The core of Serafini’s strategies is attention to the environment and customer service. The Marche-based Group invests in new products and new solutions for logistics
“The work is going well and withstands the impact of the pandemic,” said Marco Serafini during our meeting at the fair. “We are happy to be back at Lineapelle, an unmissable event to increase visibility and contacts as well as an opportunity to see old customers again. This year we also set up a stand at Simac to counter the risk of going unnoticed considering the uniformity of the stands, imposed by the Fair Authority.” The innovations mainly concern eco-sustainable materials: Serafini was one of the first companies in the sector to obtain the GRS – Global Recycle Standard textile certification and among the first to introduce compounds obtained from organic waste in the manufacturing process of its products. “Today we are starting to get the first significant results in terms of business, but there is still a widespread fear that eco-sustainable materials do not offer the same performance as traditional ones.”
The Group, leader in the production of reinforcements and adhesive tapes for different sectors, including footwear, leather goods and clothing, managed to face this difficult period, registering in 2020 an overall increase in turnover of more than 20% compared to the previous year, despite having suffered a decrease of 30% of the average generated by the footwear and leather goods sectors. In the first months of the health emergency, the Marche-based company promptly converted production into compliant materials for the manufacture of personal protective equipment such as masks and surgical gowns, an activity that still continues today. “A good timing for taking up the new challenge was crucial to being able to keep on working and investing in innovation. This allowed us to inaugurate a new line of coating products formulated specifically for foamed materials (foam) intended for upholstery and the comfort sector. We are building a new high-bay warehouse, destined to revolutionize the quality of the service provided to the customer, especially at a time like this during which the supply chain has suffered severe slowdowns due to the shortage of raw materials and soaring costs of transporting goods in containers.” Thanks to the central information system WMS (Warehouse Management System), the new automated warehouse equipped with stacker cranes will maximize storage efficiency and picking process management, reducing the time for preparation and fulfillment of orders as well as for the supply of stocks. Furthermore, the installation of the WMS software will let the warehouse communicate with all company divisions and branches abroad (the Group includes eight affiliated companies and three production sites in Italy, Mexico and Portugal), becoming an effective source of data and information that can be analyzed in real time.
SERAFINI – www.serafini.it
Marco Serafini with his daughter Kelly. The Marche-based company has set up a stand at both Lineapelle and Simac