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Home > USA > Spotlight
LUCIANO CORAIN: "SMIT WINS BECAUSE IT'S INNOVATIVE. ALWAYS"
Rome (Ign) - "We have inherited a great corporate tradition, but this has not prevented us from being technologically advanced. This is the key to our success". These were Luciano Corani's comments on his company, Smit Texile, located in Schio (Vicenza) and part of the textile machinery division of the Borgosesia Group. Smit is currently a global player who can fully compete with the strongest competitors and guard the world market with a 15% share in the sector where it operates. Smit Textile realised a turnover of € 98 million in 2005, of which 18% was accounted for on the Italian market, where it has a "historical" presence, and 82% on the international markets, in direct competition with the large Italian, European and Asian textile machinery manufacturers. More than 2000 machines are sold in Italy and Europe, but also in China, Turkey, North Africa, Pakistan and India, markets which are becoming increasingly important, both in terms of growth trends and application technology levels.
Your company has longstanding tradition and covers a very prestigious position in the world scenario of loom producers for the wool industry. How have you succeeded in combining innovation and tradition in your management?
Smit Textile has always been a centre of skills, design and research. SMIT has been at the peak of world production of textile machinery for over fifty years and has a wealth of knowledge that draws on textile tradition, but that at the same time has been and continues to be a protagonist in innovation. It was the first company in the world to propose and start industrial production using the weft insertion by grippers technology, which over time has become the most important in the world. The company's commitment is renewed every day as it responds to customer expectations with a wide range of textile systems and a world network of technical support.
Smit's most recent machines are extremely versatile and can be used for producing textiles to be used for clothing (worsted and woollen) , in the home (towels and table linen) and furnishings (carpets), allowing work to be carried out in silk, wool, cotton, special, natural and synthetic fibres. Why this turning point in production?
Smit technology comes from profound knowledge of the market and its requirements. The Smit Textile construction concept is based on modular architecture that allows a diversified range of machines to be produced - characterised by two types of weft insertion technology - with grippers and air-jet - which derive from a "common platform", allowing maximum competitiveness in the most varied of applications: from textiles for clothing, even the more refined types, to furnishings, towelling fabrics and technical textiles. Hence the advantages of specialisation and high productivity can be ensured at the same time.
How important are research and development for you?
The company has a team of highly professional and skilled designers, enriched by their experience gained within prestigious multinational groups. Continuous innovation also involves the Smit processes and derives from the high professionalism of the people who work there: marketing, sales area managers, production, installation and service engineers, are all strongly involved in and motivated by the development of innovative solutions. In 2004, Smit Textile received the prestigious "Innovation Award" as leading industry in the sector, capable of developing and producing highly technological products and standing out on an international level, for the second time from the international magazine "Textile World", which was called America's Textiles International in 1999.
As an entrepreneur, how do you see the Italian textile situation? Is the crisis over? What must the division do to respond to the challenges of globalisation?
The sector is characterised by a trend for asserting quality products. The Eastern European and Eastern markets are also becoming consumers in the higher ranges, appreciating and acquiring prestigious items. This translates into market opportunities for Italian producers who stand up to foreign competition maintaining their role as fashion makers and producing high quality textiles, where Smit machines stand out.
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