FederlegnoArredo: the floor to Carlo Piemonte

Friulian, 44 years old, with a degree in law and a career that has seen him hold numerous key roles in the development and promotion of the sector, Carlo Piemonte has been the new general manager of FederlegnoArredo since January. He arrives in Milan with the aim of further enhancing FederlegnoArredo’s role at a particularly strategic stage for the supply chain.

A quick look at Carlo Piemonte’s CV is enough to understand why they sought him out and convinced him to come to Foro Buonaparte. Click around online and you will discover that the first “non-Lombard” and the youngest director in the history of FederlegnoArredo – a qualification that in itself means little, unless it indicates the desire to bring into the federation a fresh perspective, capable of connecting different worlds and enhancing the full potential of the sector – has moved between design centres and ministries, learning about woods, forests, technologies and systems. And among the many things he has done in Friuli – his beloved homeland – he has created experiences that would take a couple of weeks just to describe and that, even in the rest of the country, and perhaps in Europe, could be considered a benchmark.

Certainly ambitious, with deep knowledge of every aspect of this world of ours, a great communicator, devoted to his family, and an unmatched builder of networks and relationships: now it is up to him to keep a firm hand on the tiller and help a complex world, rich in different souls, to become even more of a system.

Not much time has passed since his arrival, but we felt it was only right to visit him immediately and ask why he accepted this challenge. “Because President Claudio Feltrin asked me to,” he replies without hesitation, “with the aim of giving substance to his strategic vision and that of the federation’s board of directors: always placing member companies at the centre of the dialogue, guaranteeing the technical and representative responses the sector needs. It is an apparently simple project, but one that sums up the strong determination to safeguard the role that FederlegnoArredo has played and will continue to play, and that convinced me to lend a hand”.

What will your priorities be? And what do you believe is essential to strengthen in this “complex” phase for the sector?
“We cannot forget that we were catapulted from a global pandemic into a period of strong growth, only to then find ourselves in a dramatic international context. In this scenario, which is also constantly changing, we first of all identified the need for a general management that is close to the territories: I can tell you that in the very first weeks we met several hundred companies throughout Italy. I am meeting districts of extremely high value, such as Brianza, with its industrial tradition recognized around the world, and the Marche region, with which we have already activated a protocol signed during the Salone del Mobile, with the aim of supporting innovation and accompanying companies in the supply chain towards international markets.
Then we must not forget how important it is for the voice of our member companies to reach certain contexts, also because there are areas of the world, more or less distant, that compete with products and regulatory systems very different from those we know in Italy and Europe. This is also why constant dialogue with the Confindustria system, of which FederlegnoArredo is the sectoral expression, is fundamental: to bring our vision to national and European tables and give value to our production and industrial system. Confindustria is our “home”, and it is the natural point of reference for our activities in support of Italian manufacturing”.

The federation you lead undoubtedly has many souls: it cannot be easy to make all these voices heard in an “equal” way…
“And yet it is, if you think about what the greater goal is! Results are achieved when organizations with different mindsets and visions come together around common projects and face issues and challenges together. In a global context, we are always small, however large we may think we are, and this is a truth that must never be forgotten…
If we want to manage small fiefdoms, the matter is undoubtedly complicated; if, instead, what we work for is to harmonize regulations useful to companies by developing cross-sector technical support, while always keeping in view the indispensable vertical issues specific to individual associations, everything becomes simpler. Those who deal, for example, with furniture have experiences and needs that are undoubtedly different from those who build wooden houses, but it is essential to be a true federation, attentive, effective and capable of bringing to the forefront what I would call “indispensable verticalities”. There are major challenges – economic, regulatory, financial, energy-related – that must see us working together: the presidents of our associations are very good at synthesizing the specific features of the worlds they represent and know how to engage with their colleagues; this makes our federation a precious democratic workshop”.

