest ebb, saving levels hit record high”, read the front page of Il Sole24Ore on 22 October.

The phenomenon of increased levels of saving is not, of course, unique to Italy but is one that has been observed to some extent across all of the Western countries affected by Covid-19. The average rate in the Eurozone is 24.6% — a figure that has doubled over the past six months. The rate in Germany currently stands at 21.1%, in Spain 31.3% and in Great Britain 28.1% — a three-fold increase on the 9.1% of the previous three months.

In Italy, meanwhile, the average rate of saving stands at 19.6% — below the EU average. This does not, however, mean that we are less sceptical here in Italy, but rather, according to Bankitalia data, that we had already depleted our resources more over the last twenty years than the other large European countries had, the consequences of this including a decrease in purchasing power and the propensity to save — a notion that becomes all the more concerning when you consider the strong and deep-rooted attitude of Italian families to saving.

In a nutshell, then, what we now face is a culmination of a number of negative phenomena — the fall in income and purchasing power (on average, we in Italy did not recover the GDP lost during the great financial crisis of 2008), now aggravated by the pandemic, a decline in consumption, and the stagnation of investment (most companies had slowed or frozen their investments under the previous 5Stelle-Lega government owing to the uncertainty of the political and economic context and the ill-considered political decision to cease tax breaks for Industria 4.0 innovation). We’re not making money, we’re not spending and we’re not investing, meaning that we are at risk of getting stuck in a vicious circle that only aggravates the recession we are currently experiencing. Indeed, as Donato Masciandaro, one of Italy’s most authoritative financial economists, confirms (Il Sole24Ore, 24 October), “[t]he system has fallen – or is falling – into a liquidity trap. It is a perverse mechanism. A stagnant macroeconomic scenario causes the liquidity transmission mechanism to break down because rather than creating a temporary excess of prudence, what uncertainty does is create a structural surplus of fear, as a result of which households do not spend, businesses do not invest, banks do not lend, and the macroeconomic situation gets even worse”.

How, then, should we respond? With all those measures designed to rebuild a climate of confidence, which is vital in such a large and widespread context of crisis. We need the government to keep up with the times and finally demonstrate awareness, a sense of responsibility and competence with consistent, timely and effective decisions. Emergency measures that will help reassure families and businesses, guaranteeing incomes and opportunities for those who, especially in certain service sectors (tourism, culture, catering, leisure, etc.) have lost their jobs, and far-sighted choices that will promote long-term economic recovery. The ESM, for example, could also finally be used to show public opinion that this 35 billion’s worth of debt at extremely low interest rates will all be used to improve healthcare (borrowing from the market on any other grounds would fuel the idea that it were to be used to support the prevalent welfare culture, which would be met with fleeting consensus but quickly eat through resources). Then, of course, clear plans for the over 200 billion of the Recovery Fund would need to be outlined, for the green economy and the digital economy, sustainability and innovation, and thinking about the new generations.

We still have more difficult, painful months of loneliness, even with only partial closures, fear, social tension and growing uncertainty ahead, and the danger is that this sense of distrust will intensify and the ‘demoralisation’ about which President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella warned us will create new political and social divides. We are, in short, at a truly critical point, on the crest that separates the worsening of the disease, on one side, from the recovery, on the other, and never before has our salvation been so firmly in the hands of a community that must now regain a sense of civic spirit and be able to rely on responsible democratic leadership. We simply cannot afford to allow any acts that do not reflect good governance or behaviour that is not civil.

Kids, It’s Time to Talk Sustainability
with the Pirelli Foundation at Time4child

23 October 2020

From 9 to 13 November, the Pirelli Foundation will be participating in TIME4CHILD Digital, an event that offers the younger generations the knowledge they need to make informed decisions and to grow up in tomorrow’s world.

In particular, the Pirelli Foundation will join the event to talk to children and young people about sustainability, with online streaming events and thematic analyses made available at a virtual stand. Natural rubber, urban mobility and the beautiful factory are some of the themes addressed in Pirelli’s sustainable strategy, as illustrated in the educational courses created for children aged from 11 to 18. In addition, Stefano Porro, the future mobility manager at Pirelli, will illustrate the company’s latest developments in the field of sustainable mobility and the projects it is promoting with representatives of the institutions and companies in the Bicocca area in Milan. These projects are designed to bring new ideas and solutions that can have a real impact on the future of our cities.

When visiting the Pirelli Foundation’s virtual stand, you will also be able to access videos, articles, and links that will give you an in-depth look at the Foundation and at the Group’s responsible management policy as outlined in the sustainable development goals of the United Nations Global Compact.

