Spraytech: a winning team

“What is our greatest pride as entrepreneurs? The fact that we have built the company day by day, we have lived every day of the development of our plants, so we know every little feature and component”. This “business card”, from the words of CEO Stefano Mastrotto, could be enough to tell the success story of Spraytech from Gambellara, a municipality in the Arzignano district, a leading company in the design and construction of paint distribution plants and systems, flow regulators, booths and fully automated finishing lines. The Veneto company, founded in 1997, also places great importance on research and development of new products, thanks also to the continuous synergy with suppliers and customers.

Stefano Mastrotto

The Tannery team spent an entire day at the new headquarters in Torri di Confine, along the regional road towards Verona, where in addition to CEO Mastrotto, we interviewed Cristiano Dalla Valle and Lorenzo Faedo, Sales Managers and foreign sales managers, three in-house technicians with different roles, and a tanning entrepreneur who benefits from a partnership with the Gambellara-based company. The new premises, which will be operational from December 2021, cover a production area of 3,500 square metres of workshop and 1,000 square metres of office space, and an expansion of a further 1,200 square metres is planned in the near future. The covered area is divided into the assembly, carpentry, maintenance, testing and electrical processing phases, plus a 1,200 m2 storage area and a 2,000 m2 outdoor yard, which guarantee the use of independent entrances and exits, enabling the loading and unloading of several tractor-trailers at the same time, close to the storage area.
‘For the past 15 years or so,’ Stefano Mastrotto confirms, ‘all our numbers have been growing. This has also been the case over the last three years, characterised not only by Covid, but also by other issues, such as the war in Ukraine, increases in the cost of raw materials and skyrocketing energy prices. These are the factors that, especially in 2022, reduced margins but did not slow down development and our investment in research and development. The name Spraytech is synonymous, in Italy and abroad, with high technology and the ability to anticipate market innovation. In the tanning sector in particular, the brand has been appreciated ever since it promoted innovation on already existing machines, the most outstanding example being our economisers of the Leonardo series, a highly evolved electronic system already at that time, capable of guaranteeing considerable product savings of up to 30%. The same is also true for electricity consumption; we applied ourselves to low-energy solutions back when energy saving was not a priority.
What were the main technological innovations you launched?
“Even before the start of the national Industry 4.0 plan, which prompted many businesses to computerise their processes in order to optimise and assess individual processing costs, we had linked production costs to our programme via a server in order to track the overall costs of each product. What we can call the ‘finishing of the future’, we had actually already anticipated some time ago. The winning strategy was to design the old machines, not limiting ourselves to the creation of a quality product, but also focusing on the latest technology and ease of use. These are the principles around which we have built the new models”.
Previously, how did the business development take place?
“With the market launch of innovative products, such as flow regulators and low-pressure HVLP guns, which were not available on the market until then. In the area of energy saving, we were the first in the market as early as 2006. Even our competitors recognise us for having developed systems that have now become standard in all machines, first and foremost one that puts the machine in stand-by mode when not in production. Some of these systems have been patented, but unfortunately others have not: especially in the early stages, i.e. in the first decade of the 2000s, we were still a small company, more of a craft enterprise than the medium-sized company we are today. The results have proved us right because we have also gradually grown as a workforce: there are now 38 employees, but they will increase further this year and in the following years”.
How did the transition from a service-oriented to a production- oriented company come about?
“We were asked to do this by our clients, to whom we had guaranteed important improvements in the finishing sector over the years. In particular, those in the Vicenza district, who knew us as service technicians, once they heard that we had started producing machines, they sought us out. This led to the decision to design our own complete finishing line for large bovine hides, the prevailing product in our district: we created the E-Luxury booth, first meeting the needs of our clients in the area. From there, we started to fulfil orders for a major contractor in the Arzignano area, who in 2022 alone commissioned us with five painting lines, in addition to the seven he had purchased in previous years, for a total of 12 Spraytech plants. A large part of my day and that of our technicians is spent in the tannery: we are therefore familiar with every brand and competitor, merits and demerits of every machine from the competition. Compared to 20 years ago, all companies in this sector have certainly evolved, but we always have something more, thanks to the constant investments in research and development”.
