Di Mauro or flexible packaging

Sense, nature and values of an industrial reality that is “very” Italian. Velleda Virno tells of the investments made in the family company in the name of quality, efficiency and future projects. And for his love for his home territory. Stefano Lavorini

Di Mauro’s production site, one of the most interesting Italian realities in the field of flexible packaging converting, rises up imposingly and, even from the outside, reveals a careful organization of the spaces and an almost maniacal care for details: deep in the green, in the air is the smell of lemons that adorn the garden at the entrance.
I am met with great courtesy by Velleda Virno, CEO, and Giselda Virno,  Marketing & Sales Director, representing the owning family. The conversation soon becomes less formal and more down-to-earth, allowing the truth to emerge that is good at any latitude, and that is acknowledged here, or that is “that dreams are worth much more than reasons”.

The structure - 36 thousand sqm, 16 thousand of which covered - seems almost brand new, despite the fact that I then find out that work started in 2003. Between the building and machinery, in this time lapse around 77 million euros were invested, a sizeable figure if one considers the company turnover, Velleda Vimo states. Instinctively, I can’t help asking why such a big investment has been made and if it was connected with the subsidies received.
The reply was blunt. «One has to be clear on this point. The Di Mauro family has an entrepreneurial history with Cava de’ Tirreni that goes back 120 years. My great-grandfather started here in 1895, the Di Mauro Officine Grafiche was founded in 1967, and here we continue to work so as not to betray our origins and for a sense of social responsibility.
In 2011 we transferred over to the new production site and in 2013 we started making sizeable investments in equipment for improving efficiency and processes. Everything has been done using the family’s own means, but also resorting to the subsidies offered for investments in this area of Italy by Invitalia. In detail - she continues - we received a loan at  subsidised rates amounting to 25% of the investment, and a contribution towards the payment of new machinery this too standing at 25%. It should be stated that these subsidies are considered as earnings and hence taxed, and consequently the actual benefit for the company is 16% of the investment made. A figure that  compensates for the drawbacks of working in an area without a strong industrial vocation».

L’applauso ai 50 anni di lavoro del Presidente.

Festina lente
“Hurry slowly”, the Latin writer Svetonio would say, and at the same time I seem to remember Velleda Virno, without any sophistication, suggesting to me that the works were only the first stage of achievement awaiting future developments.
«In ten years our turnover has gone from 40 to 63 million euros, thanks to investments made not only in the structure, but also in the organization, manpower and means. In particular all managers are young, have grown up professionally inside the company and, like the workforce, share our way of seeing the business, the market, the way we do things.
To guarantee customer satisfaction, respect for the environment and to safeguard the health and safety of the workforce, we have attained ISO 9001 and BRC, but also ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18000 certification; as well as that we have an inhouse quality control lab, staffed by 6 people, and the same amount of people employed in our R&D section. Today we are bent on reinforcing our presence on foreign markets, where we already attain 40% of sales. Which is why in 2016 we set up a sales company in Germany to be closer to our mid European customers, and this year we again took part at the interpack Düsseldorf, which gave us the chance to renew our relations with users from all over the world.
A choice made also forecasting external growth, that at any rate does not change our identity, our dimension as a family concern; because we wish to continue to have a direct and immediate contact with our co-workers, our customers and suppliers, and we are not prepared to give up on the possibility of making decisions fast.
These are our intentions, both in the event that we buy a plant specialised in gravure printing, as a back-up to our own, or whether we buy a flexo system, that might constitute an interesting production diversification».

Gruppo di famiglia

Small versus big
Remember David, the brave warrior who defeated Goliath?
From the past to present, the subject of the challenge continues as far as the market is concerned, in particular regarding flexible packaging, that is very fragmented.
Already converters act as the linchpin between materials producers and users, well represented by multinationals of great size, but also within the sector there is much difference between international and local companies.
«Today the market rewards us, to the point where our main customers also include several multinationals, that we serve in Italy, Europe and America.
We supply important food concerns in Italy and on the central and eastern European markets and, on top of that, national companies smaller in size, but with high demands in terms of product quality, in terms of food contact standards as well as service. I am convinced that the brand owners can make a good deal with suppliers/converters of any size, provided they are well structured and capable offering the necessary guarantees. And Di Mauro is among these».

Gruppo di lavoro. Da sinistra a destra: Antonio Romaldo, Velleda Virno, Giselda Virno, Edoardo D’Urso.

