An interview with Maurizio Torluccio, who tells us a story of passion, commitment and continuous pursuit of excellence thanks to his collaboration with Galli S.p.a.®, a leading company in the design and production of leather goods machinery.
Seven Meridian is a company based in Anzola dell’Emilia, in the magnificent region of Emilia-Romagna, near Bologna, specialising in the production of top-quality leather bags and accessories. Founded in 2013, the company has been able to win the trust of national and international customers thanks to the quality of its products, the attention to detail and the craftsmanship of its artisans. The diversity of customers is reflected in the variety of leather bags the manufacturer produces for its customers. Whether an established brand or a start- up with no previous knowledge of leather accessories, the company is able to adapt its services to the needs of its clients. However, Seven Meridian has never been satisfied enough with this. Aware of the importance of innovation and technology in the world of fashion, it has always invested in research and development, trying to anticipate market trends and offer its customers cutting-edge products. In fact, thanks to its long-standing partnership with Galli S.p.a.®, which it relies on for the manufacture of its machinery, Seven Meridian is able to guarantee fast and reliable delivery of its products worldwide, offering its clients the highest level of service. That is because innovation would not be complete without impeccable service. In this respect too, the Emilian company has distinguished itself by offering a valuable consultancy service for product development, thanks to its collaboration with a highly experienced accessories designer and a technical design developer based in London. In a few words, Seven Meridian is a partner capable of taking initial design concepts through to the final production stage, guaranteeing a unique and customised product.
How did Seven Meridian begin?
“I have been in the leather goods industry for a good 33 years and have worked in contract manufacturing. I started as an employee and, over time, climbed the hierarchy until I became a foreman, factory manager and finally general manager. In addition, I managed an all-round commercial and industrial company, although I was not the owner. In 2014, I decided to venture out and founded Seven Meridian, a family-run company with a staff of 50 employees. We are proud to still have my father, mother, wife and daughter, who has just finished her studies, among us. Over the years we have grown considerably and collaborate with prestigious fashion houses, such as Christian Dior, who is currently our first customer, Borbonese, and other mid-high ranged Italian and foreign brands. More recently, we also started to cooperate with Prada. We have always been driven by a passion for our work and a constant search for excellence, both in terms of product and service. We constantly strive to offer our customers the highest quality products, made with craftsmanship and attention to detail, while guaranteeing the highest level of service. Our mission is to satisfy the needs of our clients, offering them unique and customised products, the fruit of our experience and our constant quest for innovation.”
When did you start collaborating with Galli?
“We chose to work with Galli when our business started to grow: to date we have two robotic workstations, three semi-automatics, three printers and many other technological solutions, totalling around fifteen machines. I was very impressed by their ability to combine craftsmanship with automation, and above all by their attention to our needs. Galli has made significant improvements within our company, always managing to respond to our requests with great professionalism. They are really good at their job and I believe that their experience and attention to quality are the secret of their success. Of course, there has been a significant investment and long research behind this, but the results have been outstanding. In the future, we are confident that the cooperation will continue as our needs are constantly changing. Galli is a really nice company, and has helped us solve many of the problems related to the production of small leather goods. For example? They developed and tested the Fotonica machine, a robotised assembly centre for credit card pockets and wallets, equipped with a linear tucking machine, with which we were able to increase our productivity exponentially. We are very grateful to Galli for their excellent work and their constant availability to us.”
What are the practical advantages of using Galli machines?
“I can share an interesting story with you. When making a wallet, there are many small steps, including the insertion of the card holder, which can hold six, eight or even ten cards. In the past, this step was done entirely by hand, but thanks to Fotonica, production has become fully automatic. Today, our role is only to manually load the materials, take care of the programming and then the machine works alone for two or three hours, producing up to 2500 card holders per day in a space of only 5 square metres. The same applies to the hot stamping machines: with a single click they perform all the necessary sequences, which in the past required manual and extremely repetitive work. Thanks to these state-of-the-art machines, our workers can concentrate on more creative and high added-value tasks, while the machines take care of the more repetitive and boring tasks. In addition, this gives young people the opportunity to learn the use of modern technology, expanding their skills and their ability to work more efficiently. I believe that a company that does not invest in cutting-edge technology risks becoming obsolete over time. Thanks to our collaboration with Galli, we have been able to significantly improve the productivity and quality of our products, without sacrificing the craftsmanship tradition that sets us apart. We are convinced that technological innovation is a great opportunity for our company and our workers.”
What kind of support do you receive from Galli?
“We regularly organise training courses with Galli technicians to update the skills of our employees. During these courses, we try to address the most common problems that may arise during production work, and we try to find solutions together with our partners. The technicians at Galli are very helpful and attentive to our needs. During training courses, we try to cover as many topics as possible, even though we know that every situation is unique and requires a customised approach. For example, in this period of intense heat, we have noticed that the glue used for production becomes thicker and therefore more difficult to work with. This is a trivial example, but it shows how factors such as the building temperature can also affect production. Galli’s after-sales service is well known and is one of the key factors in their success: they do not just build the machinery, but also offer continuous support in researching and developing innovative solutions and solving problems that may arise during the use of their equipment. The partnership with Galli allows us to maintain high standards of quality and productivity, thanks to their capacity for innovation and their attention to our needs. We also believe that it is important to invest in the continuous training of our workers, to ensure a safe and efficient working environment and to offer our customers high quality products.”