Antonio Danti & Alessandro Danti
Sales and Marketing Director & R&D Director Danti Paolo
Over 90% of sales are outside Italy
Specialised in surface finishing machines for fabrics, Danti Paolo is a manufacturer of textile finishing machines. Antonio Danti, director, sales and marketing, and Alessandro Danti, director, R&D, of Danti Paolo, discuss how the Covid pandemic has affected the company's business and the textile machinery industry in general, and the new product launch the company is excited about.
What were the effects of the pandemic on manufacturers of textile finishing machines the world over?
Antonio Danti: Lots of people are working from home; very few people go out at restaurants. Our customers request more raising and shearing machines to produce fleece and knitted fabrics that are used in comfortable sportswear rather than raising, shearing and polishing machines for high quality wool and cashmere woven fabrics that are used to produce formal wear.
What were some of the worst challenges faced?
Alessandro Danti: In the first months of the pandemic, we had to re-think the way we were having contacts with our customers and our suppliers. It was particularly difficult to organise the flow of components and raw materials, but in short time we were able to adapt to this new challenge.
Are the major trends that you witnessed during Covid-19 in your sector panning out gradually in 2021?
Alessandro Danti: Yes, but we may have to live with this situation still for some time. The world is fighting back this terrible virus, but we have to make treasure of what we learnt in this period.
Who are the founders of Danti Paolo? Does the company have branches anywhere else in the world?
Alessandro Danti: The company was founded in 1935 by our grandfather, who took his experience in repairing textile machines, to produce his own line of machines. Since then, the company has been owned and managed by our family and we have always kept our roots in Italy, despite having an international vocation. To date, over 90 per cent of our sales are outside Italy.
What is the company's market positioning with respect to the textile finishing machinery market today?
Antonio Danti: Italy is a leading country for the manufacturing of textile finishing machines and our company is one of the oldest manufacturers of raising, shearing and brushing machines in Italy. We never wanted to become the biggest in terms of dimensions and volume but we always concentrated in giving customised solutions, state-of-the-art technology and high quality, to our customers. I feel we succeeded taking this path.
Where do you source the raw materials for machinery? How does your supply chain work?
Alessandro Danti: Our machines are produced in Italy and we source the raw materials in Europe. When it comes to electronics we prefer standard components from international manufacturers that ensure easy availability of spare parts worldwide.
Which are your major markets?
Antonio Danti: We sell our machines in many parts of the world - Bangladesh and Eastern Europe are very good markets for us; India as well, where we partner with ATE Enterprises, is an important market.
Which are some of the major textile/ apparel brands who are advocates of your machinery?
Antonio Danti: In Italy and UK, we have customers supplying their wool and cashmere fabrics to Valentino, Armani and Burberry, processed with our raising and shearing machines. In Bangladesh we became leader in peaching machines for cotton woven fabrics and the major manufacturers producing for H&M, Marks and Spencer, Zara are using Danti machines.
Where is the manufacturing/ production done? How is the demand and supply worked out?
Alessandro Danti: Our machines are completely assembled in our factory in Italy and tested in working conditions before delivery. Most of the components are made in our factory and other components are made by nearby factories equipped with state of the art machines.
The Internet of Things, Industry 4.0 - all machinery is being increasingly geared towards that. How is Danti Paolo keeping pace with that?
Antonio Danti: We have been pioneering the remote connection for troubleshooting of our machines since the '90s when it was done with telephone line modems. Today our machines are fully connected through LAN and WiFi to our customer's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and can be connected to our company through secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) to perform advanced troubleshooting, peripherals programming and software update.
What are the new launches / product offerings to look forward to in the current year?
Alessandro DantI: We have recently launched a new wide width peaching machine for fabrics up to 3, 6 metres, mainly for bedsheets and we have optimised our vertical shearing machine to increase the quality of the product.
Which are the three main sustainable policies followed at your units?
Antonio Danti: We make fully separate collection, not only for by-products like steel and aluminum, but also for plastic, paper and carton. In 2011 we installed a solar panels plant that is covering our company's energy requirements during working days and supplying the main network during weekends. Sustainable policies are also involving our machines, for which we always develop new solutions in the direction of sustainability.
What are your future expansion plans?
Alessandro Danti: We aim to make a continuous improvement to anticipate and lead new challenges and at the same time, give our customers a prompt and dedicated service. (PC)
Published on: 04/05/2021
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
