Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. (Demosthenes)
At Florycart, the inauguration of the new facilities on September 13th, 2009, opened the way for a new entrepreneurial course, with the handing over of managerial responsibilities to Simone and Renza, son and daughter of the original founder, Renzo Ghilarducci. And it all started by chance in 1972, when Mr. Ghilarducci started up a business in the production of tissue rolls. Those were the years of the economic boom and Florycart began to move away from the business of household brooms, making its first moves in the tissue converting market. A small opportunity which has made the company what it is today: a small jewel comprised of efficiency, passion and entrepreneurship.
Maura Leonardi
Being entrepreneurs means taking risks, trying new challenges, facing the difficultiesof every day by using one's Head, Heart, Passion and Courage. Florycart is the embodiment of these features and demonstrates it every day in its modus operandi. It is a young, dynamic and flexible company with a rich store of knowledge, where strength and the desire to do well are the drivers behind every decision made. Florycart is 100% family-run: a small jewel comprised of passion, effort and hard work. An entrepreneurial model, strongly tied to its history and its roots.
Since its establishment over 30 years ago, another small opportunity allowed Florycart to face yet another new challenge. In a time of economic crisis, when the word risk has become taboo for many, the company has decided to embark on a new entrepreneurial course by approaching the market with a different vision and a good deal of enterprising work.
"The economy never comes to a stop; the worst that can happen is that it slows down a little, and these are the moments when companies put themselves to the test and confront themselves with the market. Florycart has always believed and still believes today that it has the potential to grow both in terms of finished product quality and services, all the while maintaining a high degree of competitiveness. Reliability is our guarantee," says Marina Unguentini, part of Florycart's General Management.
The company was able to seize the "bright side" of 2009 by taking advantage of the opportunities which in any case came up during this period of recession. The reduction in the cost of raw materials, the block in financial speculations and the consequent reduction in interest rates and inflation are the elements which have permitted the company to lay the foundations for new investments aimed at improving both the quantity as well as the quality aspect of the products and services offered. A favorable moment in which the company wanted to, had to and was able to invest.
Wanting to, having to and being able to are the three imperatives that encouraged the company to establish the new industrial development plan with investments made towards a renewal of the machinery range and a re-styling of its headquarters. And this change coincided also with a change in management, with the transfer of power from the father (the company's founder) to the next generation: his son and his daughter. A generational transfer that will ensure continuity in management and in the attainment of goals, the security of a family-run company and a young and innovative vision, constantly up-to-date with modern times.
This historically small-sized company has always transmitted dedication and passion to its commercial partners. The family has always played an important role in the business, since it has always been a reference point, incrementing the trust people had in the company. In today's world, where the model of the multinational company serves as the teaching element and where the shareholder becomes an almost abstract and not very tangible entity, Florycart becomes a point of reference for all its allied industries because of its family-run management and all the values that this feature brings with it. "Family, solidity have surely been two driving elements of this project for our suppliers. The passion we felt spread quickly to engage our collaborators and all companies involved in the project. Our investment was surely full of expectations and shared by everyone involved. In a time of economic uncertainty and crisis like that of 2009, the hopes and the prospect of getting the production system going again constituted for many a strong motivation for believing in a recovery, in a new period of progress," continues Marina.
Florycart's strategy has always been to offer a quality product aimed at satisfying the high-end market segment, where quality is intended not only that of the finished product, but of quality as a whole that starts from the company's organization through to its entire production cycle. From the study of the embossing, to the aesthetic aspect of the roll, all the way up to the packaged product on pallets ready to be dispatched.
"From a market analysis performed, we perceived that during times of recession and crisis, demand focuses on higher quality products. This is why we decided to dare and invest in order to increase our production capacity, our quality and our flexibility." Affirms Ms. Unguentini. The investment was articulated through several steps: an increase in production capacity by widening the range of machinery and introducing a new converting line model FortyFive, for converting toilet rolls and kitchen towels, by Fabio Perini S.p.A.; a new Fabio Perini S.p.A. embosser to guarantee greater production flexibility; a reorganization of production, warehouse and office space.
The new converting line has consented Florycart to increase output and production flexibility by enhancing its Florì brand product offering a toilet roll and kitchen towel product range for the low/medium market segment. Florì was designed to meet the needs of the "family" market segment: a more convenient product to attract consumers who want household tissue paper rolls having a good quality/price ratio.
An altogether different concept and strategy for the company's Floràl brand: "Elegant in the bathroom and elegant in the kitchen". This is the slogan with which Florycart introduces a line of superior quality products dedicated to hygiene and household cleaning, conjugating innovation and design in one unique roll. Floràl Cartafiorita, with its 3D-effect pattern obtained through the Fabio Perini S.p.A. patented Fusion Art Embossing® technology, offers the best product performance in terms of resistance, absorbency and softness. And novelties also for what concerns packaging: new, colorful, young, fresh, captivating flower graphics that create continuity of the company's image on supermarket shelves. The packaging process has been innovated, too, through the harmonization of the converting and packaging lines. This technical solution enables all the production lines to converge on all the packaging machines, thus avoiding production stops and ensuring maximum pack flexibility: from 2 rolls to 42, both foil and carry bag. And new is the word to describe the palletizing system, too. Two separate islands dedicated to the different formats. Total flexibility: a quality and quantity offer that reflects the company's philosophy aimed at competing on the market not with pricing policies, but with products.
Looking ahead is surely the driving spirit for Florycart's choice to offer its customers novelties in order to attract consumers and create new market niches. An innovative spirit which has led the company to undertake an important project in collaboration with the Region of Tuscany for the development of quality systems and the management of logistics engineering for small-medium sized companies. The warehouse management, which has been completely redesigned and structured according to the concept of the division of space dedicated to raw materials, semi-finished products in reels, auxiliary raw materials and finished product, is entrusted to a bar code reading device connected to production and control management systems. This ambitious project will be completely in force within the next three to five years, enabling Florycart to integrate all the information that must be transferred to customers, within its own production processes. They, in turn, can directly control their own stocks, reducing the time needed to reorder material, hence optimizing production resources and eliminating wastes.
The aim is to offer customers a service not only in the commercial sense, but one that incorporates overall quality of the entire production system. This ensures timely delivery of material and provides important information regarding warehouse stock, such as the reels used for packaging, for example, facilitating better planning when it comes to reel change and offering the possibility to focus on special promotions in particular periods of the year. Florycart's business is concentrated on supplying private label products and the company operates as a consultant by listening to buyers' requests and answering with specific products created ad hoc for their purposes. This is why investments aimed at improving production and company organization were made. Florycart caters to its customers, listens to their needs and tries to answer by proposing the appropriate products. "The B2B concept certainly lies at the basis of our philosophy, but our strategy is customized to fit our customers' needs, working side by side with them, offering customers the appropriate tools that will allow them to gain new market shares. The key is to never forget who we are working for," concludes Marina Unguentini with an energetic smile.