We select the finest material and use the most innovative machinery to produce our footwear, but the success that the PANDA SAFETY footwear has drummed up internationally would not be possible if we could not count on a team of specialised workerswho work every day with great passion and absolute dedication.
In order to give you an idea of the team spirit in the production department, we have decided to open the doors of the factory to hear directly from two of our most experienced workers: Maria Pepe, head of the finishing and packaging line, and Giuseppe Laviola, coordinator of the injection process and head maintenance engineer.
How did you start in PANDA SAFETY?
Maria: I started off in charge of sewing, while I now supervise the finishing process and I am responsible for the prototypes office. This career path has given me the opportunity of learning a lot about all the phases of the production cycle and, even though I have participated in the production of millions of shoes over the years, every time I see a new model in production after I have made the prototype, it always gives me a feeling of great satisfaction!
Giuseppe: I joined the company as a shift worker, then thanks to the skills I matured on the job, I was appointed head maintenance engineer and responsible for the injection process. My personal career path mirrors that of the Company, which has always been geared towards improvement and progress.
What is the most striking innovation you have seen during your time spent working at PANDA SAFETY?
Maria: Apart from the structural changes, I have been lucky enough to experience a great company development. Indeed, in order to manage the increase in volumes of production, over the course of the years it has become necessary to employ more and more workers, so that what was once like a craft workshop has become a real production industry.
Giuseppe: “18 years ago, I saw the introduction of the first robot; this helped to make our work less tiring and, at the same time, helped to speed up and increase production to its current levels. Innovation is extremely important in our field and PANDA SAFETY has always been and continues to be a cutting edge company for it”.
What is the spirit like in PANDA SAFETY?
Maria: The keyword here is collaboration None of us could carry out their own work without the contribution of our colleagues; we are all connected to one another, because each one of us has a specific job which depends on the successful outcome of the previous process and which is the requirement for that of the following stage”.
Giuseppe: “the leitmotif in PANDA SAFETY’s development process is the attitude to change considered as improvement/perfectioning. A change that the whole workgroup has always tackled enthusiastically, but not without difficulty, with the sole aim of manufacturing increasingly more comfortable and resistant safety footwear.
What does belonging to a company with a global perspective mean to you?
Maria: Thinking that we create a product that is exported all over the world is very stimulating for me!
Giuseppe: It is fantastic for me to learn that what we are doing is appreciated in so many countries in the world, we are all so proud!
What do you see in the future of PANDA SAFETY?
Maria: “I have no doubts that the Company will continue its development process and I, therefore, hope that the new conscripts (the younger colleagues) will have the opportunity of feeling active protagonists of PANDA SAFETY’s growth”
Giuseppe: I expect the Management to deploy the most suitable strategy and that there will always be new ideas that allow the company to continue growing and maybe to definitively impose itself as the most important safety footwear manufacturer in Italy”.
We are delighted to have introduced Maria and Giuseppe to you because, along with all the other members of our team, they represent the main key to the success of PANDA SAFETY, a cog that would not work so well if it were not based on people who carefully interpret the needs of the workers and of the owners as well as possible.