Company News15 September 2022
Becoming ILPRA – Interview with the Head of Product Management Andrea Zini
Andrea Zini Interview: Product Strategy and Customisation at ILPRA
Andrea Zini shares how ILPRA’s product management function guides product strategy, ensuring machines stay efficient to produce while still meeting increasingly specific customer requirements.
Our interview with Andrea Zini: product strategy, customisation, and what “product management” really means at ILPRA
In the latest Becoming ILPRA interview, Andrea Zini, Head of Product Management and Board Member, shared an inside look at how ILPRA develops packaging machinery that balances standardisation with high level customisation, while staying closely aligned with real customer needs.
Here are the main themes covered.
Andrea explained that he leads ILPRA’s product management function and, since 2019, has also been part of the Board of Directors. His own career path began in 1997 in an international commercial role, before moving into a more strategic and managerial position focused on product strategy.
What Product Management Means at ILPRA
At ILPRA, product management is not just about defining technical features. It is a strategic role that works closely with General Management to coordinate product direction, shape development priorities, and guide how machinery is brought to market. The end goal is to create solutions that can be produced efficiently as standard models, while still offering the flexibility and specialisation customers increasingly expect.
In Andrea’s words:
“ILPRA produces machines in series, but always with a strong focus on customisation. Customer requirements are becoming more and more specific, so our work is about building a standard base, while keeping the ability to develop specialised solutions around each client’s needs.”
Balancing Standard Models with Real-World Customer Needs
Andrea also highlighted that a strong product manager needs both strategic and technical competence. Even though final design decisions sit with technical teams, product management must be able to challenge assumptions, interpret requirements, and make informed decisions that balance technical feasibility with wider business priorities.
This includes understanding the customer, the market, and the practical realities of delivering long term support. As Andrea put it, customers are not only buying a machine, they are choosing the company behind it and the full service capability that comes with it.
That is why product management plays such an important role in commercial negotiations too. By combining technical credibility with a clear view of customer needs, the product team helps the sales network explain the real value of choosing ILPRA, especially when competing solutions may look similar on paper but differ significantly in service quality and long term partnership.
Overall, the interview reinforced a key part of ILPRA’s approach: delivering reliable machines that are built on a standardised foundation, but designed to flex around the challenges our customers face, backed by the expertise and support needed to protect performance over time.
See how ILPRA builds solutions around your needs
Explore ILPRA packaging machinery and discover how a strong standard platform supports tailored configurations, long-term service, and consistent performance.