In which years did you produce the first finishing booths?
“Between 2013 and 2014, when a major tanning company placed its trust in a small company like ours: together we took a long and successful path that led us to increasingly optimise the machinery. Already the first booth we built provided for 80% of fumes to be reduced with our particular system of ‘waterfalls’ with constant recirculation: this system has been perfected over time, but still represents the basis for the Waterflow and E-Luxury booths”.
When did you start supplying your plants to the foreign market?
“About ten years ago, although outside Italy we were already working with revamping systems, which involve renewing the mechanical and electronic parts of a machine. Many foreign clients have also turned to us, even purchasing machinery and complete lines. The significant advantage is that we produce completely customisable lines: since all products are of our own manufacture, we can cater to the needs of the client. The starting point is a customised layout; we like to say that we do ‘tailor-made’ work. Over the years, automation has become more and more sophisticated, allowing a real reduction of specialised personnel who can then be moved to different functions”.
Can we have a concrete example?
“Until 7-8 years ago, a spraying machine, equipped with three spraying stations, needed 2 people to load the skins, and 3 people to control each one. Nowadays, the same system requires 3 employees: 2 who load and one who monitors the entire system, aided by any warning signals on the mobile phone or handheld device, while the skins in transit can be viewed from the PC in the office, thanks to a direct connection with the economisers and touch panels installed in each booth. With the new systems, the entire diagnostics of the line is guaranteed, via an App, which prevents any jamming or the risk of damaging the hides. This system, a significant technological step forward, is guaranteed by the high degree of automation of our lines, which allows the constant control of each component: rotary carousel, extraction systems, drying tunnel and cooling cells, to name but a few. Through this application, the customer is alerted in real time of any anomaly that may occur on the line during the production phase.
What are the ‘best sellers’ of the last period?
“The top is represented by the PainterTool model, the new patented machine used for sampling and small quantities of leather, the first prototype of which was presented at the September 2022 edition of Simac Tanning Tech in Milan: with this machine, we can simulate all of the spraying booths, which differ in the type of movement of the guns (rotary, elliptical or alternating), size and number of arms. In this compact machine, measuring 6 x 6 metres, we can accurately simulate what will be the actual large-scale industrial production, but using only one gun and the integrated drying system: the client, on the control panel, goes to set the same parameters as on his machine, although the method is different.
What is the special feature based on?
“It lies in the fact that in our simulator the leather is clamped on a static belt, while it is the spraying system itself that moves. The main advantage is the possibility to produce even just 1-2 pieces, without engaging other machines or having to stop the production of a high item on the complete line. Before the PainterTool, sampling for a few pieces was very expensive and time-consuming.
Other innovative products are the automatic drum washers, which save a lot of water and time, and everything needed in the colour finishing, from extraction units to weighing systems.
Sampling is a strategic point in production, how did you manage to create such a sophisticated system?
“ Due to the fact that we have been working with these machines for over two decades, and we know even the smallest details about them. In the next few weeks we will be installing a machine in a chemical laboratory, we have recently installed one in Tuscany, and two others are to be delivered before the end of the summer to another customer, all Italian. For the moment we are concentrating on the districts in our country, then we will also move this technology abroad. This machine, initially conceived for chemical companies, quickly became interesting for tanning entrepreneurs, hence the decision to calibrate it and make it usable also for whole cow hides arriving at the tannery”.
In Spraytech’s future there is the intention to diversify into other sectors: what can you tell us?
“We have supplied some companies in the marble sector with spray booths using our advanced technology. We recently made an agreement with a chemical company that was unable to spray a particular type of product in a uniform way: this was a great challenge and a very important stimulus for us. This product, which is known as ‘liquid glass’, has to be mixed a few moments before spraying; a considerable complication, which we were able to overcome thanks to a metering system that was designed in detail especially for this type of product. Another sector we are focusing on for the future is textiles, and in the meantime, we have already completed other small projects, one of which is in the eyewear sector.

