informaDirector: Simone Di Nasso • Editorial Staff: Irene Scala, Andrea Biasci, Francesca Melis • Authorized by the Court of Livorno n. 8/05 4th of May 2005

In this number:

JULY 2015 • Year XIV • Issue 38

Pag. 2LindoCat in Turkey Marketby Ozgur Ozsan

IFEX 2015by Tushar Walke and Umberto Laviosa

Pag. 3

One big happy family by Alessandro Branchetti

Pag. 4Drilling/support fl uids and muds by Claudio Traversi

Pag. 5AFA! What is that?by Elena Menicagli

Our GCLs “land” inNorth Americaby Simone Baravalle

Pag. 6European Coating Show 2015by Valentina Ermini

Our stand at 2015 International Zoomark in Bologna by Olimpia Laviosa

Pag. 7Production and optimation by Fabio Brando

New management systemat LCM by Mauro Natali

Pag. 9Cutting the Cyber-ribbon by Irene Scala

Pag. 10Google boosts mobile-friendly sitesby Luca Martinelli

Pag. 11It happens in Laviosa

Where doopportunities

come from?When habit becomes an obstacle to renewal

For some time now, about a year, we have been working with Marcel Schivy and Serge Resnikov on a new development plan in the Oil & Gas and Geothermal Drilling sector. The opportunity comes at a moment when all the big international Drilling service companies are going through a period of restructuring; costs are too high in a continually shrinking market affected by a drop in the oil price over that of preceding years, meaning smaller margins for all operators in the industry.The idea to develop the project and structure our Drilling division comes just as the market seems to be shrinking.The matter for refl ection is not so much technical and fi nancial evaluations but a line of reasoning that leads me to say that opportunities often go against the fl ow of macro-economic cycles,

when we are able to give a different characteristic to our work compared with what had been done up until then. In other words, analysing what happens on a national or international scale can in any event leave room for re-thinking organizational models and services. So why aren’t the same big companies that dominated the market until very recently, grasping the opportunities now it’s shrinking?I’m not able to give a defi nite answer, but I believe that when a market leaves a lot of margin for those working in it, it takes away the sense of needing to adapt and rethink what has worked well for many years. In other words, why change if everything is alright? Sometimes it works, but the aptitude for change certainly needs training.Ad maiora, then. Carry on the good work Marcel, Serge and all the Drilling team.

Giovanni Laviosa

informafrom the foreign branches

One of the core objectives defi ned in 2014 was to expend presence in Turkish market in order to consolidate the position of company. For this aim, a specifi c plan based on introducing packed cat litter to consumer market under LindoCat brand had been initiated. An excessive study had been carried out and now company is just about to be on the shelves of supermarkets, pet shops and veterinarian clinics. As a fi rst step, LindoCat brand will be on the market with high white compact cat litter packed in 5Lt and 10 Lt plastic bags with an option of scented or unscented forms. Attractive graphic and specifi c design of LindoCat bags will take a place among premium quality products. Step by step, new and innovative products will be introduced to market.

Ozgur Ozsan

LindoCat inTurkey MarketLaviosa Fatsa is presenting to domestic market packed cat litter products under LindoCat brand.

Position: Supply Chain Supervisor

On February 03 ,2015 Mr. Erhan Top-kaya joined Laviosa Fatsa as a Supply Chain Supervisor. He is responsible for supply chain activities of company start-ing from taking the orders till fi nalization of the logistics; beside this he is man-aging the purchase, export and import operations of company. He will work in compliance with external parties and relevant departments across the Group, and reporting to the local manager.He is an industrial engineer. He has 6 year multifunctional experience in differ-ent companies with the responsibilities in several departments. He is married and has 1 daughter. We welcome him and wish him success.

Mr. Erhan Topkaya

Laviosa Group have participated in IFEX 2015 held during 27 February- 1st March, 2015 at Greater Noida, U.P., India to promote our Bentonite & other Foundry solutions. IFEX provides a platform to create awareness about our company and our products. We presented our Foundry knowledge, our technical services and our vast experience in this sector to visitors from foundries across India. At our stall we exhibited a wide range of Bentonites, Sands and associated products from our GREENTEC, VALUETEC, REFRACTEC & PRECOATED SANDS range of products.Our Global Foundry Business Development Advisor Mr.Piero Starita was present at the Exhibition and interacted with customers / suppliers / manufacturers / distributors of

At our stall we exhibited our wide range of Bentonites and Sands.

