Claudio Trubian has joined Staticus as our new Head of Technology. And he brings with him a wealth of experience, a strong work ethic, and a drive to improve himself and his team.
Claudio has spent a quarter of a century setting up and developing assembly lines for façades and training the teams who work on them. He has done this around the globe, in locations including the US, Dubai, Thailand, France, Greece, and his native Italy.
As someone who loves his job, Claudio is always working to maximise the efficiency of the team he leads. This could involve training employees or working out the most effective setup that reduces movement and saves time.
We sat down with Claudio in Vilnius to discuss his extensive career, what attracted him to Staticus, and his expectations for working with our production team here.
Could you please outline your experience in the facade industry? What specific projects or technologies have you been involved in?
I started my career in 1992, in Venice. I began with machinery and then, after one year, moved on to the assembly line. After almost one year in the assembly line, I became Chief of the Line and was responsible for checking the production quality and quantity.
That was my role for a few years, then the company bought a new factory in Treviso, which was nearby. So I became Production Manager in Treviso—at that point, I was still young, only 25 years old—and continued in this role until 2011. At that time, the company was growing globally and had just opened operations in the US. My boss invited me to the US to help open a new factory, so I spent 8 months there, helping to teach new people and setting quality standards.
I returned to Italy but was soon abroad again. My previous CEO asked me if I wanted to be responsible for opening our factories around the world. This involved helping to set up assembly lines and training personnel—I did this in the US, the Middle East, Athens, Dubai, and Thailand.
Then, once the facilities were set up successfully, my role changed to “problem solver”. We had a lot of projects in places like China and Thailand, and although we had good people on these projects, the markets were different and conditions on the sites could be problematic.
By this point, I had been working abroad for almost 25 years, and I wanted to come back to Italy. However, the positions in Italy were fully covered, and I ended up doing small jobs to help. For me, this was not satisfying, and I started to feel that it was time to move on.
By this point, I was well aware of Staticus—I knew its strategic direction, and that the team was growing. I saw that some of my friends were joining Staticus, so I became very interested. I applied, and after 2 or 3 days, Aušra (Aušra Vankevičiutė, Staticus Chief Executive Officer) called me. After interviews with Ignas (Ignas Stasiukonis, Staticus Chief Operational Officer), I travelled to Vilnius. I was impressed with the facilities here, and I saw that Vilnius is a nice place to live.
Ignas and Aušra told me to take a couple of weeks to decide, but I had already decided and called back after one day to say I wanted to join the team. Everything since then has moved very fast, and the team here has been very helpful and supportive.
How do you envision your role in contributing to the growth and development of the Staticus?
My job is simple. I am here to continue improving Staticus’ production and quality. Production volumes are increasing, and so are the competencies of the team. I want to share knowledge with them.
As a Head of Technology, I will also be thinking a lot about logistics and the materials that we use. In terms of efficiency, the goal is to minimise people moving on the line so we can save time. And we have to plan a lot and respect project deadlines, which might mean a little bit of pushing sometimes. That is my job, and the job of the team as well.
I’m planning to show people as well as tell them, and I want to pay attention to each individual. Sometimes a specialist looks at a drawing and understands everything in 30 seconds. For another, it might take 2 minutes. For some people, it’s important to go the extra mile; for some people, they want to work 8 hours, and that’s enough. For me, all of these are OK, and they are part of a normal working atmosphere. That’s why I am planning to be “hands-on” as a leader who wants to work, teach, and enhance our efficiency so we don’t lose focus.
Why did you choose Staticus? What makes it a unique place to work?
It is the direction and plan of the company and the growth it has had in the past 5 or 6 years, which is unbelievable. I know from my experience that achieving the growth Staticus has had is not easy. You need to have the right tools in place, and the top management has to be very well-organised.
Also, I can see that this is a good company with good people because Staticus’ reputation is growing all the time. Already, some people see Staticus as the top employer in Europe for façade contractors. I want to join a company that I can help, and I am motivated to help Staticus reach its target of becoming a big player, of having EUR 250 million turnover by 2027.
What excites you the most about your role?
I want to work and support the company; I like to get things done. I think the position of Head of Technology is right for me at 51 years old. And I think the future is open enough.
In the end, I like my job, and I want to be perfect at it. That’s not always possible, and there will be mistakes, but I will keep working.
What are your expectations regarding cultural differences between Italy and Lithuania?
I have worked all over the world, and I have never had any problems. People are all the same; there is no “you are better than me.” There are just people. I was brought up to respect people, to respect where you are and how people live there. You understand the rules of a culture and respect them. That is what I will do.
The only potential issue could be with language barrier, but I have had experience with this situation before. I know how to show someone if I can’t tell them. And I have already spoken with a couple of Team Leaders of the production lines, so it’s about working together. I will listen to others and not always assume that my solution is the best. We need to talk and collaborate to find the greatest solution.
Could you share a bit about your life outside of work?
As you can imagine, I like travelling.
I last visited Dubai with my wife (who also works in the façade industry). I love Dubai because I lived there for 10 years.
I also like to play football, although now I am getting a bit slower, so it is getting harder to play. And I enjoy watching football matches as well. Plus, together with my wife, I like to go hiking in the mountains. Foodwise, I eat everything. And I think the food in Vilnius is very good, so I will enjoy it here.