The Prometeia Study reports on the impact of Leonardo, the national champion in the Aerospace, Defence & Security (AD&S) sector, within the productive ecosystem of Piedmont. The study highlights that the company is a hub, which contributes to the regional GDP with around 1.3 billion euros equal to 1.1% of the total GDP (+36% compared to 2018). Every Euro of value added created by the company generates, on average, 1.2 additional euros within the territory.
From the data contained in the Prometeia Study (relating to 2021), it has emerged that ten Leonardo employees in Lombardy support, on average, an additional 24 employees for a total of 14,500 employees within the local ecosystem, a value that has grown by 28% when compared to 2018. More than 400 companies in the sector, including 87% of SMEs, move around 400 million euros in ordered volume and in Piedmont the value of investments in Research & Development (R&D) activities of the company is reaching 232 million euros, equal to 9.7% of the total region.
Leonardo contributes to the strengthening of the regional technological and high knowledge supply chain: aerospace, IT and professional services are among the main sectors. The average labour productivity, characterised by a high mix of skills, fed by Leonardo is 44% higher than the regional average. The Leonardo supply chain represents 30% of the entire hi-tech industry in Lombardy. The innovative activities, which are further nourished by the work carried out by the Future Aircraft Technologies Leonardo Lab in Turin – which aim to identify, explore and develop technological solutions for the next generation of aircraft – are part of an ecosystem comprised of companies, institutions, and universities. In this context, the existing collaboration between the industrial world, the regional institutions, the educational institutions (University and also the Advanced Technical Institutes) and the innovative entrepreneurship of startup is essential in ensuring concrete support for a strategic and innovative supply chains at a local and national level.
In the region, the Leonardo Group has three main locations – between Turin, Caselle and Cameri – that are active in the aircraft and electronics markets with over 4,000 employees. Piedmont boasts an important aeronautical and avionic technological heritage: the aeronautical tradition of our country was born in the Region. Turin also hosts the activities of Thales Alenia Space – the joint venture Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) – which provides high-tech solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental management and, in particular at the Turin plant, in the domains of scientific exploration and inhabited orbital and planetary infrastructures.
Broadening its gaze to Italy, the Prometeia Study indicates that the productive ecosystem led by Leonardo comprises over 4,000 companies, 87% of which are SMEs, with more than 125,000 employees, and generates 0.6% of GDP, thanks to 10 billion euros in value added. A figure that represents 1.4% of the value produced by the entire national industry and 13% of the Italian high tech industry. The company develops within the Italian territory revenues of 9.5 billion euros, employing beyond 31,000 assigned, and exports 75% of the production that, in 2021, was worth 1.4% of all the exports of goods in Italy, reaching a labour productivity of 50% higher than the Italian average.
On a national basis, the multiplier of Leonardo’s value added is 2.9: this means that for each single euro generated by the Group, an additional 1.9 euro will be created for the entire Italian economy. Coming to the employment multiplier, this stands at 3.9: ten employees in the Group support, on average, an additional 28 employees in the economy, with 0.4% of the national employment supported by Leonardo and its industry. Compared to 2018, the Prometeia study points out that the total impact of the Leonardo Group’s activities on the Italian economy grew – in 2021 – by 18%, in terms of value added produced, and by 16%, in terms of employment: the result is an expansion of the Group’s direct activities and purchases of its Italian supply chain.
Over time, Leonardo has finalised ad hoc programmes for the construction of a reliable, solid, innovative, competitive supply chain on the domestic market and open to international challenges, and sustainable. Among these, the LEAP programme (Leonardo Empowering Advanced Partnerships) is particularly important.
With the launch of the LEAP programme in 2018, Leonardo has supported the dimensional and qualitative growth of its supply chain. The company has equipped itself with a management model that enhances its supply chain to create stronger and more sustainable relationships within, making it a “system” and by driving an accelerator role for SME growth in the national ecosystem.
In 2021, these areas were combined with the objectives of operational performance and cost competitiveness, and sustainability, in the belief that a sustainable business generates value for the customer, society, and the environment. LEAP – Partnership for Sustainability, the second step of the programme, focused on innovation, digital transformation, cyber security and the green transition, ensured the medium-long-term competitiveness of Leonardo’s integrated industrial ecosystem.
LEAP follows a modular approach comprising various types of interventions, some applicable to the entire supplier base, others were more selective and demanding in terms of impact and resources employed. Specific improvement and development projects have already been implemented for more than 130 suppliers, including targeted managerial and technical specialist training programmes, long-term business partnership agreements, support for technology transfer and financial support arrangements. With regard to finance, in particular, Leonardo has strengthened the package of solutions and financial instruments available to suppliers and launched a series of agreements that allow to preserve access to credit for small- and medium-sized Italian suppliers.
Thanks to the development of the programme, with constant updates, the company has become, in fact, a promoter and protagonist of an industrial policy that is able to support competitiveness and sustainability of one of the main supply chains in the country.