Coal dust and Chromites sands, to promote our PREMIX, CHROMITEC & DESCORIL range of products. We also interacted with speakers, sponsors and participants from 63rd Indian Foundry Congress, which was concurrent to the exhibition.Mr.Denis Desouza and Mr.Tushar Walke represented Laviosa Trimex Industries India at this event.

Tushar Walke & Umberto Laviosa

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from the logistical services

One big happy familyA few days ago work to upgrade the work space at Carlo Laviosa was completed.

The project, which has been under consideration for some months, gathers Carlo Laviosa employees together in one large space, with the aim of creating an even more close-knit group. The hope is that more physical closeness between us will create the conditions for a better distribution of work among individuals, but above all, facilitate the professional training of our young people who will have the chance to experience the various work situations that come about, even if at second hand. Finally I would like to remind you that our President’s offi ce has been recreated on the fi rst fl oor of the Carlo Laviosa building, a message of continuity for younger employees and a happy memory for those who had the pleasure of knowing him personally..

Alessandro Branchetti

new products and markets

LindoCat at Paris expoPorte de Versailles.

Laviosa cat litt er business expands its borders!

ExpoZoo2015

informa

Drilling/support fl uids and mudsThe use of bentonite-polymer composites in drilling and excavation works.During the execution of geotechnical works that include an excavation stage, there is a need to resolve problems that generally arise during drilling stages and could prejudice the outcome of the work:• friction between the drill and the soil which has to be reduced to

increase drilling speed and prevent the tool from overheating;• stability of the borehole walls; non-cohesive soils tend to collapse

if freed from the surrounding ground.In addition, in most cases, such excavations are carried out continuously, with drilling and removal of detritus taking place at the same time. In these cases, the excavated material has to be removed without interrupting drilling. It is therefore necessary to introduce a mud designed to counteract and resolve these problems.If originally simple clays dispersed in water were used, the increasingly selective market turned to high performance “problem-solving” products such as sodium bentonite, which develops superior performance to normal clays in water, with distinctly lower consumption. In addition to this solution, the market then also concentrated on the use of polymers to perform the same functions as bentonite. Hence the fi rst distinction:• Mud: a water and bentonite (clay) mixture;• Fluid : a water and polymer mixture.We refer to Support fl uid/mud when the process is discontinuous, that is when drilling and extraction of excavated material stages are alternated. In this case we refer to quiescent fl uid/mud.

We refer to drilling fl uid/mud when the process is continuous – drilling and extraction of detritus take place simultaneously. In these cases we speak of drilling fl uid/mud.

There is a further distinction for this type of process:direct circulation: involves pumping the circulating fl uid inside the rods. It is then returned back in the annulus between the rods and the borehole wall;reverse circulation: fl uid is injected directly down the annulus and forced back up the rods, generally by a fl ow of air.When selecting a drilling fl uid, the use of natural sodium bentonite such as BENTOSUND 120E is the safest choice as it can be used with any type of tool and in any kind of ground.However, there are particular conditions where a decrease in performance is noted, as in the case where humic acid or seawater contamination is present. The use of polymers as an alternative to bentonite has considerable benefi ts: • consumption generally 50 times lower than with bentonite;• signifi cant resistance to contaminated water;• cleaning in sand trap not necessary.

However, there are some considerable limitations: • fragility: vigorous agitation, hydromills for example, breaks down

the structure making it unsuitable;• inability to protect the walls: polymer does not have a physical

component able to create a protective barrier on the borehole walls. At depth the fl uid tends to leak through the walls of the hole if the ground is not cohesive.

Alongside these traditional solutions, an innovative line has been developed with solutions able to overcome the limitations described above, for example, our BENTOSUND 300S. These new solutions use natural sodium bentonite mixed according to need, with excel-lent waterproofi ng and lubricating properties and therefore able to overcome the limitations of traditional products. These mixes also increase performance and limit consumption of bentonite, so redu-cing operational costs.