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Stefano Mastrotto, CEO Spraytech

“WE ARE BACK TO TRAVELLING AROUND THE WORLD, ALTHOUGH THE FUTURE IN CHINA REMAINS UNKNOWN”

Lorenzo Faedo e Cristiano Dalla Valle, foreign sales managers

“Our strength,” we were told during the interview, “is our ability to interface with the needs of Arzignano and other Italian districts, but also with tanneries in Europe and the rest of the world, as we have attractive solutions for all demands. It is necessary to work on different levels: in certain countries, in the other parts of the world and where the ‘top’ quality is not required. We are often asked for a simple spray gun that can be easily maintained, an efficient piece of equipment, capable of performing at its best, but at the same time not complicated. We are helped by the fact that our long-standing customers know us and appreciate the qualities of our products, thanks to which they have been able to make considerable savings and improvements over the years. To remain in the example of spray guns, our latest model, the SP-Rock, represents a “jewel” of modernity: it represents a remarkable step forward in HVLP spraying, and having produced large quantities of them we are able to go out on the market at a very competitive price both for the domestic market and for more distant markets such as the Far East.
How do you manage to respond to the different needs of the various markets?
“By being able to guarantee a high level of customisation for all our products. The extra challenge, especially abroad, is not only to convince the customer of the potential of the machinery, but to make them understand that the working method itself also has to be modified to keep up with industry demand, to be able to adapt to new technologies and procedures. For tanneries located on other continents, where sending a technician requires a long flight, the aim is to make the businesses as autonomous as possible, helping them with remote assistance but above all trying to make the routine maintenance of our equipment available to anyone. Clients, especially the new ones, do not always realise that it is not the individual gun that makes the difference, but the technology of the overall system that we offer. It is precisely here that investments should be made”.
Speaking of the economic situation: what do you foresee for the rest of the year?
“We are confident, most indicators point to a recovery in the second half of 2023, which in fact means from September onwards, as July and August are two summer months where activity is slowed down by summer holidays. We did a lot of work in 2022, it was an important year of recovery, even if there was less marginality, due to energy costs and the increase in raw material prices, which have also become very difficult to obtain. Since the beginning of this spring we have been travelling around the world again, it was the right time to do so in order to be aware of the market situation in the post-Covid period and to resume contacts in countries where we have always had strong trade”.
How did the Covid period affect the export quota for Spraytech?
“In 2019 we were at about 60 per cent in Italy and 40 per cent abroad, referring to turnover, then in 2020 we dropped to 90/10, obviously due to the fact that we could not travel abroad, while we could move with relative freedom in the Italian districts. The latest figures, referring to the spring months, indicate a percentage of around 70/30: it is therefore conceivable that we will return to pre-Covid percentages between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. This is because in Italy many entrepreneurs already know and appreciate us, while abroad there are more development opportunities both in those countries where we are already present and in those where we will try to make our brand known’.
Among these countries there is certainly China: what situation did you find there?
‘Unfortunately I haven’t yet had the chance to go back there post-Covid, but it’s an area I know in depth and I speak the language well: they opened up to transit at the end of winter, before that the process was extremely complicated. However, a few months later, the economic revival of the Chinese economy remains a question mark: after being ‘closed’ for three years, it is difficult to return to the previous, pre-Covid situation quickly. In China, we will be participating at the ACLE international trade fair in Shanghai at the end of August, which is an important testing ground for international operators, including European ones who need to have their finger on the pulse of the situation. It is difficult to make predictions even though we have always worked well: between 2018 and 2019, we supplied 24 machines within one calendar year.”
One may ask how China is currently operating in the tanning sector?
“That’s the question everyone is asking. The general impression is that we have been working for the domestic market, it is possible that in recent years their production has remained stable. From their point of view, even though they are a huge country, to remain closed in on themselves would probably be an economic disaster: recent history shows that exports have become more and more important, the question is whether they will be able to cover the gap in the years to come. In any case, it remains an important country for us because over the years we have managed to sell plants with ‘top’ technology, especially to major customers and large groups. Obviously we count on doing this again, so we are curious to see how the situation will evolve. Then we need to understand, beyond production for the domestic market, what kind of competition has developed in the last 2-3 years in the global system and whether certain rumours that are circulating are true’.
What are you referring to?
“In spring we were present at the Chennai exhibition, where we were told that a lot of production is moving from China to India. Once the international exhibition was over, we stopped in India to visit clients: in the Covid era there were works and installations, which we were able to do by connecting remotely from Italy, but it had been almost three years since we had been able to enter commercially, as there were very few trade fairs and events. India, where we have two exclusive salesmen in the north and south of the country, is also a country that we know well and where we have a good presence: in this market it is easier to offer some used lines, at lower costs. For us it is an important market, we have been investing for decades with trade fairs and direct visits, and we continue to have historical customers, to whom we have been presenting the innovations of recent years’.
What are the new areas of commercial interest?
“To tell the truth, all the countries of the world are, starting with Europe in the northernmost part, while a continent that could have an important development is Africa. We know the northern states bordering the Mediterranean, as well as South Africa, while from Ethiopia there have been new requests also thanks to funds allocated by China. In Europe we are present everywhere, and one of the most interesting countries is Turkey, where one of our collaborators is setting up a relocated commercial structure: we will see which strategies to pursue, also on the basis of the tensions linked to the war in Ukraine’.
Apart from the traditional lines, which systems are the most popular abroad?
“Definitely the Spraymix automatic dispensing system, which makes it possible to mix any type of product-colour with extreme precision and speed. This machine, which we offer to chemical companies but also to tanneries, has been purchased by many Asian clients, as it is considered to be particularly suitable for their production needs, as they have numerous basic ingredients that have to be mixed each time. One particular manufacturer, to whom it took some convincing to make him understand the potential of our offer, bought one and after installation quickly purchased another, which he dedicated to another of his plants.
What are the main features of Spraymix?
“The system has a dispensing head consisting of 32 or 48 valves that can be extended and modified if more products need to be mixed. The storage structure can be customised according to the space available for the machine itself, as well as the general layout and workflow resulting from the logistics of the tannery”.
Are there therefore advantages at an economic level?
“Undoubtedly, both at the level of timing in the preparation operations and in terms of saving the chemicals that are used, furthermore, being automated, the chances of human error are reduced to a minimum: in a word, at the end of the day it means greater productivity.
The computerisation of the process will enable an identical result to be obtained over time with a simple ‘click’ on the type of leather being processed. In addition to the undoubted functionality of the machine, there is a great benefit in terms of tidiness and cleanliness, an increasingly important aspect in modern tanneries that often accommodate customers. In this case, the Spraymix, instead of 35-40 barrels distributed in the room, has sorted them in the shelving”.