The detailed programme of the activities is as follows:

Going fast takes time

From rubber tree to sustainable tyres

Monday 9 and Thursday 12 November at 10.30 a.m.

Teaching programme – 11-14 years

Let’s allow ourselves to be guided by historical documents, pictures, and videos on a virtual journey through the rubber plantations where the farmers extract the latex in Indonesia and Thailand. Here we can also discover the characteristics of this plant and the richness of the environment where it grows, and follow it in Pirelli’s research and development laboratories, where it is mixed with other ingredients, studied and tested, and ultimately enters the factory.

Duration: 50 minutes

An increasingly sustainable business

Sustainable products and processes in Pirelli’s digital factories

Tuesday 10 and Friday 13 November at 10.30 a.m.

Teaching programme – 14-18 years

Pirelli always keeps a watchful eye on environmental issues and human rights, and adopts a strict policy of sustainability inspired by the objectives laid out by the United Nations. On this course, we enter the company virtually and follow the entire life cycle of the product, from the study of new materials and innovative processes to the reduction of the environmental impact of tyres and support for the circular economy, through to the launch of new products to keep passengers and drivers safe, without forgetting those for electric vehicles.

Duration: 50 minutes

Smart cities and sustainable mobility

Online meeting with Stefano Porro, Future Mobility Manager, Pirelli

Wednesday 11 November at 11 a.m.

From 14 years

Smart cities are notable for their integration of disciplines, and their technologically advanced structures and facilities, which are designed to achieve sustainable growth and the improvement of the quality of people’s lives. Stefano Porro, the future mobility manager at Pirelli, will explain the mobility solutions adopted by these cities. Pirelli has long been engaged in working on road safety and sustainable mobility projects, such as the cyber tyre and the Pirelli CYCL-e around, and we shall see what changes are afoot and discover how digitisation, the electrification of micro-mobility, and shared mobility may be able to satisfy new needs.

Duration: 50 minutes

If you wish to take part in this event, the link will soon be available on the website www.time4child.com

For further information, you can also write to schools@fondazionepirelli.org

From 9 to 13 November, the Pirelli Foundation will be participating in TIME4CHILD Digital, an event that offers the younger generations the knowledge they need to make informed decisions and to grow up in tomorrow’s world.

In particular, the Pirelli Foundation will join the event to talk to children and young people about sustainability, with online streaming events and thematic analyses made available at a virtual stand. Natural rubber, urban mobility and the beautiful factory are some of the themes addressed in Pirelli’s sustainable strategy, as illustrated in the educational courses created for children aged from 11 to 18. In addition, Stefano Porro, the future mobility manager at Pirelli, will illustrate the company’s latest developments in the field of sustainable mobility and the projects it is promoting with representatives of the institutions and companies in the Bicocca area in Milan. These projects are designed to bring new ideas and solutions that can have a real impact on the future of our cities.

When visiting the Pirelli Foundation’s virtual stand, you will also be able to access videos, articles, and links that will give you an in-depth look at the Foundation and at the Group’s responsible management policy as outlined in the sustainable development goals of the United Nations Global Compact.

The detailed programme of the activities is as follows:

Going fast takes time

From rubber tree to sustainable tyres

Monday 9 and Thursday 12 November at 10.30 a.m.

Teaching programme – 11-14 years

Let’s allow ourselves to be guided by historical documents, pictures, and videos on a virtual journey through the rubber plantations where the farmers extract the latex in Indonesia and Thailand. Here we can also discover the characteristics of this plant and the richness of the environment where it grows, and follow it in Pirelli’s research and development laboratories, where it is mixed with other ingredients, studied and tested, and ultimately enters the factory.

Duration: 50 minutes

An increasingly sustainable business

Sustainable products and processes in Pirelli’s digital factories

Tuesday 10 and Friday 13 November at 10.30 a.m.

Teaching programme – 14-18 years

Pirelli always keeps a watchful eye on environmental issues and human rights, and adopts a strict policy of sustainability inspired by the objectives laid out by the United Nations. On this course, we enter the company virtually and follow the entire life cycle of the product, from the study of new materials and innovative processes to the reduction of the environmental impact of tyres and support for the circular economy, through to the launch of new products to keep passengers and drivers safe, without forgetting those for electric vehicles.

Duration: 50 minutes

Smart cities and sustainable mobility

Online meeting with Stefano Porro, Future Mobility Manager, Pirelli

Wednesday 11 November at 11 a.m.

