Todesco, headquartered in Creazzo, in the outskirts of Vicenza (Italy), is specialized in the production of intelligent finishing lines especially for the tanning sector
I visited Todesco in Creazzo (Vicenza), a company which specializes in the production of intelligent and advantageous finishing lines at the service of the tanning sector, because I was interested in learning more about a company that I have heard of in recent years, but with which I had never come in contact with. In the end I was pleasantly surprised because it is a “top” reality, oriented towards the future and destined to reap further notable successes in the coming years. When you enter the office, as a first impression, which remains unvaried until the end of the tour, is of a leading company in terms of technology, innovation and modernization, as confirmed by the certifications acquired (primarily ISO 9001) and the 16 patents already obtained, which will grow with an average of one pair per year. The one we visited is a covered area of 1200 square meters, where each department is perfectly organized and in order and where cleanliness and synchronism reign.
Founded in 1976, as GT Todesco Snc, by Giampietro Todesco, the brand was then re-launched in 2013 by the same entrepreneur from Vicenza, this time he was supported by his two sons, who therefore represent the second generation: who are now at the helm of Todesco, Paolo, 42 years old, and Giorgio, 33 years old, sole partners of the company. The Todesco brothers both undertook specific studies: the first graduated in electronic engineering at the University of Padua (Italy), while the younger one obtained a degree in mechatronics at a branch university of Vicenza.
From left: Giorgio, Giampietro e Paolo Todesco
The first image, as soon as you enter the shed, is also the most impactful: Innover model appears in all its “majesty”, the flagship of the range, which represents one of the most advanced machines in the world for finishing leather: a jewel also at a technological and production level if we consider that over 90% of the international groups and giants in the automotive sector have this machine. The one present in the Todesco permanent showroom has a length of about 35 meters but, as Paolo explains, “the longest models can reach over 80 meters, almost like a football field, given the possibility of being connected in series. The base of Innover boasts about 60,000 product codes, just one paint gun counts to 300, all managed by the project, from the smallest screw to the complete machinery. Despite its considerable size, Innover is customized for the customer in many different variants.”
The tour of Todesco starts from the technical office, where about 7-8 employees work, almost half of the staff: this is where the core business is, where engineers, designers, planners, programmers and software operators ork, and where the main R&D activities are carried out. Another striking aspect is the young age of the staff. “The average is around 30, I’m among the oldest here,” smiles Paolo.
“The majority of resources and investments are allocated to the technical office – he adds, also introducing the company strategy – because our choice, as considered from the beginning, was to give up mechanical production: all the pieces are made externally by subcontractors, in a limited area, within a radius of less than 15 km: the industrial fabric of Vicenza and its hinterland boasts leading industries in precision mechanics, electrical engineering and engineering, able to guarantee a high level of know-how and careful management. This allows us to work with a small number of staff, currently made up of 17 units, although by the end of spring we will reach 20. In the technical office, the idea starts and the project is developed, then follows the engineering, the product development, creation and testing of the models, all phases at the end of which we forward the request to the external parts. When they return to headquarters we proceed with assembly and montage, testing and shipment, which include ready-to-be-used upon delivery and after-sales consultancy”.
Once you leave the technical office, you go to a department where the smallest parts are assembled, for example the pistols, where the technicians also take care of testing down to the smallest details. Next, we enter the machine assembly production area, the department for quality control of the various pieces and the analysis of the various components. Alongside there is a further area dedicated to the next phase of research and development, while in the storage area stands a large automated warehouse, which can accommodate up to 108 pallets. “The test room for customers – we were told – is also used as a permanent showroom. Usually, we prefer to invite those who are really interested in seeing the machines on site, but above all to try them out, avoiding visits to tanneries that use our technologies, more often than not synonymous with hosting and introducing a customer’s competitor into production.”
At the base of the entrepreneurial business there is an initial strategic idea. “The market rewards you – explains Paolo Todesco – if you are an innovator, you have the ambition to do so. Not concentrating on investments on internal production, it allows us to continuously update the machinery and create new ones, every 1-2 years we can launch a new model, more current and more competitive than the competitors. This makes us more flexible, but above all it allows us to raise the quality year after year, with a renewal, which otherwise we could not guarantee. It is the product that leads you to be a winner, the secret lies in producing newer, more advanced and more innovative machines, hence the decision is to always focus on research. In the tanning sector we work a lot in the automotive and furnishing sectors but in recent years we have been obtaining great satisfaction also in the leather goods and footwear sector: our customer base reflects the top of the market and we opt for the highest possible quality. It is precisely in this circumstance that the performance comparison has a relevant weight.”
The attention that Todesco pays to its customers is careful and punctual. “The product line of each machine starts from the basic model, then each customer has its own needs, linked to the spaces in the plant, but also the specific regulations on the matter since we operate all over the world. Each of them is followed in starting up the machine, these are lines that also operate 16-20 hours a day, to which hundreds of thousands of euros in economic value are at stake, with productions that reach even 15,000 square meters of leather a day. Here we are scrupulous and attentive in all details, but there are no “controllers”. Although there is naturally a hierarchy, we work in great harmony, we all address each other informally and there are no time cards, everyone is responsible for the tasks they have to do. Work ends on Friday afternoons between 3.30 to 4 pm then after we all meet, without exception, in the coffee room: where everyone brings their experience of the week and we discuss what has been achieved. Here there is a wide sharing of ideas and the entire staff is aware of the company’s choices “.
Important decisions, linked to the global market, concerned the post-Covid period. “The last two years – concludes the CEO of the Vicenza-based company – have made us discover a decisive aspect: producing abroad to cut manpower costs can lose effect because the costs of transport skyrocketed. As how to produce in Europe and ship to overseas customers. Hence the term “relocation” has another value: you must realize the bulky components, close to the customers. The same concept also applies to human resources. In 2019 we shipped a container to Mexico for 1,400 euros, now it can cost over 10,000: if we consider that machinery like ours also needs 6/7 containers, we come to the conclusion that transport and import costs risk weighing excessively and block sales. So here in China, in the city of Haining, and in Leon, Mexico, we are creating sales and technical assistance networks, with local employees and a delocalized warehouse. In 2023, the goal is to bring the “Italy model” of high quality in Central America and China, with the latter remaining the most interesting market in the world and where we were able to assemble machines during the Covid pandemic. All these allow us will try to reduce tax duties, production costs and transport.”