Arsutoria – Coronet aims at growth in Asia while keeping roots in Italy
Despite the economic downturn there are still firms which continue to invest. This is the case with Coronet, an Italian specialist in manufacture of synthetic materials for footwear, accessories and clothing, in the trade for forty years.
We have decided to open a new factory in Vietnam – said Jarno Tagliarini and Umberto De Marco, respectively CEO and executive adviser – We are considering offers of some industrial spaces and count on starting up within the first quarter of 2014.
For the corporation with headquarters in Corsico (Milan) this will be the fourth factory, a large new production unit in addition to the the two Italian ones of Cisterna di Latina and Velletri, Lazio, and the Chinese one in Huizhou, Guangdong, inaugurated six years ago. The heads of the firm wish to point out that the new factory is certainly not intended as an alternative to the existing ones.
We have no intention of closing in China to move to Vietnam and neither to stop investing in Italy where about a hundred employees are involved in research and development of new products but also all the manufacture of the coagulated base necessary for foreign production.
So why a new factory?
The mass footwear market is moving towards Vietnam but also to Indonesia and Thailand. It is often the clients themselves who ask us to follow them in the, mainly partial, move of their production. Nevertheless, their is no desire on our part to abandon China. After a normal settling-in period, that will naturally require moving a part of the production from China to Vietnam, we count on dedicating this new unit only to increasing business. The opening in Vietnam – explain the management of Coronet – is linked to forecasts of an increase in orders also in view of new business strategies started about a year ago. At present in China we produce about 3.5 million meters a year with 120 employees. With the additional manufacture in Vietnam we expect to arrive at 4.5 million in the first stage and, within 2 to 3 years a total output of 5-6 million meters
What are the forecasts on turnover?
In the last two years as a group we have arrived at about 24-25 million euro. Thanks to the new Asian factory, within three years we could increase that to 35-4o
What innovations are there as regards products?
Each year between 7% and 10% of gains are earmarked for research, so updating from both the fashion and technical point of view is continuous. We pay great attention to the environmental issue as proved by the launch in October 2012 of the ECOLOGIKA line, that as well as being eco-friendly also offers important technical characteristics as regards absorbency, breathability and easy handling. After introducing Ecologika as a lining material, currently available in a wide colour range, we are now working to develop an analogous product for uppers. Then we are creating a variant of Ecolife, a new product destined for the high performance sports market. The Innovaction line is also continually expanding with lots of technical products of certified specific use.