From 14 years

Smart cities are notable for their integration of disciplines, and their technologically advanced structures and facilities, which are designed to achieve sustainable growth and the improvement of the quality of people’s lives. Stefano Porro, the future mobility manager at Pirelli, will explain the mobility solutions adopted by these cities. Pirelli has long been engaged in working on road safety and sustainable mobility projects, such as the cyber tyre and the Pirelli CYCL-e around, and we shall see what changes are afoot and discover how digitisation, the electrification of micro-mobility, and shared mobility may be able to satisfy new needs.

Duration: 50 minutes

If you wish to take part in this event, the link will soon be available on the website www.time4child.com

For further information, you can also write to schools@fondazionepirelli.org

Industry 4.0 for all?

20 October 2020

A thesis presented at Ca’ Foscari offers an interesting snapshot of the position of Italian industry with regard to innovation

Industry 4.0,and everything that comes with it.A goal for everyone to strive to achieve, aware as we all are not only of the different points from which we are starting but also of the potential that is there to be utilised. Reading the research undertaken by Gregorio Toffon that was recently presented on the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice’s degree course in Administration, Finance and Control could certainly prove useful when it comes to better understanding the difficulties that must be overcome and the levers that can be capitalised upon.

Impresa 4.0 Opportunità e Sfide del Futuro (“Enterprise 4.0 Opportunities and Future Challenges”) offers a clear overview of the position of Italian industry with regard to 4.0 technologies. The study first takes into account the “four industrial revolutions” that have shaped history, before focusing on the characteristics of Industry 4.0 and its nine ‘pillars’, followed by an in-depth examination of certain aspects such as so-called soft skills, as well as productivity and the importance of innovative start-ups. All of this eventually leads back to the reality that our country is currently facing through a series of 8 company case studies, notably including those of ABB, Beretta, ROLD and SACMI.

The author writes in his conclusions that “modern entrepreneurs are being called upon to adapt quickly and abruptly to changing market conditions and in order to do so they need to continuously invest in their businesses in terms of both fixed assets and providing personal training for all members of the organisation”. The real problem, however, Toffon points out, is not only the necessary investment but also, first and foremost, the fact that the Italian situation and the policies pertaining to Industry 4.0 are still a long way off target, which is partly to do with investment and partly with a business culture that needs to grow and develop.

Industry 4.0 certainly presents a complex problem, and one that Toffon’s research will help us to better understand.

Impresa 4.0 Opportunità e sfide del futuro

Gregorio Toffon

Thesis, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Degree Course in Administration, Finance and Control, 2020

A thesis presented at Ca’ Foscari offers an interesting snapshot of the position of Italian industry with regard to innovation

Industry 4.0,and everything that comes with it.A goal for everyone to strive to achieve, aware as we all are not only of the different points from which we are starting but also of the potential that is there to be utilised. Reading the research undertaken by Gregorio Toffon that was recently presented on the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice’s degree course in Administration, Finance and Control could certainly prove useful when it comes to better understanding the difficulties that must be overcome and the levers that can be capitalised upon.

Impresa 4.0 Opportunità e Sfide del Futuro (“Enterprise 4.0 Opportunities and Future Challenges”) offers a clear overview of the position of Italian industry with regard to 4.0 technologies. The study first takes into account the “four industrial revolutions” that have shaped history, before focusing on the characteristics of Industry 4.0 and its nine ‘pillars’, followed by an in-depth examination of certain aspects such as so-called soft skills, as well as productivity and the importance of innovative start-ups. All of this eventually leads back to the reality that our country is currently facing through a series of 8 company case studies, notably including those of ABB, Beretta, ROLD and SACMI.

The author writes in his conclusions that “modern entrepreneurs are being called upon to adapt quickly and abruptly to changing market conditions and in order to do so they need to continuously invest in their businesses in terms of both fixed assets and providing personal training for all members of the organisation”. The real problem, however, Toffon points out, is not only the necessary investment but also, first and foremost, the fact that the Italian situation and the policies pertaining to Industry 4.0 are still a long way off target, which is partly to do with investment and partly with a business culture that needs to grow and develop.

Industry 4.0 certainly presents a complex problem, and one that Toffon’s research will help us to better understand.

