The company, based in Colverde (Como), took part for the first time at Simac Tanning Tech trade show in Milan. The firm is a leader in the textile sector, boasting a 90% export share, and has already served major leather groups.
The presence of Fimat Srl, which for the first time attended as exhibitor the 2024 edition of Simac Tanning Tech, held at the Milan Fairgrounds in September, it did not go unnoticed by operators and insiders. The Colverde (Como)-based company, founded in 1986, has a proven track record as an international specialist, both in color dosing and in the production of ancillary printing machinery. The core business is the automatic color kitchens ‘Monolith’.
In the field of color kitchens, in which it has been working for more than 20 years, Fimat has introduced a new technology that has made it possible to move from the concept of “plant,” to that of “machine,” bringing significant advantages in terms of accuracy, speed of execution, ease of use and easy maintenance.
Such compactness allows rapid installation at customers’ companies, with negligible site time, a decisive aspect in case of replacement or overlap with ongoing manual operation.
The compact color kitchen design was later joined by an automatic neutral base preparation system, capable of preparing recipes from both liquid and powder products.
Fimat also manufactures a wide range of ancillary machines such as mixers, washing machines for printing cylinders and for all types of containers, complemented by a complete line of machines for photogravure and regeneration of printing cylinders, using ultrasonic technology.
“This is our first time here in Milan,” engineer Mauro Leoni, CEO of the company, explained us, while interviewing him on the third and final day of the show “we had attended it a long time ago, just to check it out, when the fair was still held in Bologna. Boasting over 38 years of experience, we specialize in textiles, a sector that accounts for 85 percent of our turnover, but we are also working in the graphics sector, where very high professionalism is required. In the past, we have worked
with large tanning groups, producing dosing machines not under our own brand name, so the Tanning Tech show seemed immediately an interesting occasion for us to launch an innovation. The plant that we brought here to the fair is the same we recently made for Spac Spa, a large company in Arzignano that produces coated synthetics. It is the Monolith model. For space reasons, it was not possible to showcase the whole machine, so we only brought the dosing head, which is the core of our technology.”
What are your main features?
“We are a medium-sized company, with about 30 employees, we produce advanced technologies and this has allowed us to move on smoothly during this critical period. However, we are used to look around, also considering other business strategies of diversification and repositioning. After around a decade or so, we focused our business on foreign countries, forecasting a decline, which then occurred over the years.” We boast important clients, at major high-fashion brands (or at top companies working for them), who show us their appreciation and satisfaction and keep on placing orders over time.”
Why did you decide to also invest in the tanning industry?
“Some entrepreneurs approached us asking if we could make our technology available to them, and this was a decisive spring to face this new challenge with determination. We are not new to the industry; some 20 years ago we had made 4-5 important machines, including 2 for the Mastrotto Group in Trissino. At the same time, we are aware of the potential of our structure: for the textile sector we boast 36 agents worldwide, and we are aware that approaching the tanning sector will require us to make a commensurate effort. However, we consider important the cross-fertilization of experiences derived from the consolidated collaboration with companies in the coating sector, considered the so-called “cousin” that stands in the middle between textiles, coated fabric and leather, which have many aspects in common (chemical nature and physical characteristics of the products to be dosed). Finally, the increase in business in our country, which honestly, we have somewhat neglected in the past, has been decisive, although in the last three years we have recorded a positive trend. Currently 90% of our turnover is export-related, but we count on growing a lot in Italy.”
From the textile to the tanning industry: what are the main difficulties you will face?
“To be honest, and without underestimating anything, we are confident and not at all worried. Not to overestimate ourselves, but we consider our level to be very high, so we are able to stand out in the leather markets with excellent products. The figures speak for themselves: we make dosing plants equipped with high productivity and precision that are suitable for printing high- fashion products, clothing, bathroom fittings and furniture, in areas where the options are greater by virtue of a much more diverse market.
For example, Hermes scarves, known and sold all over the world, use colors produced with extreme precision by 4 Fimat kitchens: at the production level we are able to produce up to 140-150 batches per hour; if we compare with the 30-40 batches required in the tanning field, production is easy. At the productivity level in textiles, we are able to do in one hour what in other sectors is done in several days.”
Leather is considered a “living material”: how will you solve this issue?
“To tell the truth, even in the textile industry, just as in leather or synthetics ones, there are natural and artificial fibers. We precisely dose base products, dyes or auxiliaries. Normally in the tanning industry a few classes of dyes are used, while in textiles acid and premetallized dyes are used for silk, dispersed dyes for polyester, and reactive dyes for cotton; each of these chemical classes requires dedicated arrangements, as is also the case, perhaps to a lesser extent, in the leather sector. Adaptation to the tanning world required us only some technical integration but no substantial upheaval of the system.”
Is the distance from the districts of Arzignano, Santa Croce sull’Arno and Solofra a limitation for you?
“Absolutely not, our systems have so far demonstrated, thanks to the technical choices applied, a very remarkable level of mechanical reliability, which we still support with a quick after-sales service (we are 2 hours away from Arzignano and 3 from Santa Croce) and by a customizable scheduled maintenance contract. Our machines are designed, in any case, to have remote assistance, with the possibility of real- time connections. We boast all machines that can be financed with Industry 4.0, use stainless steel for every mechanical piece and Siemens brand components, or other internationally known manufacturers, for electronics, PLCs and inverters. Our business strategy is that the customer does not strictly depend on us for the procurement of major spare parts, we provide solid and well- designed machines that hardly need service, and ensure that we can assist the customer in case of difficulties, with the need for very rare interventions of our technicians on site.”
How do you deal with your foreign customers?
“The one advantage that Covid has brought at the business level is that you travel less: before 2020 an Indian customer, and oriental more generally, wanted to meet with you, now he accepts initial comparisons on call, perhaps with members of his technical department alongside, then eventually you meet to sign the contract. In Italy, contacts are clearly easier, both because of the distances involved and the greater competence of our interlocutors.”
What is the feedback of the Milan fair?
“We are very satisfied; the final balance is definitely positive. We came with a long list of appointments, although it was not crowded as our brand in the tanning industry is not yet so well established. Despite this, many operators who did not know us asked for more in-depth information and technical contacts. In the months leading up to the fair, we got well prepared with mailing work and distribution of flyers and brochures at Lineapelle, encountering curiosity both nationally and from some foreign groups.”
Mauro Leoni, CEO Fimat