Quality interiors Apollo

QUALITY INTERIORS

How important is the interior of your car? And your car seat covers? Marco Cavallaro - CEO of Apollo SpA - explains to Barbara Rossi the high level of quality and safety demanded by the automotive sector with regard to its components, including the vehicle interior textiles supplied by Apollo.

Apollo SpA was set up in 1969 as a manufacturer of upholstery for home furnishings. An important change of direction came in 1985, when it switched to the production of textiles for industrial use, specifically for the car interiors industry. Gradually this business evolved into the manufacturing of textiles for the whole automotive interiors sector. Today the company has grown into a group which designs and manufactures textiles for the rail, aviation and marine sectors as well as for the automotive core business (which includes textiles for bus interiors). As well as supplying the actual textiles, the group is also able to supply seat covers, a service requested by many of its customers. “Because of the type of applications for which they are used, our products have to feature characteristics such as durability, fire resistance and smoke resistance,” Mr Cavallaro explains.

Apollo SpA is now a group with three subsidiaries: Botto RO, Apollo Industria Filati and European Interior Srl. The group is headquartered in Capalle, near Florence; both Botto RO and Apollo Industria Filati are also situated between Florence and the nearby town of Prato, while European Interior Srl is located in Romania.

As well as leading the group, which employs 450 people overall, Apollo SpA designs and manufactures textiles for car interiors, while Botto RO carries out a parallel activity but for trains, planes, buses and ships. Apollo Industria Filati provides technical support, carrying out some of the produc-

tion processes of these two companies. European Interior is engaged in producing seat covers, an activity which requires fairly complex co-design processes. “Even when we supply customers with textiles that they then transform or have transformed into seat covers, an element of co-design is involved in the process.

“We have at our disposal all the technologies which are currently in use in our client sectors. We have an internal R&D department and laboratories equipped so as to carry out all the tests necessary to guarantee the safety and quality of our products. We hold all relevant certifications, including ISO 9001, ISO/TS16949 and ISO 14001. We have always been committed to minimising our environmental impact and we were the first European automotive textile company to have Ecolabel certified products.”

The R&D department employs 15 members of staff, including designers working on patterns (as a high fashion element is key to this sector) and technicians working on new materials offering improved performance and features. 3 per cent of turnover is invested in R&D on an annual basis. The R&D office is based in the Florence-Prato area. Its location in one of the world’s fashion capitals enables Apollo’s R&D department to profit from proximity to the latest fashion trends and utilise the region’s world-class expertise in textile technology. High quality for automotive

Products for the automotive sector generate about 80 per cent of turnover, while those for the rail, plane, bus and ship industries produce the remainder. The company expected significant growth at the end of 2014 or at the beginning of the 2015, which will require additional machinery.

“In terms of the clients that we serve, we really deal with OEMs, so we are Tier 1 suppliers in the sense that orders come from them. However we act as Tier 2s in terms of product deliveries to Tier 1 system suppliers who, in turn, serve the OEMs. It sounds complicated, but really we are Tier 1s, as OEMs are the ones who select us

and decide what to order from us. We have direct contact with them with regard to this. The Tier 1 systems suppliers just have to follow the specifications of the OEMs and have no say in our selection. With regard to products for industries other than the automotive sector, we have different procedures and do not usually deal with OEMs.”

Geographically the group’s main market is Europe in its broadest sense (including Turkey). Apollo is also active on other continents, thanks to a joint-venture with a US company that is number one in that country for seat covers. Apollo contributes with its know-how and high level of technology. Production for non-European markets takes place in the countries where customers make their vehicles. “Thanks to this organisation we can supply our products in North and South America, as well as China.

“We always keep an eye on new markets and new opportunities, especially outside Europe. Europe is a mature market, where competition is based on quality. In terms of textile-related industry segments the automotive sector is by far the most competitive (at the global, not just European level). The level of performance and quality required is much greater than that of other industries (not even the most prestigious fashion brands have such high expectations). One just has to think of the number of components required in a vehicle and that there has to be a high level of production process control for all of these in order to produce a high-quality and reliable vehicle. In fact, the automotive market is so mature that the winning players are the manufacturers of premium cars.”

Scope for volume growth will mainly be at the non-European level, where acquisitions could be considered. Because of its high degree of maturity, changes in the European market will be limited, although Mr Cavallaro expects possible growth of demand from the rail industry.

The Apollo group has long-term relationships with its specialised yarn suppliers, namely Sinterama and Noyfil. They and the materials supplied are very important for the group, especially because there is collaboration with regard to co-design of raw materials. n