Posts Tagged Net-Tailor

La Punta dell’Iceberg

A lot of things happened in 2008, and what I wrote on the blog is only the tip of the iceberg.

However, should I really make a choice, the thing that impressed me the most has been the evening walk in the Red Square when I was in Moscow with the Virtual Tailor of Cernobbio: misterious, fascinating and… I didn’t expect it was not flat at all! 😀

Travels, exhibitions, events and meetings filled a 2008 that ended with such a concentration of good news in the last two months to make 2009 full of good expectations.

And even bad or unpleasant things, once elaborated, become part of the luggage of experience I’ll bring with me in the new year.

As the last thing of the year I’d like to thank the people whom I felt close during difficult times and send a special greeting to who called me crazy since I ride my Vespa with any kind of weather! 😉

Welcome to 2009 and its wind of change!

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In Moscow with the Virtual Tailor of Cernobbio

Net-TailorWho could have ever said that I would had to install a remote station of the Net-tailor system in Moscow?

And yet we did it, everything went ok fortunately. On last saturday, together with Cleto Orefice, I flew to the russian capital and in the following two days I installed and configured the IP camera that will allow Cleto to remotely take measurements and do suits fittings for Styleguide’s customers, a company taking care of the image and style of rich people.

There were a lot of uncertainties before leaving, both from the technical and human point of view, mixed together with the appeal and mystery of a big city such as Moscow.

It wasn’t easy, but everything went well thanks to Styleguide staff, in particular their young manager and founder Ivan and his assistants Nadia and Viktoria. 🙂

I’m happy for Cleto, since his investment to make the Net-tailor system is beginning to generate profits.

Who knows where we’ll go to install the next station…

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The Virtual Tailor Ready for the Real Market

The handshake with Cleto Orefice, the “Virtual Tailor in Cernobbio”, celebrates the delivery of the latest version of the Net-tailor software, right in front of the system made with the scientific coordination of the Centro Volta, in particular with the engineer Matteo Baracani.

While I was implementing a series of modifications and improvements he requested, Cleto began studying the market and setting up the marketing plan, fundamental elements to be able to place his innovative system on the market.

From what I’ve seen so far the favorable conditions do exist and the system could be soon deployed in Italy and abroad.

A real good luck to Cleto the virtual tailor then! 🙂

For the technical side of things he already knows he can count on me. 😉

Davide Cleto

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The Virtual Tailor in Cernobbio Featured on La Provincia

Sartoria OreficeAfter the mention on Business People, the brief article on L’Espresso and the interview on RaiDue, even the local daily newspaper La Provincia wrote about this now famous mythological character. 🙂

An article emphasizing the long tradition of the Sartoria Orefice through the words of Mr. Lino Orefice which belongs to the series of articles devoted to innovation projects completed with success since the Centro Volta’s IComo initiative was born less than one year ago.

When the articles was published, on November 30th 2006, I thought something was missing: at least a mention as the author of the hardware and software system born from Cleto Orefice’s idea which now allows the tailor shop to work in a totally different way. 😕

I would have loved to see that not only for personal pride, but also because I’d like to repeat the experience with another local artigianal company willing to start an innovation project by using informatics tools.

Also it has been the result of a great team work and in my opinion this was a chance to highlight the Centro Volta’s role as an effective aggregator of local skills, the mission of IComo.

Maybe it’s better getting back to work and don’t be concerned too much about that, focusing instead on the message this article gave to readers: the tailor in Cernobbio is an example to follow! 🙂

Consider that Mr. Lino, who always had an active role in the project thanks to his experience, works since 60 years and shows his invaluable irony whenever he reads of people complaining about the increase of the retirement age.

He represents an example to follow for me! 😉

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The Virtual Taylor in Cernobbio on Rai Due

Here is the video of the interview recorded for the Non Solo Soldi (Not only money) TG2’s feature which sees The Virtual Taylor in Cernobbio as protagonist, this almost mythological hero lost inside the fog of Lake of Como… :mrgreen:

Even I am used to call him like the press did until now, although at the taylor shop they prefer the exact reference to Sartoria Orefice for marketing reasons.

