Zigzag to Success

Every U.S. housewife who ever tried to make a dress on an old-fashioned sewing machine knows how much trouble it was to finish it by hand, i.e., sew on buttons, work buttonholes, etc. It was not until Italy's Necchi Sewing Machine Co. invaded the U.S. market in 1948 that these problems were solved. Necchi made all these tricks possible--without special attachments--by a needle that zigzagged as it sewed. As a result, Necchi (rhymes with Becky) sold its machines so fast that the company now has more than 5% of the U.S. market.

Last week Necchi served notice that it is bidding for an even bigger share of the sewing-machine business. It announced that it will produce, for marketing in mid-1955, a new zigzag model with 56 half-dollar-sized, molded disks that can be slipped in to turn out hundreds of embroidery patterns. By such ingenuity and attention to the housewife's convenience, Necchi has already become one of the biggest dollar-earners for Italy. But Necchi has done something even more important; it has proved to skeptical Italians that U.S. production methods will work as well in Italy as in the U.S.

Between Wars. The first Necchi sewing machine was made in 1919 by Vittorio Necchi, son of a Pavia foundry owner, who decided that a native product could cash in on the Italian sewing-machine market, then divided among Singer and some 30 German companies.

In a small factory outside Pavia, his 120 craftsmen carefully hand-machined each part, painstakingly fitted the parts together. Even by these old-fashioned methods, Necchi was turning out 60,000 machines a year in prewar days. World War II cut production to 60 machines a day and cost the company 400 million lire ($4,000,000) in war damages. But at war's end, Necchi executives dug out a stock of sewing machines they had hidden from the Germans, and with them, went after the export market.

New Blood. In 1948 Necchi had a double stroke of good fortune with two new men. One was Leon Jolson, a Polish-born marketing expert who emigrated to the U.S., saw the possibilities of Necchi's zigzag sewing model, and brought in the first four Necchi machines (TIME, April 21, 1952). Last year his 2,268 franchised dealers in the U.S. sold some 80,000 machines, worth $32 million.

The other man was Gino Martinoli, 53, a student of American production methods who had been technical manager at the famed Olivetti Co. (TIME, Feb. 8). He became Necchi's general manager, taking over production from Vittorio Necchi, now 56, who wanted to spend more time at his villa and pheasant farm. At Necchi, Martinoli's fresh, efficient eye looked over the antique assembly methods, spotted gaps and waste from casting to cabinets. Less than ten major Italian firms use assembly lines, but Martinoli refused to believe that U.S. methods could not be applied in Italy.

To Necchi he introduced the assembly line, semi-automatic milling machines and interchangeable parts, paid the cost of retooling (about $8,000,000) out of profits. He supervised the construction of the big new factory at Pavia, and tooled up its six parallel assembly lines. He cut the time a sewing machine stays on the assembly line from 14 to 10 days, tightened up techniques so that a Necchi is built with only 15 man-hours. As a consultant, he hired N. Richard Miller, 32, a Harvard Business School graduate and production expert, to revamp production. Miller expects to increase efficiency by 50%, cut assembly-line time to seven days.

Martinoli has boosted Necchi's production to 200,000 machines a year, five times what it was when he took over, now employs more than 4,300 workers and is still growing. Says he: "In our business at least, American production techniques are ideal. Our workers aren't like Swiss--patient, painstaking, precise. Our workers are like Americans--hasty, impatient, and better adapted to assembly line than to artisan work."

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