Some time ago with an British colleague of mine, we held a pre-production meeting in Milan. We flew from the UK and after a two hour flight we arrived at the factory at lunch time. The representatives of the factory invited us for lunch. For Italians this is a very important part of the day, something that cannot be missed and where business is normally finalized with a glass of wine. Our diary for the day was completely different from the Italians, our schedule was: 8 o’clock fly to Milan - 12.30 pm Meeting - 4.00 pm Coffee and 5.00 pm fly back. Their schedule was a different story, the team (my colleague and I) arrives in Milan at 12.30 pm for a meeting, but because this would be lunch time why not have lunch and discuss the production at the same time. After lunch, having coffee we can have go through the files and sign the production orders. We ended up heaving lunch but I had to convince my colleague that it was rude to reject their invitation.
After we shared details of our personal every day life, including the political situation. I remember really well, my British colleague being very nervous and so anxious during lunch that in the end she stood up and said: “let’s have the meeting now”, creating embarrassment for us all. I personally think (mind you, I am Italian), if it happened to be in Milan at lunch time it is normal and acceptable for Italians to have something to eat and have a business meeting at the same time. Italians also like to shake hands and kissing goodbye and a little extra effort can get them on you side.
Producing in Italy can be a risky business! Italians are very good and skilled at making luxury products. If you think you have found the perfect Italian manufacturer for your handbag collections, when orders come in, you may have to consider taking your production to China because the factory may be refusing to follow your production orders. Happened to me! It is very difficult to get any Italian factory to sign anything and there are special rules http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/supply/documents.htm for CMT factories. Have a look at this links dedicated to “sub-fornitura” (CMT) : http://www.subfor.net/show.jsp?page=134 with info on factories willing to produce for you. I particularly love this article from a lawyer giving free advice (in Italian) on line http://www.misterfisco.it/saggi/contratto-subfornitura.PDF
The contract (a template in Italian) can be found on http://www.po.camcom.it/servizi/regola/subforn.htm :
Here some tips:
- Somehow, get the manufacturer to write back confirming the order.
- Send specifications sheets on anything (design, style, components, manufacturing, stitch, details, ironing instruction, labels, swing tickets….) to avoid disappointments (I will soon post some of my specs)
- Try to get the manufacturer to sign the “subfornitura” agreement
- Annoy them and keep calling about your order.
Good luck!