Claudio Traversi

new products and markets

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new products and markets

AFA! What is that?Those who have had the chance to browse our new website will have noticed that a sector previously hidden among the industrial application has been “brought into the light”. It is AFA, Animal Feed & Agriculture, two areas of application in which the company has decided to invest more extensively in order to understand the market and development potential. In Animal Feed, our Afl atoxin B1-absorbent bentonites were presented at the VIV in Bangkok, Asia’s biggest feed to meat trade show, resulting in a great number of contacts that we hope will lead to the development of sales in South East Asia, where poultry and fi sh farming is very prevalent. In Agriculture, on the other hand, our bentonites can be used as carriers or aggregate agents, as well as fi lters to reduce washing away of salts in the soil. There have also been some curious requests: bentonite as a carrier to spray garlic essence

Greater attention towards a sector with potential for development

(a natural insecticide), as a sulphur pelletizer in solid fertilizers (sulphur-bentonite), as a clay to radiate with cosmic rays to increase fertilizer strength, and as a substrata and soil for the cultivation of mushrooms and bacteria used in biodynamic agriculture. In order to give appropriate answers to customers, with data supported by scientifi c research, in 2015 we set up a research and development project with the CNR in Pisa, where knowledge about interaction between micro-organisms and bentonite will be expanded to evaluate the possibility of offering our products as carriers for biofertilizing and/or bio-stimulating micro-organisms. Our target customers will be companies producing microbial inoculants as soil amendments and seed dressing. What else is there to add ...what can’t bentonite do?

Elena Menicagli

With a process that began in mid-2014 and came to a successful conclusion in early 2015, new GCL products have been developed for application in the environmental protection sector. Alongside “traditional” products consisting of a woven and a non-woven geotextile, there is now a new range of GLCs formed by two non-woven textiles that give the fi nished product increased interlayer strength and the enhanced deformation capacity that is essential in applications involving high levels of stress, such as the construction of treatment tanks for the recovery of precious metals from minerals. In line with the development project management method established and adopted for some time now, the development process initially saw Sales and the Technical Division benchmarking products on the market and target applications, followed by the search for and procurement of suitable raw materials. Production and Quality Control provided an essential contribution in defi ning of process

Our GCLs “land” in North AmericaOur range has been extended to include new lining products.

variables both for industrial tests and organizing large-scale production. Together with the products already in our range, these products have allowed us to open new distribution channels in the USA and Canada, where the recent collaboration agreement with two big companies specializing in geosynthetics for environmental applications will allow us to approach new markets with benefi ts for the Lining & Waterproofi ng Division in terms of both volume and profi tability.

Simone Baravalle

informanew products and markets

European Coating Show 2015

As in past years, the Zoomark International trade show in Bologna provided an important meeting place for the pet products industry, an opportunity to reinforce existing relationships and make contact with new, potential customers. We had a good infl ux of visitors to our stand, who expressed appreciation of our innovative products, and we are counting on a positive outcome to the many negotia-tions begun during the show. Zoomark was the fi rst of three impor-tant events of interest to the Cat Litter Division during 2015. We had the pleasure of presenting our “LindoCat” brand at Expozoo Paris 2015 last June, and we will be present at the Istanbul Pet Fair between 3 and 6 September 2015.Two new markets, France and Turkey, which we are entering with the values and quality that are the hallmarks of our products..

Francesca Melis

Zoomark International 2015An on-going success.

Laviosa Chimica Mineraria took part in the show with an updated, renewed stand (Hall 1 Booth 1-457) with the group’s new logos and companies. As a result of an agenda put together in the preceding months and comprising a serried series of appointments over the 3 days of the show, literally the entire water and solvent-borne Coating industry came to visit us. All European and a good many Asian and American distributors were met for updating sessions on sales and new commercial and technical projects. The benefi t of this show is being able to meet our distributors and customers, counting on the expertise of both commercial and technical managers to provide a complete, exhaustive support. It was an opportune occasion to present the new brochure with revised graphics and content. The most important innovation concerns the introduction of 2 new additives for solvent-borne coating, Viscogel XDS and XDE, designed to match the leading easily dispersible and grease brands. As well as established contacts , new possibilities in terms of both distribution and new customers opened up, confi rming the great interest in Europe in the development of water-borne coatings and the consolidation of solvent-borne applications. Finally, we also had the opportunity to meet our Asian suppliers and

This year, from 21 to 23 April, we were once again present at the Coating industry’s biggest fair, which takes place every two years in Nuremberg.

new lines of collaboration have been opened up as a result of the development of new products and new technical solutions. We will keep you informed about future developments, and here’s to the next fair!