Impresa 4.0 Opportunità e sfide del futuro

Gregorio Toffon

Thesis, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Degree Course in Administration, Finance and Control, 2020

A positive crisis

20 October 2020

Two scholars of society reflect upon the difficult realities we face today as we attempt to define a potentially better tomorrow

Crisis as a means of growth and development — a concept that might be difficult to comprehend, yet one that is often the only possible way out of a critical situation and that is, in fact, still very relevant today to all members of a society that is struggling with a pandemic that shows no sign of loosening its grip. The adoption of a ‘proactive’ attitude towards the pandemic, and indeed towards various other issues, is also relevant where the production system is concerned, as well as, evidently, implying something of a cultural leap that affects everyone.

It will no doubt do everyone some good, then, to read Nella Fine è l’Inizio. In che mondo vivremo (“In the End There is the Beginning. The world in which we will live”), written by Chiara Giaccardi and Mauro Magatti, which looks at the position in which the world now finds itself using a whole host of tools and based on the two authors’ backgrounds in sociology and anthropology.

The pandemic crisis, which Giaccardi and Magatti use as the starting point for their book, can be seen as a lens through which to interpret our era, and a telescope that we might use to look further into the future. The basic idea that the book tries to convey is that Covid-19 is not only a tragedy that has disrupted a race that needs to get back on track as soon as possible, but also a fracture that has highlighted various limitations and indeed possibilities; an opportunity to create an unprecedented future as an alternative to an inertial evolution. This being the case, the book, which has not even two hundred pages and is worthy of a thorough read, examines the two opposing factors, namely the possibilities that have been unearthed and the limitations that have been observed, as it unfolds.

The literary task undertaken by Giaccardi and Magatti is also of interest for the way in which the two authors have chosen to structure the text, that is in the form of five chapters based each on a triad of concepts relating to a particular aspect of the reality. Indeed, as the authors put it, “[t]he problem is that, thanks to the extraordinary development that has taken place over the last two centuries, risk, in an advanced society, no longer relates simply to the outcome of a single decision but rather stems from the combined effects of the entire social structure”.

Nella Fine è l’Inizio (“In the End There is the Beginning”) conveys a positive message that begins with the reasoning surrounding the reality of the current situation in order to transform what some people think of as “the end of the world” into the beginning of a new way of life.

Chiara Giaccardi and Mauro Magatti

Nella Fine è l’Inizio. In Che Mondo Vivremo

Il Mulino, 2020

Two scholars of society reflect upon the difficult realities we face today as we attempt to define a potentially better tomorrow

Crisis as a means of growth and development — a concept that might be difficult to comprehend, yet one that is often the only possible way out of a critical situation and that is, in fact, still very relevant today to all members of a society that is struggling with a pandemic that shows no sign of loosening its grip. The adoption of a ‘proactive’ attitude towards the pandemic, and indeed towards various other issues, is also relevant where the production system is concerned, as well as, evidently, implying something of a cultural leap that affects everyone.

It will no doubt do everyone some good, then, to read Nella Fine è l’Inizio. In che mondo vivremo (“In the End There is the Beginning. The world in which we will live”), written by Chiara Giaccardi and Mauro Magatti, which looks at the position in which the world now finds itself using a whole host of tools and based on the two authors’ backgrounds in sociology and anthropology.

The pandemic crisis, which Giaccardi and Magatti use as the starting point for their book, can be seen as a lens through which to interpret our era, and a telescope that we might use to look further into the future. The basic idea that the book tries to convey is that Covid-19 is not only a tragedy that has disrupted a race that needs to get back on track as soon as possible, but also a fracture that has highlighted various limitations and indeed possibilities; an opportunity to create an unprecedented future as an alternative to an inertial evolution. This being the case, the book, which has not even two hundred pages and is worthy of a thorough read, examines the two opposing factors, namely the possibilities that have been unearthed and the limitations that have been observed, as it unfolds.

The literary task undertaken by Giaccardi and Magatti is also of interest for the way in which the two authors have chosen to structure the text, that is in the form of five chapters based each on a triad of concepts relating to a particular aspect of the reality. Indeed, as the authors put it, “[t]he problem is that, thanks to the extraordinary development that has taken place over the last two centuries, risk, in an advanced society, no longer relates simply to the outcome of a single decision but rather stems from the combined effects of the entire social structure”.

Nella Fine è l’Inizio (“In the End There is the Beginning”) conveys a positive message that begins with the reasoning surrounding the reality of the current situation in order to transform what some people think of as “the end of the world” into the beginning of a new way of life.

