Punto Netto, born as a university start up and become an excellence...

Interview to Ing. Gaetano Griso, founder of the Irpinia company.

• July 10th, 2017
• by: Ing. Griso Gaetano

News: What you are about to read is the story of a project born between university benches, made with love, and pretty soon become an excellence in the automotive sector. Today, 20 years later, that youthful dream comes true, so much so that Punto Netto can rely on 50 high skilled employees taking care of over 100 worldwide companies.
This is what Gaetano Griso established in 1997, when he was enrolled in Engineering Faculty at University of Federico II in Naples, a company become inside of 20 years leader in quality controls and non-destructive testings.

Dear Ing. Griso let's take it all the way back. Let's go back to 1997 when the idea behind Punto Netto took shape.

«I was still an engineering student in Naples at that time. On the purpose to be a little bit financially autonomous I was keen on building computers in favour of my mates. And from that moment on I become interested in the Internet so much so that I decided to detect a service provider having financial difficulties located in Acerra. At the same time my father, after a long work life spent in Fiat, served as the adviser a transports company clearing goods from Usa on behalf of FMA plant. They were innovative hydraulic tappets produced by Stanadyne Automotive. On behalf of this aforementioned company with over 130 years of history, I started to manage diversion and sorting activities. By the union of these two kinds of activities made with passion, the internet and hydraulic tappets, Punto Netto born».

What do you remember about the initial years of the project?

«On one hand, my mother would have preferred me to graduate avoiding distractions. On the other, hand my father, man with 31 years of work experience during which developed industrial relations, chose to support me. In this way I had the opportunity of putting in practice on the ground what I have been studying as a student, combining iron will with a great passion in order to work and study at a time. So, lately in my studies, I got my own ideas about my company would have been within an industrial framework. Until 2011 I was at the forefront at plants, and then, even after my father died, I had to take care of administrative side too. Today, thanks to that experience on the ground, I am able to anticipate which paths will work and which ones a dead end».

Which targets did you reach in these early 20 years?

«In such competitive market, it's very difficult to arise as a newcomer. Moreover, I decided to cover my funding requirements without external support, risking for myself humanly and economically. Fortunately, the right mix between the huge commitment we have made and the great help of new hires has lead to a substantial increase of the company. Right after Stanadyne, the Gruppo Fontana chose to go with us to be represented in each Fiat plant located in southern Italy. I was just 33 and I served this industrial excellence at Pomigliano, Cassino, Melfi, Termoli, Pratola Serra and Chieti plants. Small metal goods allowed me to tap into in several industrial markets, not just considering automotive sector. Plus, this event enabled us to be considered a trustworthy and high skilled company, having a clear idea of what type of service to provide and a new way of thinking about representation as well. The company has grown over the years exponentially becoming one of the first companies to achieve ISO 9001 certification when it was not strictly required by the market. Today, I can count on over 50 employees, all of them directly employed».

In your opinion, why more and more companies are choosing to be served by Punto Netto?

«There are two main reasons for this. On one hand, company is recognised for honesty, expertise and correctness, all perfect motives to close deals and forge long- term partnerships. On the other hand, we are appreciated because our commitment is in pushing the envelope, investing in human resources and equipment constantly. Up until two years ago, the automotive sector was in trouble and competitors were not willing to invest. Unlike them, we brought forward an incoming material project for FCA, activity until then never outsourced. This has all been possible thanks to huge investments in equipment, on the purpose to guarantee a well-rouded and high-skilled service provider inside the plant, offering the best value for money. We innovate in software, in equipment, in choosing our yard managers properly, acquiring skills by clients and hiring directly and training workforce».

What's your company flagship?

«Quite frankly I state the value-added is our staff. Human-centeredness has captured our full attention alongside with the importance of having a fair and square code of conduct. By digitalisation of data and the using of exclusive software to provide real-time updates on activities, we bridged the gap between us and clients. This allowed us to open up to the global market that accounts for 60-70% of the business. Moreover, for five years we implemented our expertise in Non destructive testings field – ultrasounding testings, magnetic particle testings, penetrant testings, videoendoscopy – all services we provide directly, what competitors did not. What Punto Netto offers is a wide a range of top-top shelf services in the quality control field. By 20 years of work experience allows us to provide indirectly leakage test, impregnation, logistic service, send blasting, tumbling and galvanic processes, not charging the cost to the final client».

Which are the objectives for the future?

«The issues to be considered are two mainly. The first concerns the forecast worldwide players will choose services provided at plants currently. All that should make us think about the need to take the company to a whole other level. For this reason, we aim at ISO 17020 certification that enables us to become an inspection entity. As a result, the company will broaden the services on offer approaching strictly to aforementioned worldwide players. Plus, we will move towards taught – learning activities and supervision of the process and not just of product. Today, we are working to help clients thrive and, in the next future, we will act as a link between OEM and Tier1 to support the growth of Tier2 at the same time. This is to consider an interesting business model for the national industrial development of Automotive, Rail, Aerospace sectors. All this will mean better vehicles, trains and aeroplanes, and will act as a powerful motivator».