On Friday, we stopped. All of us together in the same room. It doesn’t happen every day, and when it does, it is because there is something important to share.
And what we had to say began with one word: thank you. Less than two years ago, a flood nearly brought this company to a standstill. Many thought it would take us years to recover. It took us months. And it wasn’t a machine that made that possible: it was all of you.
We were also there to tell the truth. The market is changing, and we are adapting our planning so that we can respond swiftly to our customers’ real needs. This is not a step backwards, but a responsible decision. We are not going to manufacture expectations; we are going to manufacture orders. Because quality is in everything.
But if Friday is remembered for one thing, it will be a T-shirt.
Everyone found a T-shirt on their chair. And hardly any of them were the right size. It wasn’t a mistake: it was the message. Because a good-looking, well-made T-shirt is no use if it doesn’t fit you. And exactly the same is true of our machines: an outstanding machine is of no use if it is not the one that particular customer needs.
Quality is not about making a good machine. It is about making the right machine, for the right customer, at the right time. That is why, at the end, we exchanged all the T-shirts until everyone found the right one. That is what we do for our customers every day: listen, adapt and improve.
I asked you for five words: order, quality, responsibility, communication and pride. And I made a commitment to three: clarity, respect and information. This letter is part of that commitment.
We used to compete to manufacture more. Now we compete to manufacture better. And when someone, in any of the more than one hundred countries where we operate, buys an ITV machine, I want them to think: “This is the one that gives me peace of mind.”
Because we don’t make ice machines. We build trust.
Thank you for what you did, for what you do and for what we are going to achieve together.
Cristina