Maybe it’s better as it is, people remember more easily the fable of the virtual taylor taking measurements using a camera over the Internet.

The TV interview made everyone in the taylor shop excited and in the video, other than the staff at work while Cleto Orefice is describing how the system works, you can spot me in the recording running on the left monitor.

We recorded that while I was trying the suit they made ( sculpted is the most appropriate metaphor 🙂 ) to measure for me.

Really a marketing hit for the taylor shop and the people involved in the project.

Enjoy!

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The Future is the Taylor in Cernobbio

Business PeopleThis title, chosen an interview to Raffaello Vignali, president of the Compagnia delle Opere, published in the November issue of the magazine Business People, is emblematic and it means only one thing: the innovation project related to the taylor shop Sartoria Orefice in Cernobbio I took care of from the beginning to the end, with the coordination of the Centro Volta, has become a success case! 🙂

An example to follow for italian small businesses which are hearing a lot of talk about innovation, would like to start these kind of projects, but they don’t know which way to turn.

I can’t spare a criticism for the sentence: “Here Hewlett and Packard or Bill Gates couldn’t have existed, since in Italy if someone starts a company inside a garage the Asl (the local sanitary inspection service) comes and forces them to close“… a cliché often used to hide the real problems of the new ICT startups.

Vignali’s interview is actually centered on the issues italian business class has to face to follow the difficult path of innovation, in order to be able to maintain the competitivity of the Made in Italy product in a globalized market, and also on the benefits generated when an innovation project comes to a good conclusion, using the “Taylor in Cernobbio“ as example, although in the interview the project is described generically with some mistakes about the system’s working.

A working that has been well explained on thursday morning by Cleto Orefice when a Rai troupe, headed by journalist Sandra Cecchi, went to the taylor shop to record an interview for the Non Solo Soldi (Not only money) TG2’s feature, broadcast from monday to friday at 10:30 on Rai Due.

The TV interview will last only a few minutes, but it will be the first time the system will be shown in public. Really a must see to understand how a taylor working in the same way for 5 generations learnt to use a PC and Internet, not only to simplify his work, but also to make his business grow with perspectives which are probably still beyond estimation.

Although I’m more at ease with textures rather than fabrics ;), by now I could almost say I’m a “taylor” too if you consider the analogy with artigianal work I already blogged about, so it will be a real pleasure following the evolution of the Sartoria Orefice.

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Artisans-Entrepreneurs at Innovacomo

InnovaComoYesterday evening I attended a conference organized by Innovacomo, the initiative of Confartigianato Imprese Como aimed to promote innovation among the the local small and medium artisan enterprises.

There were much more participants than expected, a clear sign of the interest for the argument. Mr. Cleto Orefice recommended me to attend, since he was invited to speak about the project made for the Sartoria Orefice with the coordination of the Centro Volta.

Dressed in an impeccable suit, as only a taylor could do, he held a presentation clear and effective in just a few minutes of speech. 🙂

After him some other artisans-entrepreneurs presented their success cases.

It was the first time I attended their meetings and I felt at ease among them, maybe because I feel like an artisan after all. The type of tools might be different, since I work with bytes and lines of code while an artisan like Mr. Orefice uses needle and thread to create high quality custom suits. Well, to say the truth, now he’s using a PC and an Internet connection also. 😉

Bruno Panieri, Confartigianato’s manager for the market and rules sector, was connected from Rome thanks to the Skype videoconferencing feature. He had good words for the Innovacomo initiative considering it a example to follow at a national level, a sort of polar star, he said.

Innovacomo’s staff aims to build a network made of two fundamental elements: a community of artisans-entrepreneurs and a database of ideas, connect them and promote innovation. I think they are going to succeed only if they’ll join forces with other local initiative such as IComo. It’s nonsense in my opinion trying to make important steps by themselves in the minefield of innovation in a globalized market. Synergy is the key here to help turn a simple idea into a success case, such as the Orefice’s project.