It cannot be easy…
“Undoubtedly, but a great deal has been done, although much still remains to be done in order for us all to work together even more effectively. One example: in these very weeks we have created a round table to coordinate the work of those who represent the wood-furniture world in Confindustria’s local offices. In practice, we have opened up a two-way street that allows us to coordinate as effectively as possible, but above all to receive valuable information from the territories, creating a further, effective opportunity for dialogue.
We are working intensively to open up new opportunities for exchange with other players in the supply chain, but I will be able to tell you about this in the coming months”.

Dr Piemonte, you are known for your ability to weave networks, to do networking, as we say today. You have done it in Friuli, your region, and you have done it at national and European level: will you manage to do it at FederlegnoArredo?
“The greatest challenge for FederlegnoArredo is to be aware of who we are, namely the Italian industrial wood-furniture system. It is our task and our responsibility to activate all possible and necessary levels of dialogue… precious spaces, because markets, exports, companies and jobs also depend on these. It is an awareness that must be placed at the service of the different systems”.

Forgive us, but there is another major challenge, namely “coordinating” FederlegnoArredo’s “furniture soul” with that of those who use wood for entirely different purposes…
“Furniture is a flagship of “made in Italy” and we are here for this too: we will have to continue working so that it remains so, with everything this entails and will entail in terms of more technical rules and regulations. In this regard, allow me to say that we are working so that the federation can have a “technical table” that brings together all the expertise we are able to express and makes it available to the entire supply chain. We sit on a great many standardization committees, we have outstanding technicians, and we never miss an opportunity to disseminate knowledge: well, pooling this heritage through a shared “technical space” that can provide answers in all the segments in which the many member companies operate means fuelling a “unifying” dialogue, thinking in a cross-sector way…”.

So the answer is to put “the system” before everything else?
“In an increasingly complex world, we must be able to understand how relationships and the initiatives that follow from them can allow us to spread knowledge, to make available effectively everything we are and everything we know…”.

What does it mean today to be part of FederlegnoArredo, and what can a company that decides to join expect?”
“The goal we set ourselves is to give space to the territories. All of them. We must tell them that we are here, that we are here to do everything companies need. We want to work for quality participation, first and foremost by making as many people as possible aware of the many initiatives we put in place every day for all segments of the supply chain.
I believe it is clear to everyone that we are facing epochal challenges and that it is essential to put all our energy into overcoming them, setting aside everything that, when all is said and done, has less value and less meaning. Our projects move in the direction of enhancing people, member companies, the wood-furniture sector as a whole, and anyone who is aligned with this vision and wishes to engage with FederlegnoArredo will always find the door open”.

We are taking up too much of your time: just tell us whether you have already had reason to regret accepting this position.
“Being general manager of FederlegnoArredo is a source of pride, an honour and also a dream come true for someone like me, who has always worked in the organizations of this supply chain, from wood to furniture. I will not hide from you that I am asking a great sacrifice of my wife, my two children and myself… from a human point of view it is a complex challenge, but I have found an excellent welcome from everyone and a team of absolutely competent professionals ready to work to consolidate what has already been done and open up new areas of discussion and service for companies.
Without ever forgetting to say “thank you” to those who have chosen to believe in us, to pay a membership fee so that the tools and resources are available to represent them in the best possible way. It is a great honour, one that we must always know how to deserve… there is a desire for FederlegnoArredo, we can clearly feel it, and we are here!”.

By Luca Rossetti

REPRESENT, SUPPORT, PROMOTE

The wood-furniture supply chain closes 2025 with production turnover exceeding 52.2 billion euros, supported by more than 62,000 companies and over 292,000 employees. FederlegnoArredo is the federation that brings together the Italian wood, cork, furniture, lighting and furnishing industries, a supply chain that represents 4.3 percent of total national manufacturing turnover, 14.5 percent of companies and 7.6 percent of employees, with a contribution to GDP equal to 2.3 percent. It is part of the Confindustria system and since 1945 has defended Italian know-how, supported the development of businesses, and acted as an ambassador of the Italian taste for living throughout the world.

Within FederlegnoArredo there are various product categories, representing all the components of the wood-furniture supply chain, from raw material to finished product.