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“A DEMANDING ROLE WITH MACHINERY ALL OVER THE WORLD”

Patrizio Beltrame, Service Manager

“I have been with Spraytech for 12 years,” he explains, “having been hired after graduating from high school, when it was still a small company at the Monticello di Fara site. I experienced the years of development, both in terms of turnover and number of staff, but also in terms of skills. Here I started as a basic maintenance technician and over time the company grew, products were implemented and we developed machines together with Stefano Mastrotto. Thanks to our experiences working in the field, we have arrived at the current situation, with a very efficient technical department that follows the customised project for each customer and the development of machines from start to finish”.
“The role of Service Manager is a demanding one,” Patrizio explains, “because Spraytech machines have been sold everywhere, in Italy and abroad, and we have left behind a lot of installation work. Much of the work of the Service, which works on call, concerns the districts in our country, where we have the possibility to intervene immediately with technicians directly in the tannery. When a customer, who is experiencing a problem, calls the owner or the Service directly, we try to understand the anomaly right away: when it cannot be solved by phone or via the web, I organise the team to go out, which happens as soon as possible. My role is also to coordinate the work of the technicians from the office, scheduling activities and possible interventions, but in some particularly complex cases I travel to the tannery”.
“Especially in the tanning industry, with a high number of hides to be processed daily,” concludes the Service Manager, “any downtime is a heavy handicap, so the main objective is to intervene immediately. Our strength is to assess, practically in real time, the extent of the problem and to understand how quickly it can be resolved. If there is a need to go to the site, in a matter of minutes we can load the material onto the van and leave: if it is in the nearby district of Arzignano, an average of a quarter of an hour is needed, but it happens also in the rest of northern Italy, in the Tuscan area, or in the South. The first assessment of the problem takes place by telephone, allowing us to explain whether it is an electrical or software problem: our machines are highly automated, often through remote assistance one of our engineers is able to connect directly to the line, often guaranteeing the restart of the machinery”.

