Components from Serbia in machines of Sweden's Tetra Pak – Italy's Promek brings first foreign investment to Velika Plana ten years ago

You may not know that, in addition to packaging, the Swedish company Tetra Pak also produces machines in which the packaging is created. What you probably didn't know is that the machine components originated in – Velika Plana!

For ten years now, they have been made in the facility of the company Promek in Velika Plana, a subsidiary of the Italian plant Sipla.

Promek deals in precision processing of metal and sheet metal, producing components for machines used in the packaging industry.

Sipla was founded in Bologna in 1977. Ezio Nanetti founded the company for producing packaging machine parts with a few of his friends.

– We left our jobs and ventured into a whole new field. The cooperation lasted for over 15 years and allowed us to grow, develop and turn from workers into businessmen. As all young people, I was not aware of what awaited me and I had a lot of will and desire to work and create. The moment itself was very favorable. We first worked for a company, and, as we were maturing, we ventured into new projects, got new clients, opened ourselves to the market, and it opened to us too. The key moment was when my sons entered the business and made a turnaround – Ezio Nanetti tells eKapija about his first steps as an entrepreneur.

Daniel and Luca Nanetti decided to move a part of the production to Serbia. In 2007, the first facility outside of Italy opened in Velika Plana.

– Our project in Serbia began in 2005 when we realized that the world of subcontractors in the field of mechanical metal processing was changing. Sipla, our parent company headquartered in Bologna, Italy, had to secure better supply chains in order to maintain the strong ties to its clients – says Luca Nanetti, director of Promek Velika Plana.

They chose Serbia primarily for its proximity to Italy, but also for the work culture and educated technical workforce, Luca Nanetti explains.

(From the Promek facility in Velika Plana) They picked Velika Plana, as he says, because of the proximity of the highway to the town center. To Promek, whose operations are oriented towards importing and exporting activities, this was very important.

– Velika Plana is close enough to Belgrade, while at the same time being characterized by acceptable and sustainable living costs – Luca Nanetti says.

They built the facility from the ground up, he explains, and were the first foreign company to invest in this municipality.

– We had to build an entire network of suppliers in order to give life to a modern industry. From day one, we have cooperated will with the local self-government and the local community. In 2012, we started cooperating with Confindustria as well – our interviewee adds.

Today, they have two facilities with 70 employees in Velika Plana. In the first facility, employees work in three shifts, and the company plans for the second facility to also get the second and then the third shift as well in the coming period. This entails new employments and another 10 workers will get a job in Promek in the next year and a half.

Compared to the first few years, things are much easier now, Nanetti says.

– The startup phase of our activities in Serbia in 2007 was fully funded by our parent company, Sipla, through Italian banks. Nowadays, however, Promek is financially independent and manages to get support from banks whenever new business opportunities arise.

The operating activities of the company have been put fully in charge of local workers. All tasks on all levels are performed by local workforce, and Luca and Daniel only visit when administrative issues need to be solved and when it's time to introduce innovations in business.

(On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of its activities in Serbia, Promek opened PromekLAB at the Nikola Tesla Technical School) Neither Promek nor Sipla manufacture finished products. They produce components for other factories, which incorporate them in their products. Velika Plana sends the products to Italy, to the parent company. They are further processed there and then exported, finally reaching the famous Tetra Pak.

The machines and the raw materials used in the production process in Velika Plana are procured from abroad, Luca Nanetti clarifies.

– In that sense, we have no business partners in Serbia. It would be very important for us if we were able to create a circle of competent, quality suppliers, but unfortunately, we have had difficulty finding companies ready to dedicate themselves to the job – he explains.

The company recently opened PromekLAB at the Nikola Tesla Technical School in Velika Plan on the occasion of marking the 10th anniversary of their activities in Serbia. The lab will be preparing students for future work, and they have also been provided with professional practice in the company's facility.

– Today's students are tomorrow's workers – our interviewee explains.

When it comes to the business climate in Serbia, he believes that a lot of effort needs to be put in improving the health protection, the school system and the road infrastructure and says that it will all probably be easier once the country joins the EU. He believes that this might happen in the next five years and that, on an operating level, the country will benefit a lot from the membership. He nevertheless fears that a “forced” or poorly prepared accession to the EU might lead to a brain drain.

In addition to Promek, another two Italian companies, Pei East and Technosoldatura, operate in Velika Plana.

Katarina Stevanovic

Promek d.o.o. Velika Plana

Opština Velika Plana

Sipla Italy

Confindustria

Technical School Velika Plana

packaging machines

packing machines

components for packaging machines

components for packing machines

Ezio Nanetti

Luca Nanetti

Daniel Nanetti

Bologna

PromekLAB

precision metal processing

metal processing

parts for packaging machines