E80 Group

4 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 10 to finished goods handling and shipment. To adjust for the North American market, it made some changes, Pongolini notes. “In 1994,” he recalls, “E80 had only 48 employees, but we had the bright idea to open our first branch outside Italy. As Mr. Grassi used to say, ‘If we succeed in the U.S., we can succeed anywhere else in the world,’ and that was right. Right now, North America is our most important market, with many references that vary from large, international companies to privately held companies.” Indeed, it is. E80 has more than 100 employees in its Chicago office, 40 in Houston, and more than 200 in Monterrey, Mexico. There is a comprehensive support service. “We have been implementing local service, 24/7 remote support and a key account structure to support our customers in the long-term,” says Pongolini. He adds that what he calls an integrated supply chain approach has been a key factor Andrea Pongolini