Family continuity and safeguarding know-how have made Dimac from Barletta a leader in the production and marketing of liquid colorants, polyurethane systems and additives for polyurethane. This year, the company celebrates forty years of activity oriented towards maximum customer satisfaction.
Dimac of Barletta, a third-generation family business and an international reference point in the production of liquid colorants and the marketing of polyurethane systems, TPU and PU additives, boasts a successful entrepreneurial history. In partnership with leading multinationals in the sector, the Apulian company offers a wide portfolio of products and raw materials for the footwear industry (work & safety in particular), with efficient technical and logistical support. Today, 40 years after its founding in 1985, the company has achieved and consolidated a significant presence not only in the Italian market but also a high degree of internationalization, operating in over twenty countries worldwide and exporting a portion of its products, especially within Europe.
Francesco Paolo Diterlizzi and his daughter Roberta (Marketing Manager of the company) tell us the success story of an entrepreneurial reality that has reinvented its business through a journey of ideas, challenges, commitment, and professionalism.
Francesco and Roberta, what does it mean to carry on a family tradition in a constantly evolving market, and what are the values passed down “from father to son” and the strategies adopted that have gradually strengthened Dimac’s growth and international recognition?
F.D. “Ours is a story of transformation and reconversion. At the end of the 1970s, on the initiative of my father, Angelo Diterlizzi, we started an electromechanical workshop for technical assistance to footwear and upper manufacturers, leveraging our skills in the sector. Alongside my work in close contact with the machinery, my interest in the polyurethane coloring process and pigment chemistry grew day by day. In 1985, Dimac was established, which began to move away from mere electromechanical assistance to enter the world of representation and then the production and trade of chemical products for the footwear sector. Today we can say that Dimac’s strength lies precisely in the history and evolution we have experienced. Having been born as repairers of footwear machines and then becoming distributors of polyurethane systems and manufacturers of liquid colorants and additives, we have learned over time to know all the facets of the footwear industry. Ultimately, thanks to our experience, we know all the fundamental steps that our customers carry out and this allows us to guarantee them high-level consultancy thanks to 360-degree technical know-how, which we have entrusted to the third generation and which constitutes an important part of our strategy to move forward and approach new markets. Being a family business, the emotional attachment that is breathed within it is also important.”
R.D. “On behalf of my brothers as well, I feel I can say that as the third generation we intend to ‘take part in the cause’ to carry it forward with the same dedication, commitment and willpower shown by our father in these years. These are the values he has been able to transmit to us and which have allowed us to get where we are now. This year the company celebrates its first forty years and we want, with all our strength, that the story does not stop. Furthermore, what has been fundamental in Dimac’s history, in addition to the foresight of the owner, is having managed to establish deep relationships first of all with suppliers, who have now become part of our large family, but also and above all with customers. The objective of our company, now recognized for years as a point of reference in the production of coloring pastes and additives and in the marketing of polyurethane systems, is to act as a link between the large chemical multinationals and customers, through our solid product portfolio. Our company has never looked for simple suppliers, but rather those who are defined as key partners, true ‘allies’ with whom to work side by side to create valuable proposals, and fortunately we can say that we have found all this in the Repi and Dow Italia companies.”
What does be a partner to your customers mean to you? What added value do your product and your service express compared to the competition?
F.D. “The principle behind our company is to offer customers what they need and above all when they need it, helping them reduce complexity and grouping various products in our portfolio by offering a ‘one-stop shopping’ service. We are talking, in fact, about a varied range of high-quality proposals that has led the company to consolidate itself as a trusted partner for many Italian and international customers, which, combined with expert technical support and responsiveness, leads to a single goal: to guarantee maximum customer satisfaction. Those who choose our company can count on professionalism and seriousness. In all these years, we have built an organized and reliable company, capable of satisfying customer needs, guaranteeing high quality standards and responding to changes with courage and resourcefulness. Our mission is to produce and market only excellent products to satisfy the needs of our customers, while our vision is to be a specialist and a reliable partner in the raw materials and liquid colorants sector.
In addition to being a product company, Dimac is above all a service company: from technical support to the study and development of ad hoc formulations in the field of liquid colorants and additives, from laboratory tests to strict compliance and the related creation of documentation by virtue of current regulations. How to describe the relationship with customers in a few words? ‘For every problem, we have a solution. For every question, we have an answer. We work with speed to reduce production and delivery-times, we operate with precision to offer an accurate and reliable service and we are reactive to respond to all their requests’.”
Colors have a strong emotional trigger effect on people. Designers use them to increase the attractiveness of products and components. How does research and development in the field of colorants meet the tireless demand for new products from the market?
F.D. “The search for a new color belongs to the work of the model maker. We position ourselves ‘one step below’, as we consistently orient ourselves to market demands thanks to participation in trade fairs and events that allow us always be up-to-date.”
R.D. “We respond to the tireless demand for new products from the market
with a tireless desire to satisfy customer needs. Thanks to our know-how and a team of technical experts who work closely with customers, we are able to create valuable products and offer customized solutions for every need. We believe we are an ideal partner also for this reason, as we are able to develop samples of new colorants or products in a few days that customers can try to create prototypes, benefiting from a quality and rapid service.”
The commitment to sustainability is today a crucial issue at the center of public debate. What are the challenges in the preparation and development of colorants and additives capable of minimizing environmental impact?
F.D. “Our company has always attributed fundamental importance to the concept of sustainability, not only environmental, but also social and governance. Today I feel I can say that we are even more committed to measuring our impact through ESG criteria and trying to implement in the various processes all those ‘good practices’ that allow for correct business management. As for the products, we rely on the research and development laboratories of the multinationals whose products we market, which are very attentive not only to regulatory changes regarding substances that are hazardous to health and the environment, but also strongly focused on the development of solutions that can be derived from alternative sources to petroleum, bio-based or obtained through circular economy processes. In the near future, the circular economy will also be a driving force for the footwear sector, which generates tons of production waste every year, and our focus now is precisely on this.”
R.D. “Internally, however, we try to minimize the environmental impact through production that is as efficient as possible, limiting waste and energy consumption, and managing workplaces in full compliance with current regulations on employee health and safety. We have always operated in total safety and compliance with the regulations relating to the use and management of chemical substances, such as REACH in Europe and the CLP regulation, not only to comply with legal obligations, but mainly for a matter of ethics and respect towards those around us and the territory. For this reason, the company is committed to obtaining two other important certifications: ISO 45001:2018, relating to occupational health and safety, and ISO 14001:2015, relating to environmental safety.”
Your flagship is the warehouse. What strategies have you adopted to manage the “uncertainty of assessment” in periods of market volatility and turbulence like the ones we are experiencing?
F.D. “A dealer-oriented sales system, strongly focused on just-in-time customer service, represents one of the main pillars of our company. The procurement and storage of raw materials is in fact carefully planned based on customer purchase forecasts. With our expertise, we are able to predict what the needs will be, therefore, we anticipate orders to be ready to respond, almost in real time, to requests. Every product requested within 1-2 days at the most must reach the customer; if they are inside Puglia, we can even do it in a day.”
The Dimac staff led by the Diterlizzi family, today
The top management of Dimac:
Francesco Paolo Diterlizzi is joined by his sons Fabrizio, Technical & Sales Manager (right), Alessio, Production & Purchase Manager (left) e Roberta, Marketing Manager
The Dimac team at the latest edition of Simac TT
A snapshot from 1985: the first approaches to mixing coloring pastes