December 16 is the official opening day for Fenice’s new modern manufacturing and storage facility in the small town of Valdagno, Italy. Having established the leather and footwear finishing chemicals business over 30 years ago, Fenice company founder and president, Dr Giuseppe Pisi, gave up his summer holidays this year to oversee the new factory.
Leather and shoe finish and aftercare product specialists, Fenice are located among the rolling hills of the north Italian region of Veneto approximately 15km north of the famous Arzignano tanning district. The Pisi family still own and control the business with Dr Pisi’s son, Giovanni and daughter, Francesca are both actively involved. However, in recent years Giovanni has established his own separate business, repairing and restoring upholstery (mainly leather) which is under the Fenice name but remains a distinct business of its own.
Fenice used up the available space around their headquarters some time ago and have embarked on a rapid expansion of their business, which now encompasses a total of five sites in the Valdagno area. The latest plant began manufacturing shoe finishes and leather care products in August. The 5,000m2 yellow building is only two minutes by car from Fenice HQ and has been purpose built to house a large warehouse and manufacturing facility with laboratories and offices. ‘There was no spare capacity at our other sites so, therefore, we acquired this 10,000m2 plot in order to house our shoe and leather after care product ranges’, Pisi told Leather International.
‘I am already looking for the next site as this plant is already near capacity such is the success of these lines at the moment.’
Once the raw ingredients enter the plant they are mixed into the required formula, colour matched and transferred to an automatic bottling and labelling machine. The end products are then packed and stored prior to shipping. Each batch is sampled and tested at the on-site QC laboratory.
Fenice’s new plant has also been designed to be worker friendly and is light and airy without significant chemical odours. All internal parameters such as heating and lighting etc are all automatically controlled and adjusted by computer.
Fenice have 40 people employed at the new site and have 130 in the company in total. Approximately 65% of the company’s production is now exported with the largest markets in China and India. The domestic market accounts for around 35% of production. Fenice traditionally specialise in leather finishing products but they also have built businesses in shoe finishes, leather after care products and more recently in furniture repair and maintenance. ‘We look at providing our customers with novel articles often related to fashion and this has helped us grow the business. Our sales have increased 8% compared with the same period in 2005’, commented Pisi.