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The Riddle of the Tailor and the Software Developer

Orefice LogoWhatever could a tailor and a software developer have in common?

I couldn’t answer that until few months ago, when I started working on a technology innovation project commissioned by a prestigious tailor shop in Cernobbio, Sartoria Orefice, under the scientific coordination of the Centro Volta research center. I wrote a bit about this project in the past updates and now that we’re getting closer to its completion, I have been allowed to write more about it.

Sartoria Orefice is one of the few small enterprises in this high quality market sector, renowned for excellence not only in Italy but also in many countries of the world, so much so that a lot of customers come to Cernobbio from abroad to ask Mr. Lino and his son Cleto, who now runs the business, to create the perfect suit for them.

Back to the initial riddle, I am convinced the most appropriate answer consists in one simple word: Elegance! 🙂

Consider the hard work the tailor, guided only by his experience, make every day with such simple tools as needle and thread. Compare it now with the work I did during the last months with tools only apparently more complicated such as bits and bytes to create a hardware and software system which will make Orefice’s work much more efficient and profitable.

Especially the software part was made to measure, as they say, and the end result is as elegant as a finely handcrafted suit. 😉

They’ll be able to expand their business with this system, in fact the reason they invested in it in the first place is because they strongly believe in its potential.

I was happy to find such great people to work with: Cleto, Lino, their kind staff and Matteo from the Centro Volta. By working side to side with them I had the pleasure to learn some of the secrets of a craftsmanship as old as the hills, and fine-tuned by 5 generations of tailors. This year they’re celebrating 150 years since the first Orefice started the business in 1856.

This project gave me the chance to gain experience in a number of fields, from the development of custom software to the latest videosurvelliance and videoconferencing IP-based hardware, Sony’s products in particular, but, above all, gave me the opportunity to learn to deal with people in the best way, understanding their needs and turning a problem into an efficient working solution.

I’d love to apply this kind of approach to another small localcompany . The staff at the Centro Volta is ready to enroll me again, should someone request their direct assistance in a technology innovation project, maybe along the lines of the IComo initiative.

You could contact me directly if you prefer, while if you need a high quality Made-in-Italy suit now you know who call. 😉

With their new system Cleto and his father will be able to assist you all the way from the choice of the fabric to the finest details of your suit, even if you live on the other side of the globe.

Recently I came across a significant quote by Einstein which inspired me the initial riddle:

If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.

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Working in Silence Against The Information Overloading

Best Software Awards 2005A few months passed since the last blog post, time I actually spent working in silence, trying to reach the mental state in which I’d been able to defeat the so-called information overloading, that can easily affect workers in the ICT sector (and not only us).

As I say to friends when ask me why I don’t keep the blog updated, it’s not easy at all thinking of something interesting to write. 😉

Now I’m still busy working on the innovation project committed by a local company and coordinated by the Centro Volta. It’s going well and I’d like to write more about it, but I’ll do it only if I’ll get the necessary permissions.

Since the beginning of the year I’ve also started working on the software project for which I committed a due diligence study to the Centro Volta last year. I had the luck to find the right people with the right competences for this project and we’re doing well I’d say, a confirmation of the fact that the people always make the difference.

More details about this project as soon as we’ll start testing the prototype with the public. 🙂

The last year ended, and the new one began, with a present from Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine. Their Board of Experts voted Euro Coins Pocket Collector QVGA to be among the best in the category Miscellaneous Utilities in the magazine’s fifth annual Best Software Awards.

As a finalist I joined their 2006 Best of Everything Marketing Program which will grant my software some more visibility. Another award that makes me proud of the work I did and talking about this I can anticipate that in a couple of weeks I’ll start building a new site entirely focused on Ecpc.

Later then and don’t get caught by the frenziness of modern life! 😉

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