Chiara Giaccardi and Mauro Magatti

Nella Fine è l’Inizio. In Che Mondo Vivremo

Il Mulino, 2020

Milan in pictures:
using memories of the rubble and the abandonment of the pandemic
to illustrate the city’s ability to rebuild and recover

20 October 2020

“We will rebuild”. It’s May 1945, barely a few weeks after the Liberation. Socialist Mayor of Milan Antonio Greppi stands looking at the rubble of the war-torn city, a sash in the colours of the Italian flag wrapped around his body and the glimmer of a smile on his face, despite his stern gaze, as would be befitting of a popular authoritative figure in a new-found democracy, and makes a commitment, embodying the soul of a wounded and semi-destroyed city and rather than dominating, outlining a new horizon. A reconstruction, to be exact. Just a year later, on 11 May 1946, that reconstruction had come to be represented by: the Teatro alla Scala, which reopened as the new season got under way,. having been ravaged by the bombing that took place on the night of 15-16 August 1943. Now there it stood, in all its illuminated, red velvet-draped glory, Arturo Toscanini returning to the podium, having previously left Italy for America in protest against the violence of the Fascist dictatorship, to conduct an orchestra that would perform pieces by Verdi and Rossini. “We will rebuild”, indeed.

Those words uttered by Greppi have proven to be the perfect title for an exhibition inaugurated last week in the Sala delle Colonne at the Gallerie d’Italia, right on the Piazza della Scala itself. The exhibition comprises seventy photographs, selected from the extensive Publifoto archives, that tell the story of a Milan that had been destroyed by the Anglo-American bombings of ’43 and, alongside them, another series of images taken by photographer Daniele Ratti, who revisited those very places featured in the historical photos (including the Last Supper, La Scala, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Brera, Sant’Ambrogio, the Università Statale and the Piazza Fontana) just a few months ago and has portrayed them in images of the equally painful, albeit in a different way, days of the Covid-19 pandemic. A Milan that had been left wounded by the war, bruised yet still dynamic, and the deserted and silent Milan of the lockdown. The rubble of monuments, churches, houses and apartment blocks, and the emptiness of modern-day fear, the common theme being reconstruction, starting over again. Rebuilding from the ruins of war, or from the fractures caused by illness and recession that we are seeing today.

The exhibition has been curated by Mario Calabresi, who has selected the photographs featured from among the thousands of frames held in an archive of some seven million images that was saved from being dispersed and lost completely by Intesa San Paolo, and features a highly commendable cultural and civil selection. It will remain open to the public until 22 November and will undoubtedly be a topic of conversation for a long time to come.

That Milan of ’45 and the reconstruction that followed soon demonstrated just how dynamic the city was, from the initial reopening of the factories and places of work to successful efforts to boost wealth and the restoration of that profound sense of pride in “doing things and doing them well” for which the Milanese have been renowned throughout the course of their history. Now here it is preparing for a recovery that will soon lead to an economic boom, bringing together industry, banks, businesses, universities and the cultural sphere, that same original combination of dynamism that made Milan the only city of its kind in the country — a great deal of creative initiative, the international outlook of an Italy that is very open to its European neighbours, a distinct attitude towards solidarity and social inclusion (Milanesi si diventa (“You’re not born Milanese; you become it”), to quote the incisive title of a beautiful novel by Carlo Castellaneta, born in Milan to a family of Apulian origin) and a special taste for “polytechnic culture” (Il Politecnico was, in fact, the name of the weekly magazine launched by Elio Vittorini in the wake of the liberation, named after the publication of which Carlo Cattaneo was so fond and attempting to weave the threads of a “useful culture” to interpret, guide and illustrate the change).

The dynamism of Milan soon came to be represented visually by a symbol that rose up from the plain of the metropolis, that symbol being the Pirelli Tower, designed by Gio Ponti and inaugurated just sixty years ago as the headquarters of a multinational company with strong Milanese roots, before going on to house the offices of the Lombardy Regional Council. It would become a key landmark representing architectural beauty and productivity, industry and culture, an international metropolis and local institutions that, during the 1970s, when the regions were introduced, aspired to good *partecipazione* governance and good resource planning. A symbol of the “rising city”, visualised and painted in the early 20th century by extraordinary artist Umberto Boccioni.

Nowadays, the skyscrapers, from Porta Nuova to City Life and various other areas currently under going intense transformation, are a constant feature in Milan — a metropolis that generates 13% of the national GDP and 13% of the country’s exports, hosts some 200,000 students from all over Italy and, for some time now, from various other countries around the world at its universities, and continues to grow by leveraging the synthesis of industry, finance, high-tech services, research, training, culture and quality of life. An open-minded metropolis, and one that is, at the same time, somewhat fragile; indeed, the pandemic has certainly highlighted its problems, imbalances and limitations and continues to do so.