Valentina Ermini

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from production plants and purchasing department

Production and optimizationThe ability to reduce systematic variability.In a process company it is essential to analyze production trends over time, considering all the aspects concerned. It is these evaluations that support the various activities and suggest corrective actions in the event of anomalies. It would be a serious mistake not to analyze the systematic variability of a production process, since the only certain outcome would be an increase in errors. It is also clear that the diffi culty in such analysis is directly proportional to the complexity of the entire production process. Let’s consider one of our classic products in bags. From the raw material to the pallet involves 3 process stages. Each stage includes an error risk that depends on a number of factors, such as operator, machinery, break-down, raw material and miscellaneous unforeseen hitches. Systematic variation is the negative variation of the process due to the above-mentioned factors. Contrary to natural variability, systematic variability can be reduced to 0 by corrective actions. One might think that the easiest action would be investment to increase automation of the systems and consequently optimization of the process. But are we sure that would be enough? The answer is NO! Let’s give a simple

example to explain why. If we want to increase the braking power of an automobile or a motorcycle, someone will suggest innovative electronic systems, and therefore automation. But how limited will the benefi ts be if we do not effectively know what we are analysing? At this point it is clear that the best key to a resolution is knowledge. With regard to the above, the organization of production provides for involvement of all resources in these analyses.It is of primary importance to involve all individuals in all aspects of the plant, from projects to non-conformity. Bringing people

together, not necessarily in formal meetings, but also in the departments, the warehouses or while we have a coffee, helps each individual to feel part of a team. Continual involvement leads to sharing of knowledge and awareness of improvement being always possible. The fi rst step in optimizing production is uniting the forces that the company has at its disposal, and as soon as they are aware that no individual can give as much as a group can, systematic variability will drop noticeably more than any other investment would allow.

Fabio Brando

Sezione mulino pendolare

from supply chain

New management system at LCMThe SAP project offi cially gets off the ground.In the March number we wrote that changes to our I.T. system were being studied.Today I am happy to be able to write that the SAP project was given the offi cial Kick Off at the meeting held on 10 April. The aim is to be in line with Laviosa Chimica Mineraria from 1 January 2016 with the new management.The decision taken was to install SAP 4 Hana and to migrate during 2016 to the Simple Finance version.The project includes the functional areas set out below:

informafrom supply chainThe work team comprises consultants from Sysdat (our partner) and Laviosa key-users.The following people will make up the Sysdat team:

The group of key-users for the Laviosa team is made up of:

As of now (end May), we are in line with what has been planned.This is one of the most critical stages in that we have to examine our present working method for every single activity in detail and compare it with what the SAP solution proposes. To give an idea of the extent to the work, to date we have internally dedicated about 130 working days to meetings and in-depth analysis regarding this project. The next goal is the issue and approval of the Blue Print by the end of June. The Blue Print is the document containing detailed designs of our processes and how the software that is to assist our work will function.

To the next update.Mauro Natali

Naturally, all the rest of the company is regularly called on to collaborate in both meetings with the consultants and internal in-depth meetings.Below is a work plan chart:

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from general services

Cutting the Cyber-ribbonThe new, totally restructured corporate website with new modern, clear graphics was inaugurated a few month ago.

The decision to upgrade online communication was the result of awareness that the in recent years the internet has become the corporate world’s communication channel of preference.The restyling was aimed at greater clarity of the structure, user-friendly navigation of our range of products and services and a greater emphasis on the corporate identity. However, I have to admit that to get there was neither easy nor quick. Designing a website that projects a professional image, that is user-friendly, that combines the company’s need to communicate with that of the user to be informed and answers questions and guides users in their navigation experience is no small matter. We wanted to make it clear that our technical abilities, our range of products, our expertise in developing new products and solutions and our focus on the customer are all linked with a philosophy based on values that are of primary importance to us: innovation, sustainability, sharing and integrity. Forming a clear idea of our visitors’ profi le was another of the analyses we carried out to identify a solution that met the needs of all our users, who come from such different sectors and industries. The new website was also an opportunity to organize our products, services and solutions into a single range throughout all of the group’s legal entities.One of the focal points of the project was to try to make users’ navigation experience as satisfying and profi table as possible. To this end we kept in mind two concepts known as WEB USABILITY and RESPONSIVE DESIGN. To achieve the former, we used functional graphics and a clear and simple intuitive navigation menu, as well as paying great attention to the speed of page loading. The latter involves the adaptability of content so that it can be viewed with all browsers and on all devices. A further innovation was the creation of a special Download Area – a container for corporate documents (forms, reports etc.) and technical-commercial material (brochures, TDS, etc.) that can be selected and immediately downloaded. Creating a website is not a process that ends with its going online, however. On the contrary, the real work starts now.