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“THE PROCEDURE IS ACTIVATED BEFORE EVERY TRIP”

Andrea Vetri, Electronics Technician

“I alternate between working in the company, where I work in the electrical department,” he tells us, “and periods when I travel off-site, mainly abroad, to take care of the installation and testing of Spraytech equipment, which is generally followed by initial assistance through the explanation of the main features and the use of what can be chemical products, for example. Before starting a trip, there is a procedure, which has been developed by the company, in which a data sheet is prepared in which the customer explains what needs to be done and on which machines he has to install. Through our instructions, we ensure that when we arrive to the premises of the client, they have already received the containers and everything is more or less ready, so that we can proceed with start-up and testing. In this phase and especially in the preceding one, it is essential to maintain close contact with the client: the language is generally English, all our employees speak it fluently, and in some cases, we may arrange for translation by our agents on site. Considering the considerable variables of preparation and culture, a complete sense of adaptation is necessary, and it is imperative to fully respect where you are. Given the cooperation that is needed in these situations, experience shows that the more you respect their place, the better you are treated. Ours is not only an extremely technical job, but also a bit psychological”. Every work trip is different. “The average time to install a machine,’ he adds, ‘is one week, but it can take less or even longer for large installations. We are versatile in terms of timing, in the sense that the only objective is to complete the job in the best possible way, it is not the extra day or two that make the difference. Our plants are all customised, our strategies are that everything must be checked in every detail: once the start-up is done, we proceed with the tests, trials and inspection. Once back on site, one of the technicians, when possible the same one who carried out the installation, must keep in contact with the customer, guaranteeing immediate assistance for all needs”.

“When I arrived at Spraytech eight years ago,” Andrea concludes, “there were 13 of us in the department, now there are almost 30, I have experienced a phase of great growth in the company, we have grown well and I am proud of that.

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“A DIFFERENT ROLE TO MY STUDIES, BUT I AM SATISFIED”

Nicolò Fracasso, 23, mechanical technician

“During my last years of high school,” Nicolò explains, “I did my work experience at Spraytech, where I became passionate about the environment and eventually decided to stay, although in a slightly different role from my studies. During my years at school, it was useful to learn foreign languages well, then at Spraytech they gave me the opportunity to grow a lot, both personally and professionally, by making me travel abroad, very often alone. I mainly travel west of Europe, especially to the American continent, from the United States to Mexico, and all the way to South America: I must say that although they are part of the same continent, they are completely different markets, with substantial differences in the evolution of the plants, but also between the clients and their way of relating. Recently in the United States we sold a ‘full optional’ machine, whereas if we move to areas where the same investment possibilities do not exist, we find on average older or used machines, in which case we are mainly asked for upgrades compared to the full model. The organisation of the move depends on the type of installation: if it is a quick procedure I move alone, if it takes longer, we go in pairs. Generally, a pair consists of an electrician and a mechanic, in order to cope with any requirements, but especially in view of the final inspection”.
“My main role is as a mechanical technician,” Nicolò confirms, “but thanks to the training courses within the company and the experience gained abroad, I am also able to handle electronics and carpentry. Before starting the trip, like other colleagues of mine, I initiate relations with the customer and in the meantime here we prepare the equipment and once on site we proceed with the assembly. Almost always with the technicians of the tannery, which has purchased our products, a friendly relationship is created: in fact, we become consultants as we can talk to each other not only in the days following our return to base, but also in the following weeks, when a conversation is necessary. When travelling to leather districts around the world, once the installation work has been completed, we usually visit the most important tanneries with the local agent, to represent the company and to assess possible new installation proposals. Such representative visits are very much appreciated by the tanneries who are pleased to receive the supplier on site.

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