This is why it is worth acknowledging this fragility and above all endeavouring to improve issues relating to governance, social balances, competitiveness and sustainability, not to mention of course, planning and laying the concrete foundations for a new start, even amid the dark, painful times of a health and economic crisis that continues to rage. And remembering how the city was rebuilt from the rubble in the form of a wonderful photographic exhibition. And even thinking back to the emptiness, silence and fear of those first months of the Covid-19 crisis. And reminding ourselves, nevertheless, on a daily basis, that beyond the crisis, beyond the disease, the pain and the social discomfort, there is great energy, and that energy will ensure that life goes on.

“We will rebuild”. It’s May 1945, barely a few weeks after the Liberation. Socialist Mayor of Milan Antonio Greppi stands looking at the rubble of the war-torn city, a sash in the colours of the Italian flag wrapped around his body and the glimmer of a smile on his face, despite his stern gaze, as would be befitting of a popular authoritative figure in a new-found democracy, and makes a commitment, embodying the soul of a wounded and semi-destroyed city and rather than dominating, outlining a new horizon. A reconstruction, to be exact. Just a year later, on 11 May 1946, that reconstruction had come to be represented by: the Teatro alla Scala, which reopened as the new season got under way,. having been ravaged by the bombing that took place on the night of 15-16 August 1943. Now there it stood, in all its illuminated, red velvet-draped glory, Arturo Toscanini returning to the podium, having previously left Italy for America in protest against the violence of the Fascist dictatorship, to conduct an orchestra that would perform pieces by Verdi and Rossini. “We will rebuild”, indeed.

Those words uttered by Greppi have proven to be the perfect title for an exhibition inaugurated last week in the Sala delle Colonne at the Gallerie d’Italia, right on the Piazza della Scala itself. The exhibition comprises seventy photographs, selected from the extensive Publifoto archives, that tell the story of a Milan that had been destroyed by the Anglo-American bombings of ’43 and, alongside them, another series of images taken by photographer Daniele Ratti, who revisited those very places featured in the historical photos (including the Last Supper, La Scala, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Brera, Sant’Ambrogio, the Università Statale and the Piazza Fontana) just a few months ago and has portrayed them in images of the equally painful, albeit in a different way, days of the Covid-19 pandemic. A Milan that had been left wounded by the war, bruised yet still dynamic, and the deserted and silent Milan of the lockdown. The rubble of monuments, churches, houses and apartment blocks, and the emptiness of modern-day fear, the common theme being reconstruction, starting over again. Rebuilding from the ruins of war, or from the fractures caused by illness and recession that we are seeing today.

The exhibition has been curated by Mario Calabresi, who has selected the photographs featured from among the thousands of frames held in an archive of some seven million images that was saved from being dispersed and lost completely by Intesa San Paolo, and features a highly commendable cultural and civil selection. It will remain open to the public until 22 November and will undoubtedly be a topic of conversation for a long time to come.

That Milan of ’45 and the reconstruction that followed soon demonstrated just how dynamic the city was, from the initial reopening of the factories and places of work to successful efforts to boost wealth and the restoration of that profound sense of pride in “doing things and doing them well” for which the Milanese have been renowned throughout the course of their history. Now here it is preparing for a recovery that will soon lead to an economic boom, bringing together industry, banks, businesses, universities and the cultural sphere, that same original combination of dynamism that made Milan the only city of its kind in the country — a great deal of creative initiative, the international outlook of an Italy that is very open to its European neighbours, a distinct attitude towards solidarity and social inclusion (Milanesi si diventa (“You’re not born Milanese; you become it”), to quote the incisive title of a beautiful novel by Carlo Castellaneta, born in Milan to a family of Apulian origin) and a special taste for “polytechnic culture” (Il Politecnico was, in fact, the name of the weekly magazine launched by Elio Vittorini in the wake of the liberation, named after the publication of which Carlo Cattaneo was so fond and attempting to weave the threads of a “useful culture” to interpret, guide and illustrate the change).

The dynamism of Milan soon came to be represented visually by a symbol that rose up from the plain of the metropolis, that symbol being the Pirelli Tower, designed by Gio Ponti and inaugurated just sixty years ago as the headquarters of a multinational company with strong Milanese roots, before going on to house the offices of the Lombardy Regional Council. It would become a key landmark representing architectural beauty and productivity, industry and culture, an international metropolis and local institutions that, during the 1970s, when the regions were introduced, aspired to good *partecipazione* governance and good resource planning. A symbol of the “rising city”, visualised and painted in the early 20th century by extraordinary artist Umberto Boccioni.

