36Tile International 3/2017

For 2016, Florim Group has re-ported revenues of 406.8 million euros (up 8.7% on 2015), an in-crease in EBITDA to 107.1 million (26.3% of revenues) and net profit of 49.3 million (up 13.9%). This marks the sixth consecutive year of growth for the compa-ny, and consolidates the positive trend that has seen Florim com-fortably exceed its pre-crisis re-sults. This performance was accom-panied by investments reaching 300 million euros in the renewal of production plants in Italy and the United States.

In 2017, Florim completed a new industry 4.0 production facility in Mordano. It took just 6 months to build the 56,000 sq.m plant, which represents a new benchmark for the worldwide ceramic industry, complete with industry 4.0 tech-

nology. High technology and machin-ery integrated with computers are housed in a clean, modern environment that’s attractive to the eye and a pleasure to work in, thanks to a vast glazed area measuring 5 metres in height and 130 metres in length. To give you an idea of the con-struction times, the builders were in the process of installing 800 an-ti-seismic piles at the beginning of April 2017, and by October, the first large-format panels were already coming out of the 170m kiln. Environmental sustainability – which plays a key role in the com-pany’s philosophy – is assured here by a new co-generation sys-tem designed to power the plant with self-generated electricity. The total amount invested in the construction of the Mordano facil-ity was 70 million euros, aimed at

In the spotlight

Florim invests 300 million euros in six years

Claudio Lucchese

increasing the Group’s production capacity for large-format pan-els (up to 160x320cm in three thicknesses – 6/12/20mm – for a wide range of applications). This substantial invest-ment gives a clear pic-ture of the extent to which product inno-vation forms a central plank of Florim’s strate-gy. As well as taking part in prestigious architectural projects all around the world, the company has won numerous awards, including an Honoura-ble Mention at the 24th

ADI Compasso d’Oro Award, and The Red Dot Design Award (Best of the Best in the ‘Design product’ category).

Florim will keep up the pace of development in 2018, by earmarking a further 70 million euros for investment. A major construction project is in progress at Florim’s headquarters in Fiorano Modenese (in the Italian province of Modena), which will be-come another example of the industry 4.0 ap-proach. The future construction

Mordano production facility

In the spotlight

Tile International 3/201737

of 48,000 sq.m, connected to the Mordano facility, has been designed for process-ing and logistical operations on large formats.

Florim USA is the brand name of Florim’s American associate company, found-ed in Tennessee in 2000. The firm’s Clarksville plant has undergone extensive upgrading in recent years, on the back of total invest-ments of over 60 million USD. But in the wake of further technological investments made in 2017, a number of bold and innovative pro-duction decisions have been taken, which are set

to spawn a new brand MILE-STONE, as Marco Fregni, the company’s CEO, explains. Incorporating the products manufactured to date and distributed via traditional networks, this new brand will devote its efforts to produc-ing collections specifically for the world of design and architecture, and distribut-ing them through its own, separate channels.“The new brand is due to be presented in the open-ing months of 2018. At the moment, we’re working on communication, merchan-dising and the organisation of specific marketing initia-tives. This will mean design-

ing and manufacturing – di-rectly in the USA for the first time – collections aimed at a new generation of design-ers, who have been show-ing increasing interest in Ital-ian design trends in recent years, and have started us-ing the colours and formats that only imported products have offered until now.” Over the past few months, the Clarksville plant has been equipped with a new drying machine, spray-dry-ing machine, and polish-ing machine, like the one installed at the industry 4.0 plant in Mordano and ca-pable of producing gloss polished porcelain tile with

stain-proof surface treat-ment, plus a latest-gener-ation single-calibre edge-grinding machine that plays a vital role in meeting any requirement designers may have. “We’ve noticed,” adds Freg-ni, “an evolution in the aes-thetic tastes of Americans, which is borne out by in-creasing demand from de-signers for colours other than the established clas-sics, and by a greater willing-ness to experiment with siz-es other than the traditional 30x30. And with our new brand, we’ll be offering porcelain tile collections of “Italian”

38Tile International 3/2017

In the spotlight

aesthetic and technologi-cal quality, not only in the 30x60 format that’s already winning market share in the versions that replicate mar-ble and natural stone, but also in the 15x90 and 20x120 formats usually reserved for replications of wood.”This is a totally new depar-ture, which revolutionises the strategy adhered until now by Italian ceramic groups with subsidiaries abroad: “The decision to target the United States design seg-ment directly was dictated by evidence that traditional ceramic distribution chan-nels are expected to gener-ate only limited growth be-cause of increasingly fierce competition from Turkey, Bra-zil and Spain. The commer-

cial design segment, by con-trast, is seeing constantly rising demand for high-qual-ity ceramic. To date, all the trendiest products have al-ways come out of Italy, but with our new brand, we’re now going to make them

directly in America for dis-tribution on the national market. Their quality will be certified, moreover, and with this in mind, we’ve already obtained E.P.D. and Life Cycle Assessment certification. The HPD is nearing completion,

and we’re embarking on the procedures for Green Guard and Green Square.”To sum up, our strategic plan-ning is aimed at extending the range of action of our new brand MILESTONE. We’re certainly not pulling out

Fiorano Modenese (Italy) headquarters

Florim USA headquarters (Clarksville, Tennessee - USA)

In the spotlight

Tile International 3/201739

FLORIM AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Environmental sustainability has long been one of the core values of Florim’s corporate philosophy, and a lot of attention has been devoted to it in the Group’s 9th Sustainability Report (2016).Investments in environmental manage-ment totalled 6.4 million euros in 2016. One of the biggest achievements is the self-generation of 75% of the energy necessary for the production cycle (almost 85,000 MWh), representing a rise of 10% on 2015. This result was achieved through the use of two co-generation systems operating at Mordano and at Fiorano. Furthermore, the amount of energy generated by the 16,000 sq.m photovoltaic system (installed in October 2011) has risen to almost 16 million kWh in 6 years, equating to a saving of 8,463 tonnes of CO2 emissions (1,423 tonnes in 2016 alone).A commitment to saving water, energy and raw materials also underpins the choice of new plant and machinery: in addition to the

latest-generation, energy-efficient kilns, Florim has installed four dry squaring lines at the Mordano site since 2015, and several eco-packaging machines across the various plants, to minimise cardboard consumption. These achievements are compounded by the positive environmental effects obtained from the introduction of best practices both in the offices and production areas, where, for example, the old catalysed materials handling trucks have been gradually replaced with electric vehicles. The initiatives undertaken in 2017 include the construction of a new rainwater collection system at the Fiorano plant and the replace-ment of the co-generation system at the Mordano plant. The new investments earmarked for Florim USA’s Clarksville plant will also have the dual objective of increasing production capacity and minimising environmental impact, by cutting energy consumption, emissions, waste and scrap.

"Storie" large panel tile collection

of the distribution sector, and we’ll still be taking good care of it, but our new strategy decisively targets the design and architecture segment, because it’s showing consistent growth, as witness the 2018 indica-tors set out in the Architecture Billings Index (ABI). 5