In Castel Maggiore, in the Bologna hinterland, there is a company that has industrialized supply services for companies in an artisanal way. Valuable solutions tailored with quality raw materials. This is the story of Tecnotelai. For FARE Insieme, Giampaolo Colletti interviews Silvia Mazzolini, Tecnotelai owner.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
One thing leads to another. Of course, it is a figure of speech, but so many times we have thought so while reading these extraordinary stories of enterprise. So many times and even now. What I am about to tell you is the story of an eclectic man who would be called a startupper today. An ambitious man, a man of genius. It all started with one hundred million old liras requested as a loan from ten different banks and a shed purchased to start a business. His business. This man's name is Daniele Mazzolini, supreme intelligence and a lot of activism. And he has really done everything in life. From washing cars to joining a company, from working as a Perugina representative to being a musician in a band. However, Dad Daniele's goal was one above all. To give his best for his family, his wife and his daughter who was being born. "For us, Dad built an empire. That's why, despite my training as an architect, I took over his management. Dad wanted to sell the business, but I told him I would take care of it myself. It's a form of repayment for what he did for me," says Silvia Mazzolini, who joined the company in 2009. She was the one who digitized Tecnotelai and opened the research and development department. And that’s more. She focused on marketing with an international slant. In fact, she put her creativity in play with a high value-added product. She took the companies of excellence in the glass industry and developed the 18-step recipe, that is, 18 processes for a single decorated sheet thanks to the support of the companies in the Emilia-Romagna region. From cutting to shaping, from prints to the laying of gold leaf to the smallest finishing touches. Thus, a unique idea was born. And it is not by chance that Tecnoteali's new brand is called exactly: Unica (unique). «Unica is a brand devoted to the art of furnishing, which places the artistic working of glass and metal at the heart of its activity. Glass, the undisputed protagonist of our collections, is transformed through artistic workmanship and the encounter with noble metals such as gold, silver, copper and other precious materials. From the fusion of all these processes comes a unique product capable of arousing emotions in all those who welcome it into their spaces," Silvia Mazzolini points out.
Past and present. Let's take a step back in time. Tecnotelai was founded in 1969 in Castel Maggiore, just less than twenty thousand inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Bologna. Today, it has 36 employees for a turnover of 11 million euros and a growth of +20 percent year on year. The family business, now in its second generation, is active in the industrial furniture sector with a high-performance pre-sales and after-sales service aimed at continuous customer satisfaction. Customers include companies of all sizes, tool and hardware stores. The insight is rooted in the industrial fabric of Bologna's metal production sector. Tecnotelai developed a shelf trolley, a simple yet indispensable object for transporting materials and products in the fruit and vegetable market. The same passion that guided the development of that product, which is still in the catalogue, has meant that over time we have been working on furniture products with more than 3,000 references, available in stock for immediate delivery. Products linked by the made-in-Italy feature. Suitable for setting up all kinds of work activities with special attention to storage areas. This is how tables, desks, works with gold leaf combined with glass, customized environments for targets of excellence are created. "I resumed what I studied, which is my real passion, almost a vocation. We rely on the added value of people and a product of the territory. And what a pride to win several international awards," Mazzolini says. However, the real insight that led Tecnotelai to become a leader in the industry was the decision to invest in warehousing: a three-month stock of all products in the catalogue allows immediate delivery to all customers, a service that no one used to provide fifty years ago.
Hybrid relationships. “Today the relationship with our customers is hybrid. We use several digital tools: a real-time chat, an e-commerce to independently manage offers and send orders, all assisted by a constantly updated website and social media. However, the human relationship remains at the heart of our company's philosophy, with a team of salespeople on the ground and support always available for customers. People make the difference, and you cannot offer effective customer service without human relationships. Our commitment revolves around respect for the environment, which can be counted among the main aspects that distinguish the company's work," says Silvia Mazzolini. Tradition and contemporaneity. With a contemporary and connected supply chain: an important investment is the restructuring of the entire warehouse and logistics department, thanks to the implementation of the Warehouse Management System used to control, coordinate and optimize the movements, processes and operational phases that take place within the warehouse. Our logistics is digitized and green: couriers, haulers, freight forwarders along with a specialized staff of logistics operators operate here. "Anyhow, all technological and structural evolutions continue to be based on ethics and human values, which are indispensable elements," Mazzolini recalls. People are at the core, and they make the difference.
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