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Home > Focus On
Taps and fittings: the challenge of quality
Rome - (Ign) - "We are destined to play the role of the hare. Our competitors are chasing us, but we are faster and better". This is the vivid metaphor used by Savinio Rizzio, president of the Italian Association of Mechanical Industries, to describe the trends seen at the latest major international fairs in the sector of mechanical products for building and furnishing applications. And it perfectly describes the situation of an industrial sector in which Italy continues to maintain a position of world leadership thanks to constant technological innovation and a commitment to quality and image. With an overall turnover of around €3.5 million, 60% of which is realised on foreign markets, the Italian industry of taps, fittings and valves has in fact for decades led Europe and the rest of the world. This is not some kind of miracle, but the result of a strategy based on entrepreneurial stamina and an ability to exploit to the full Italy's unique experience and resources, right up to the launch of a quality mark for Italian products, the "Q - AVR" (www.associazioneavr.it). Three years after its introduction, it has become a recognised benchmark and a clear and unique sign of distinction on international markets.
On the other hand, behind the "Q - AVR" mark, there is the unique experience of over a century of tradition of the many small, medium-sized and large enterprises in the sector, all concentrated in two areas of northern Italy, one on the shores of Lake Maggiore, in Piedmont, and the other in the valleys around Brescia. This industrial system is deeply rooted in the territory, and its origins date back as far as the 15th century, when the first small bronze forges opened in Valsesia, and at the same time the first craftsmen from around Brescia began to create new heavy bronze alloys. Skill and experience, then, together with constantly innovative design and incessant technological research aimed at offering increasingly reliable products, has made it possible for Italian industry in the sector to achieve 17% of the international market share. This figure regards the whole sector of taps, fittings and valves, including products in steel, and is probably as high as 40% if we consider the sector of brass and bronze goods alone, not listed separately by international statistical classifications. Today, over 400 companies in Piedmont work in this sector, providing over 8000 jobs and an overall turnover of around €3 billion, realised above all in the sector of taps and fittings for homes, which in particular display advanced technology and design. In the Brescia area, meanwhile, production is concentrated above all in the sector of hydraulic valves for industrial and technological applications, with over 300 companies employing around 6000 people and an overall turnover of almost €3 billion, exporting over 75% of their products.
To have an idea of the size of this productive sector, we may consider an apparently insignificant piece of information: Italy is the leading processor both of copper (around 20 kilograms) and of brass alloy bars. Copper and brass are used in the manufacture of taps and hydraulic valves the world over, with a territorial distribution which visibly rewards quality. The main export markets for Italian products are in fact represented by European countries, led by France, Germany and Great Britain, but also the United States and some Arab countries, in particular the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where the search for the highest quality has in recent years become increasingly important.
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