Mascioni Hires Testa to Explore New Markets, Services, Products

August 13, 2002

Cuvio (Varese), Italy — Mascioni S.p.A., a world leader in fabric development and finishing with an annual output exceeding 120 million square meters, announced that it has created a new position specifically for developing business opportunities — new product and service offerings and new markets — and has hired Pierluigi Testa to fill the position. As strategy and marketing manager, Testa will explore the possibility of Mascioni offering new fabrics, serving as a sourcing agent for its customers, and opening new geographical markets.

The Mascioni name has long been recognized in the bedding segment of the industry, said Alberto Mascioni, company chairman and CEO. With good name recognition in the industry, and good structure for process and control in place, the company is poised to develop new businesses. "The plan is threefold," he explained. "First, we would like to offer our customers fabric along with finishes."

The 50-year-old company has been sourcing new fabrics for its major customers for several years.

"This policy has been well accepted and needs to be completed and improved, as in order to continuously innovate, many of our major customers look for new sources around the world," Mascioni said. But sourcing today is challenging, he said. Some of his customers have to source from as many as seven different suppliers.

"It would be easier for our customers to ask us to find certain qualities and values for them because they trust us. We are also considering complementing our services with cutting and sewing in the near future. We have people knocking at our door for this," Mascioni said. ''We consider this a different business, but we have to listen to the market.

"We would like Pierluigi Testa to develop new geographical markets-Eastern Europe, the Far East, etc. We have had this vision for a long time, but we needed someone to play a rationalizing role to start to implement these new things." Currently, the company's largest markets are North America and Europe.

Mascioni wants Testa to help the company reach different segments of the textile world. Now, for example, the company marginally reaches certain markets with technical fabrics and performance fabrics used in workwear from its 70,000 square meter finishing factory. But Mascioni believes that the company's technical know-how and processing operations could enable it to play a role among the leading suppliers of technical fabrics. One of Testa's jobs will be to analyze ways to increase Mascioni's role as supplier to these different segments of the textile world.

The family-owned Mascioni company has never been one to pass over the vast potential of any market, and its soaring revenues have made it one of Italy's industrial giants and a solid contender in the global textile arena.

In other news, Mascioni recently installed a digital DuPont 3210 inkjet printer with Artistri technology at the company's Cuvio headquarters. The company plans to bring in "young, creative talents" and set up a regular on-line print shop so it can offer small production runs featuring exclusive designs for corporate or private customers.

"We have a lot of opportunities besides our current business. We are starting now to pursue them in a more structured way," Mascioni said. "In a more global market, we believe to have all the right chromosomes to continue and develop our history of success even more, thanks to the professionalism of Pierluigi Testa." F&FI


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