The times we are living in, made difficult by the economic and social situation, lead us to focus on our businesses, which have the task of developing a sense of direction not only internally, but also towards the outside. Alongside innovation, technological development and everything that contributes to company growth, defining shared values with collaborators constitutes today the true enrichment of the corporate. O.M.M. Officine Minuterie Metalliche, a family business, 100% made in Italy, specialized in the production of high-end metal accessories for footwear, leather goods and clothing, cherishes values such as integrity, transparency, reliability, truthfulness, that are combined with environmental sustainability, work ethics and support to the community. An all- round approach, as Giorgio Nerpiti tells us, one of the partners of the historic firm based in Montegiorgio (Fermo province), which, twelve years ago, was the first to use dry tumbling, developed in collaboration with ADI-International Chips.
Investing in sustainable products, reducing the production environmental impact, but also creating value for future generations, promoting work ethics and supporting the community, are all actions that contribute to collective well-being…
“That’s always been our goal. For us, the principle of ethics materializes within the company by helping our employees, promoting equal opportunities, non- discrimination and mutual collaboration; externally, contributing to the well- being of the local area and cooperating on initiatives in line with our values. Over the years, we have promoted activities aimed at safeguarding the environment, from the presence of simple recycling bins inside the company, to the most important step, twelve years ago, which led us to the development of dry tumbling. This process is used to smooth the accessories before coloring, when they are still rough, and would normally take hundreds of liters of water. Already at the time the water used was reused but, after a certain number of cycles, we still had to dispose of it. The development of dry tumbling has allowed a processing cycle without H2o and thus we save many hectoliters of this precious resource every day. For us, eliminating such an important daily consumption of water from the production circuit was a great satisfaction.”
You have renewed a traditional system starting from mutual skills… Your approach to the environment seems to have deep roots. How did it start?
“I am a supporter of the thought of Joseph Beuys, of his ecological awareness and of his conception of environmental regeneration, starting from that large green tent, erected in 1980 in Düsseldorf, which was the gathering, organization and foundation hub of his movement. We started from a simple thought and we still strive to enhance natural resources, by reducing waste throughout the life cycle of the product.”
Your commitment is to place human needs at the center of your business, right?
“Exactly. For the fiftieth anniversary of the company, in 2019, we hired two artists, two important book illustrators, to decorate a 120 square meter wall. The starting idea was to combine our accessories, symbol of our business, with nature. They designed a garden full of beautiful insects and we decorated them with our products. But something was missing to be truly sustainable: the right paint. After a long search, we discovered Airlite, an ecological and eco- sustainable paint that purifies the air, does not pollute, does not harm health, respects the planet and is produced from 100% renewable energy sources. Airlite is unique in the world because, thanks to its patented technology, it works like a natural air purifier: all you need is air and light. Semiconductor technology generates electric charges on the wall surface. These electric charges combine with the water vapor and oxygen in the air, generating negative ions which neutralize the pollutants once they come into contact with the wall. It was a huge investment but today we have a mural that acts like a 120 square meter forest.”
Will your commitment to the community continue over time?
“Absolutely. We are checking the feasibility of another project we are developing. We are installing a photovoltaic system on the roof of our company which will produce 100kw. All this energy will be used for production on a daily basis, but not on weekends and holidays. So we asked ourselves: “Why not give the surplus energy to families close to us? Of course, we could put it into the net and earn something, but since we will become self-sufficient thanks to solar energy, why not help others?”. We’d love this to be possible.”
What are the non-intuitive benefits of relying on sustainability criteria?
“I think that everyone should care about the future of the generations to come and that this should be the basis of any topic and any way of life. If each of us applied this principle, the world would be a better place.”
The colourful painting, covering a surface of more than 100 square meters, portrays some unusual animals climbing on the wall, embellished with the accessories designed and manufactured by the Marche-based enterprise. The work of art was created by Marco Filicio Marinangeli and by Giorgia Mascitti (young artists known as Filicio and GOL-D-Mascio) by using the cutting-edge Airlite® technology, the latter patented worldwide. Completely devoid of any hazardous substance, this special paint turns surfaces into natural air purifiers, thus helping reduce the atmosphere pollution rate and make buildings and rooms healthier and cleaner.