Each to their own film... provided it is barrier film
This is not quite the case, all the same the Cava de’ Tirreni based company has an area of excellence in high and medium barrier material, for processed meats, cheese, confectionery and bakery specialties, beverages, but also chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
We are speaking of flexible packaging where it is fundamental to have the  right packaging in relation to the characteristics of the product, the expected shelf life and the distribution cycle needs.
«We reckon we are a valid concern in the converting and printing field, having started out as printers. Rather, in terms of this phase of the process, we have done a lot to standardize and speed up the implementation of the color and the start-up in machines of the jobs. For the purpose we prepare the graphic files with extreme care, we engrave the cylinders inhouse and, lastly we carry out the color tests on a special proofing device, which uses gravure technology, the same ink substrates, the same ink formulas that will be placed in the machine, so as to obtain a result absolutely comparable to the final one of production. We have a good knowhow regarding any kind of overprinting varnish - matt, silk and paper touch - solvent lamination, and we are among the few in Italy to carry out extrusion lamination and extrusion coating, technology that guarantees solventless products and superior performances in terms of mechanical strength».

At the service of the consumer
Packaging is not only product protection, but also the medium by way of which the producer relates to the consumer. The famous phrase of Vittorio Alfieri, “I want, I always want, I strongly want” that seems to sum up the commitment of Di Mauro in offering the market innovative packaging solutions, in line with the demands of the market and consumer expectations.
The Best Packaging 2017 award attributed Drip Pack is proof of this. This is a stand-up pack in flexible material devised for products packaged in controlling liquid, awarded for its increased service to the consumer; it in fact simplifies the actions to be carried out and does not require the use of cutting tools.
As Velleda Virno explains «the easy opening of the packs is another subject that is particularly dear to us. For more than ten years we have been using laminate laser cutting equipment in the direction of the machine and for some months now we have also had a device for cross web laser cutting. The market has responded well.
Another aspect appreciated by the consumer is the reclosability of the pack, that is alternative and more sustainable to the use of single portion packs.
Many the solutions that we are capable of offering in this field: from the different grades of polyethylene, suitable for numerous applications, to the reclosable family packs such as TwistPack (Alufoil Trophy 2015 Ed.) to multi-portion packs.
A lot of talks is made of reclosable packaging in Italy, but the application is still niche, while it gets a lot more intention in Germany and France».                          

Grand factory tour There is no noble and shrewd action that does not arise from the emotion, from the love of  what you do and what you are doing. Perhaps this is why, because the Di Mauro family is able to look at business from a longterm perspective, the Cava de’ Tirreni production site is so well-constructed, with intelligence and diligence, and to the measure of the 210 people who work there. The machinery, installed between 2005 and 2016, is cutting edge and in addition, significant investments in automation have been made upstream and downstream of the printing and lamination process.   All inhouse. Featuring a total quality control system, Di Mauro is vertically integrated and directly prepares its artwork, electromechanical cylinder engraving, color proofing, printing media and inks used in production. Since January 2014 the new, fully automated galvanic engraving line has been integrated with the new automatic cylinder warehouse, which has a storage capacity of 17,000 cylinder bodies. All production machines are serviced by an automatic roll handling system, consisting of a warehouse with lifting platform, 5,000 pallet places, and 4 LGV vehicles. Print tests. More than a color test at Di Mauro’s they carry out a machine pre-start, doing proofings that not only test the cylinder mechanics, but also the quality of the engraving, hence graphics and color, first printing and then laminating the materials. It is a challenging and costly job that requires a lot of people but offers the advantage of being able to send the customer a color proof, a print to all effects, with a color very close to that attainable in production, but also to collect valuable data for starting up the machine, thus reducing time and waste.   Machines and equipment. As for printing, there are four machines: two with eleven colors, also with laminating in line, one with nine and one with eight colors. There are three laminators, including 2 duplexes and 1 triplexes or tandems, and an extrusion system for laminating and coating. Cutting, with laser option and robotic packaging. This section, with longitudinal and transverse laser cutting systems, has been fully automated: in this way, from the unloading of the coils from the slitters up to the packaging and palletising, the workforce never touch the material with their hands. A costly investment, which has its returns both economically and in terms of cleanliness and hygiene.   Quality, hygiene and environment. These are the imperatives for the Mauro. They obviously have a well-equipped control laboratory for physical chemical analysis used by both quality control staff as well as by R&D. Examining the system, everything looks clean and orderly: The operators wear protective and preventive devices and the measures implemented to ensure the best hygiene status of the process are clear to see. Di Mauro takes great care as regards hygiene, which is one of the elements that distinguishes the company, and therefore, in addition to what has been said above, the rolls of film to be worked are brought by LGVs to production only after the packaging has been removed. Another recent major investment has been a cogeneration plant, softening the overall environmental impact of company procedures as well as enabling economic savings.