PJL-22

Company Profile A.Celli Nonwovens S.p.A.

The history of the A.Celli group starts at the end of the Second World War, in 1945, when the founder, Mr. Alvaro Celli, a skilled turner, opens a mechanical workshop in Veneri di Pescia (Pistoia, Italy), in the paper mills area. He specializes in paper machinery production and repairing.

In 1962 the workshop takes the name of “Officina Meccanica Alvaro Celli & Figli Snc”; in that same year Alvaro and his two sons, Marco and Piero Celli, transfer the workshop to Porcari, near Lucca. The small activity starts to grow, producing complete lines for the paper industry and achieving important results also in terms of export.

In the early 1980s, the Celli family realises the possibility to apply a more evolved technology, like paper technology, to an emerging and interesting field like that of nonwovens.

The industry of nonwovens had always used winders and slitting rewinders from the textile industry, which are commonly known to be rather slow and not particularly sturdy.

Thanks to Piero and Marco Celli’s intuition, through the introduction of sturdy, reliable and high speed winders, the company meets with instant success and the main Italian producers become its customers.

Pantex, Tenotex, Fiberweb are some of the producers that take advantage of the new A.Celli technologies to optimise their lines’ efficiency and productivity. Therefore the company strengthens its growth, gains new spaces on the market and decides to establish an internal electronic department to develop its own technologies and to better integrate mechanical, electrical and software aspects. Today ,this department can count on a 12-people staff, including 8 electronic engineers.

During the 1990s, with the advent of the third Celli generation - represented by Mauro and Alessandro - the company further grows and expands abroad, conquers the worldwide market that today represents over 90% of the group’s turnover.

The nonwovens division is born and relations are established with important suppliers such as Freudenberg, DuPont, Fiberweb-BBA, PGI, Ashai and many others. In a short time, A.Celli gains a market leadership position in the production of winders, slitters and rewinders for hygiene products such as diapers, wipes, medical products, farming covers and many other applications that require large size (up to 5.5 metres), high performance, high technology machines.

In 1993, A.Celli International Inc. is founded in Florida as a representative office with assistance and customer service functions to North America, which represents the main market after Europe. Also other important market areas are soon covered with new offices in Saõ Paulo, Brazil, and in Guadalajara, Mexico; in China, A.Celli Shanghai is opened to guarantee assistance to all Asian customers.

In 1999, with the purpose of enlarging and better organising the two different businesses - paper and nonwovens - the company acquires a new 12,000 square metre facility located in Tassignano, just few kilometres from Lucca and not far from the original headquarters. Here, the production of paper machinery is installed. In 2003, the production rationalisation process brings about also a new organisation of the company’s structure: the original A.Celli Mechanical Industries is split into A.Celli Paper and A.Celli Nonwovens.

The new organisation is aimed at officially establishing the two businesses, which maintain the same ownership and managing direction. This new structure allows the competitiveness and flexibility necessary to further growth of both fields.

The two companies benefit from a sole R&D Division, which works to maintain the company’s technological leadership, so important in today’s competitive market.•

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