Nowadays, the skyscrapers, from Porta Nuova to City Life and various other areas currently under going intense transformation, are a constant feature in Milan — a metropolis that generates 13% of the national GDP and 13% of the country’s exports, hosts some 200,000 students from all over Italy and, for some time now, from various other countries around the world at its universities, and continues to grow by leveraging the synthesis of industry, finance, high-tech services, research, training, culture and quality of life. An open-minded metropolis, and one that is, at the same time, somewhat fragile; indeed, the pandemic has certainly highlighted its problems, imbalances and limitations and continues to do so.

This is why it is worth acknowledging this fragility and above all endeavouring to improve issues relating to governance, social balances, competitiveness and sustainability, not to mention of course, planning and laying the concrete foundations for a new start, even amid the dark, painful times of a health and economic crisis that continues to rage. And remembering how the city was rebuilt from the rubble in the form of a wonderful photographic exhibition. And even thinking back to the emptiness, silence and fear of those first months of the Covid-19 crisis. And reminding ourselves, nevertheless, on a daily basis, that beyond the crisis, beyond the disease, the pain and the social discomfort, there is great energy, and that energy will ensure that life goes on.

Roberto Menghi
and his “good design” for Pirelli polyethylene containers

14 October 2020

The discovery of isotactic polypropylene in 1954 by the chemist Giulio Natta, who later became a Nobel laureate, gave rise to a completely new industry of plastics and synthetic materials. Pirelli, which has always had a close eye on research into materials and into their industrial applications, started manufacturing items in polyethylene. “The glass of the future will be like rubber”, announces the title of an article in Pirelli magazine devoted to this extraordinary material, “a resin that can be blown like glass but with the advantage of being unbreakable”. The Pirelli plant in Monza turned out polyethylene containers for industrial uses but also for everyday life. Towards the end of the decade, the architect Roberto Menghi was called in to design new lines of products. In 1956 he had already won the Compasso d’Oro with a bucket made of polyethylene, manufactured by Smalterie Meridionali. With his petrol canister of 1959, Menghi achieved the perfect balance between form and function. The canister was presented to the public with the words: “good design is what is created for mass production by the closest cooperation between factory engineers and expert designer-artists”. Honours were showered upon it: the Oscar for packaging at the Fiera di Padova in 1959 and a place in the exhibition on packaging held by MoMA in New York.

Back to the main page

The discovery of isotactic polypropylene in 1954 by the chemist Giulio Natta, who later became a Nobel laureate, gave rise to a completely new industry of plastics and synthetic materials. Pirelli, which has always had a close eye on research into materials and into their industrial applications, started manufacturing items in polyethylene. “The glass of the future will be like rubber”, announces the title of an article in Pirelli magazine devoted to this extraordinary material, “a resin that can be blown like glass but with the advantage of being unbreakable”. The Pirelli plant in Monza turned out polyethylene containers for industrial uses but also for everyday life. Towards the end of the decade, the architect Roberto Menghi was called in to design new lines of products. In 1956 he had already won the Compasso d’Oro with a bucket made of polyethylene, manufactured by Smalterie Meridionali. With his petrol canister of 1959, Menghi achieved the perfect balance between form and function. The canister was presented to the public with the words: “good design is what is created for mass production by the closest cooperation between factory engineers and expert designer-artists”. Honours were showered upon it: the Oscar for packaging at the Fiera di Padova in 1959 and a place in the exhibition on packaging held by MoMA in New York.

Back to the main page

Bruno Munari, toys, and experiments with materials

14 October 2020

In the late 1940s, Pirelli asked the artist, graphic artist, and designer Bruno Munari to study new ways of using foam rubber. Perfected by Pirelli in the 1930s, this innovative material had mainly been used until then as padding for mattresses and armchairs. As Munari himself recalled, his study of the material and its characteristics – above all its softness – “which feels like the sensation you get when you hold a kitten or some little animal in your arms”, inspired him to design baby animals for children.

This led to his foam rubber toys with an adjustable reinforcement wire inside: these were Meo Romeo the cat, patented in 1950, and the little monkey Zizì, patented in 1953, which won the first edition of the Compasso d’Oro award the following year for its “essentiality of form” and the “ particular use of the material”. The material was foam rubber with an adjustable wire reinforcement, which gave children “the fun of creating countless poses”.