First of all, we have to pay particular attention to keeping the informa-tion we want to share with users constantly updated. This is why we have been trained to carry out ordinary maintenance of the contents ourselves. Secondly, it will be extremely important to answer everyone. Those who write to us consider us worthy of presenting us with their problem, idea or recommendation, and it is only right to reciprocate with an answer as quickly as possible. Furthermore, analysing naviga-tion statistics will be an excellent tool for fi nding out whether the di-rection taken is the right one, or if we should correct our aim, as well as giving us ideas for future de-velopments. A thank you to all those who worked on this project and those who will work on its maintenance to ensure this investment will bear fruit.

Irene Scala

Here’s how we created one of the images on the Home Page.

informafrom general services

From 21 April, Google revolutionized the way the search engine rec-ommends websites on mobile devices.. The offi cial announcement that the company planned to roll out its mobile-friendly update came in February, in an article that explained in detail how the characteristics of websites would infl uence search results. This transformation aims to help users fi nd more interesting, high quality content optimized for mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. The most recent surveys shows that 60% of online traffi c comes from mobiles, and Google – but soon all the other search en-gines will follow – is ready to lower search result rankings of all pages that do not offer “a suitable user experience” to non-desktop users. Google has also made a tool available to check whether a website is mobile-friendly or not, and whether it should be worried about the new algorithm, and the new Laviosa website passed with fl ying colours.

Luca Martinelli

Google boosts mobile-friendly sitesGoogle revolutionizes smartphone or tablet searches, but Laviosa is ready.

10

informaIt happens in

11

Alice RighiniBeginning of intership: 08/06/2015Tutor: Olimpia Laviosa / Elisabetta RestiDepartment: Fondazione Carlo Laviosa - Uffi cio Risorse Umane

Alice earned a degree in Adult Education, On-going Education and Pedagogy from the University of Florence. The aim of the internship (lasting 12 months) is to acquire knowledge and methods of use of tools for planning development and educational activities by identifying new economic and organization models that analyse work/individual and business/society relationships.

Welcome to…

Alessandro, son of Stefano Orru’, born on 26 November 2014.

Alessio, son of Giuseppe Perra, born on 7 January 2015.

Edoardo, son of Ilaria Palillo, born on 8 February 2015.

Krisha, son of Majabhai Chavda, born on 28 February 2015.

Riccardo, son of Laura Buselli, born on 22 March 2015.

Siddhi Dafad, daughter of Umesh Dafda born on 13 May 2015.

Alessio Tempesti Employed on 1st April as manager of the Via Leonardo da Vinci plant.

Ivan Vivianiwho after completing his internship on 31 March, was employed from 1 April as a laboratory technician in the Cat Litter division in Villaspeciosa.

Giuseppe BozzaContract worker in the management control division for SAP project data input.

After a not so brilliant start, the results fi nally started to come, with the best fi nish being 9th place in the Giant Slalom at the Italian Championships (U18).No podium this time, but still a good performance with very high level second heat (4th time). There were many other good races, but also mistakes or starts which prevented good partial results from leading to success.Overall it was an exhausting season, with a lot of travel and over 50 races in the four disciplines. Marco’s performance got better over the months, and he improved his FIS rating in both the Special and Giant Slalom, which means lower start numbers. There is still a lot to do to reach the ultimate goal, the Italian national team (he still has 3 years to win the Gran Premio Italia in the Under 21’s category). All the best for the 2015/2016 season.

Andrea Biasci

It’s possible to recover from a momentary crisisWe draw a line under the just-ended competition season and plan the next, which starts with a lot of training right from June

Our team gets bigger, with:

ROUTE TO WORK