Running manufacturing operations means balancing fast-moving costs, protecting margins, and keeping teams aligned as customer needs shift. These pressures often fall across procurement, sales, and production at the same time, and many companies are looking for more connected ways of working.

Floriano Liguoro has spent much of his career in roles that sit directly at this crossroads. In this episode of Manufacturers Make Strides, he shares how his background in procurement and his experience inside chemical manufacturing have shaped the way he approaches communication, margin visibility, and day-to-day decision-making.

Seeing manufacturing operations through a procurement lens

Much of Floriano’s early career was spent in procurement, working with raw materials, packaging, and complex services. He explained how this shaped his understanding of margin protection, especially in environments where price changes have an immediate impact on cost of goods.

For him, purchasing is not only about price. It’s about understanding quality, service levels, and the long-term reliability of each supplier. These experiences continue to influence how he leads operations today, particularly when it comes to anticipating cost changes and sharing information across teams.

Building alignment across sales, production and procurement

A recurring theme in the conversation was the importance of shared visibility. Floriano described how sales teams often focus on volume, while procurement focuses on cost and production focuses on feasibility. Without clear communication between these areas, manufacturing operations can become reactive.

By reviewing margins, raw material trends, expected cost movements and customer mix together, he aims to create a clearer picture for everyone involved. This helps teams understand not only what they are selling, but what it means for the wider business.

Creating rhythm and consistency in daily operations

When Floriano joined Ital G.E.T.E., he introduced simple structures to make communication more predictable. Weekly stand-ups with production, sales, procurement and the warehouse allow issues to surface quickly, while monthly reviews give teams a shared view of margins, budget progress and upcoming changes in material costs.

These routines help people understand each other’s priorities and reduce surprises — something he sees as essential for smooth manufacturing operations.

Examples from the conversation:

1. Connecting cost changes with customer decisions

The situation:
Raw material prices in their sector can shift quickly, and future contracts on metals often indicate upcoming increases.

What Floriano noticed:
Sales teams weren’t always aware of how these changes would affect customer pricing in the months ahead.

What changed:
By sharing cost trends and forecasts openly across departments, sales teams gained a clearer picture of margins and could manage customer expectations earlier.

2. Making production planning more transparent

The situation:
Production needed earlier visibility when a new customer or large order might require weekend work or a shift in priorities.

What Floriano noticed:
This information wasn’t always reaching the right people at the right time.

What changed:
Short weekly operations meetings on the production floor allowed teams to share upcoming needs and spot constraints together.

3. Encouraging collaboration from day one

The situation:
As a new external hire, Floriano knew he needed to build trust with his team before driving any operational changes.

What he noticed:
People needed space to explain their roles, challenges and ideas.

What changed:
He held individual face-to-face conversations with each person in his first line, focusing on understanding how he could support their work.

What listeners may connect with

Many manufacturers will recognise the points raised around cost visibility, communication flow, and the daily reality of keeping sales, production and procurement aligned. These are challenges shared across the industry, and Floriano’s experiences reflect how clearer collaboration can support more stable and predictable manufacturing operations.

About the guest

Floriano Liguoro is the Chief Operations Officer at Ital G.E.T.E. His background in procurement and chemical manufacturing shapes the way he approaches communication, margin protection and cross-department collaboration within manufacturing operations.

🎧 Want to Hear More?

Listen to Floriano Liguoro full episode of Manufacturers Make Strides. Available now on YouTube and all major podcast platforms.

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