Back to the main page

In the late 1940s, Pirelli asked the artist, graphic artist, and designer Bruno Munari to study new ways of using foam rubber. Perfected by Pirelli in the 1930s, this innovative material had mainly been used until then as padding for mattresses and armchairs. As Munari himself recalled, his study of the material and its characteristics – above all its softness – “which feels like the sensation you get when you hold a kitten or some little animal in your arms”, inspired him to design baby animals for children.

This led to his foam rubber toys with an adjustable reinforcement wire inside: these were Meo Romeo the cat, patented in 1950, and the little monkey Zizì, patented in 1953, which won the first edition of the Compasso d’Oro award the following year for its “essentiality of form” and the “ particular use of the material”. The material was foam rubber with an adjustable wire reinforcement, which gave children “the fun of creating countless poses”.

Back to the main page

Gino Valle, clocks, and the fusion of technology and design

14 October 2020

During the years when Munari was designing Meo Romeo the cat, Fermo Solari, who was born into a family of clockmakers in Friuli dating back to the eighteenth century, founded Solari & C., a company in Udine that started manufacturing split-flap clocks on an industrial scale. To give form to the ground-breaking technology of Solari clocks, in which the hands are replaced by numbers that flip every minute, he called in a famous designer, the architect Gino Valle. This led to Cifra 5, which won the Compasso d’Oro in 1956. This clock had a compact shell, reflecting the aesthetic tastes of the time, and a roller with 40 flaps, which created figures that could be read from 15 metres away. This was the first in what became an authentic “family” of clocks, hailed as the finest expression of the fusion of technology and design. The same concept was at the heart of the alphanumeric displays for airports and stations, also designed by Gino Valle, which in 1962 won the Compasso d’Oro for their “aesthetic-functional” characteristics. Under the direction of Pirelli, of which Solari became a subsidiary in 1964, these split-flap displays spread to airports and stations across the world, from Tokyo to London, from Beirut to Sydney, and were even used for the countdowns at the Cape Canaveral aerospace centre. In 1966 it was the turn of Cifra 3, the smallest direct-reading electric clock produced by Solari. It too was designed by Gino Valle with lettering created by Massimo Vignelli, and in 1968 it entered the permanent collection of MoMA in New York.

Back to the main page

During the years when Munari was designing Meo Romeo the cat, Fermo Solari, who was born into a family of clockmakers in Friuli dating back to the eighteenth century, founded Solari & C., a company in Udine that started manufacturing split-flap clocks on an industrial scale. To give form to the ground-breaking technology of Solari clocks, in which the hands are replaced by numbers that flip every minute, he called in a famous designer, the architect Gino Valle. This led to Cifra 5, which won the Compasso d’Oro in 1956. This clock had a compact shell, reflecting the aesthetic tastes of the time, and a roller with 40 flaps, which created figures that could be read from 15 metres away. This was the first in what became an authentic “family” of clocks, hailed as the finest expression of the fusion of technology and design. The same concept was at the heart of the alphanumeric displays for airports and stations, also designed by Gino Valle, which in 1962 won the Compasso d’Oro for their “aesthetic-functional” characteristics. Under the direction of Pirelli, of which Solari became a subsidiary in 1964, these split-flap displays spread to airports and stations across the world, from Tokyo to London, from Beirut to Sydney, and were even used for the countdowns at the Cape Canaveral aerospace centre. In 1966 it was the turn of Cifra 3, the smallest direct-reading electric clock produced by Solari. It too was designed by Gino Valle with lettering created by Massimo Vignelli, and in 1968 it entered the permanent collection of MoMA in New York.

Back to the main page

What are you looking for?

What innovations and where?

The beating heart of the company

Growing social unease, saving for fear of an uncertain future, and the need for politicians to make the right choices to restore faith

Kids, It’s Time to Talk Sustainability with the Pirelli Foundation at Time4child

Industry 4.0 for all?

A positive crisis

Milan in pictures: using memories of the rubble and the abandonment of the pandemic to illustrate the city’s ability to rebuild and recover

Roberto Menghiand his “good design” for Pirelli polyethylene containers

Bruno Munari, toys, and experiments with materials

Gino Valle, clocks, and the fusion of technology and design

Growing social unease, saving for fear of an uncertain future,
and the need for politicians to make the right choices to restore faith

Kids, It’s Time to Talk Sustainability
with the Pirelli Foundation at Time4child

Milan in pictures:
using memories of the rubble and the abandonment of the pandemic
to illustrate the city’s ability to rebuild and recover

Roberto Menghi
and his “good design” for Pirelli polyethylene containers