Full Press Release

Modena, May 11th 2010: This is an interview to Mr Mattioli Montanari, Export Manager of  Montanari Engineering Construction srl, leading company for the production of counting and sorting systems for laundries.

Mr Mattioli, could you tell us something about the origins of your company?

Well, Montanari srl was founded by the father of the present President, Mr Nando Montanari. After 18 years spent in the Navy ( 2 world wars and two sinking), once back home, he decided to propose automatic carrying systems to the growing Industry of Modena area. His cleverness combined with the strictness he had learned during his experience in the navy, led Nando and his firm to be well known in all his region.

Can you retrace the key stages of the company? Which elements have contributed to its success?

In its ten-yearly experience in the market of goods handling, our company has worked in several sectors: agricultural, food, industrial…
Our strength has always been our relationship with our customers: each supply was and still is based on the understanding of their needs and their objectives. In this way we have focused our experience and our skills on the development of a custom system in line with the clients’ expectations.

Thanks to our expert team we can offer a complete service from planning to after sales assistance.

Which have been the difficulties over the years and how did you ride them out?

The real troubles are the daily ones: development, improvement, research…
We have to face them every day but we have chosen this method to grow.

Which are the centerpieces  and strengths of your firm?
The answer to this question  would merit a deep reflection on the entrepreneurial approach which has led this company to the level it is now… But in a few words I could say that our strengths are: flexibility, experience and after sale assistance.

Flexibility: for us, it’s a constant search for the right solution for our clients. We know this  method is far from the present standards but we deeply believe in it , also thanks to the satisfaction our customers prove to us.

Experience: we’ve been on the market for more than 50 years and in the laundry sector for 30 years: we think we have learned something in all these years…

Support:  it’s a direct line with our technicians that work in real time to solve each kind of problem. As for the foreign markets,  when our language limits can’t satisfy a request, we rely on modern softwares through which we can interact with local PCs.  Whatever is the language and the problem, we can find the solution.

Interview to Lucio Montanari, President of Montanari Engineering Constructions S.r.l., and  Massimiliano Mattioli, Export Manager.

Montanari Engineering Constructions S.r.l. is one of the Italian historical companies of the area of Modena, present in the market since the beginning of the Fifties. Year after year, this company  has been able to constantly renovate its offer in the domain of industrial systems, becoming an international benchmark.

Mr Montanari, could you tell us the beginnings of  the story of this company?
Well, everything  began when my father, Nando, after 18 years in the Navy, came back home at the end of the 40’s. At first he started to work with his brother constructing gutters and pipes and then systems for mills handling. In the 50’s he bought a marshy land, where he built the first factory for the production of automated systems for goods transport.

What was exactly the field of use?
Initially, he focused on conveyor belts for tracks loading, later on machines for fruits and agricultural products handling, until, at the end of the 60’s, he decided to concentrate on a more industrial production which led us to build plants  for Ducati  and painting machines for Ferrari too. But we also devoted to ceramics and, for a short period, to meat processing, before focusing on the field of industrial laundries in the 90’s.

And today, Mr Montanari, is this your core business?
Yes indeed. This is a field which really giving us great satisfactions: we can say that we are the leading company in Italy in the field of manual and automated handling systems for industrial laundry

And what’s your market?
Ours is a market where potentially there are less customers, since industrial laundries cover big geographic areas and maybe in one area there are only 4-5 plants which serve the whole area. Nevertheless we are able to work well thanks to a significant  presence in seven European countries: Spain, France, UK, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Poland.

Do requests change from one country to another?
We don’t make a standard planning: we work out custom-made plants according to our client’s needs, which can be really different also inside the same country. After all, we have always relied on a personal relationship with customers.

And what has changed in the manufacturing?
Well, before the role of mechanics was to reduce human efforts, now it’s  different and more intelligent, since mechanics have been combined with management electronics through softwares which allow to oversee the whole producing cycle. For example, we have updated storage systems for industrial laundry (like the overhead system) and  we have just elaborated a system of electronic tracking which, through a microchip, allows to constantly supervise the track of the item of clothing through the washing cycle. In so doing an industrial laundry can return just alike cloths to the right owners.

Mr Mattioli, does this imply a bigger effort in terms of customer care?
Nowadays it’s fundamental to assure the customer with the highest availability for any needs, and, since the software part  is the heart of our business, we have a system of teleassistance  which allows us to be constantly in contact with our customers. 5 minutes after a report, we are already able to send a repairman. This is a very important aspect, since our customers ‘ earnings rely on the efficiency of big machines, which can’t stop working.

How much does  innovation cost in your sector?
Innovation is the basis of our technology. In the last years, we have been elaborating new machines thanks to new technologies, which offers new opportunities  to our clients, since, thanks to them, they are able to manage the production cycles in a more efficient way.

COMPANY
Montanari Engineering Construction srl
ADDRESS: via Emilia Ovest 1123, Modena
EMPLOYEES: 30
EXPORT: 25%
MARKETS: Spain, France, UK, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic , Poland
WEBSITE: www.montanariengineering.com