Growth, quality and sustainability on tap

“We are not interested in competing on price. What distinguishes us is quality, technology, design, efficiency and environmental sustainability,” explains Carlo Alberto Nobili, Operations Director of the taps and fittings producer Carlo Nobili SpA, in a conversation with Barbara Rossi.

Carlo Nobili SpA designs and manufactures kitchen, bathroom and private wellness taps and fittings. These three families of products are of equivalent importance in terms of turnover. Each of these product areas offers product lines belonging to two categories: professional and premium. The former is aimed at taps and fittings professionals, such as plumbers, while the latter’s clientele is made up of architects, showrooms and building developers. While design is important for both categories, the priority for products belonging to the professional category is functionality and ergonomics, rather than simply aesthetics. While these factors are also important for the premium range, the focus on aesthetic considerations is more important than for the previous category. Carlo Nobili SpA also offers other brands – namely Stella, Cgs and Mera Ski – which have been acquired over the years.

“We develop new products every year. Sometimes they are brand new products, sometimes a restyling of existing ones. In terms of the bathroom offer, we develop at least two new series for the professional segment every year and about one series a year for its premium counterpart. For the kitchen lines, we launch about ten new products a year overall – in other words for both categories, professional and premium. We invest five million euros a year in developing new and more energy efficient products, increasing our plant’s energy efficiency and production capacity, and optimising company welfare for our staff.”

Carlo Nobili was established by Carlo Nobili in 1954. Based near the north-western Italian town of Novara, the company was initially a commercial organisation, specialised in bathroom and kitchen taps and fittings. The transformation into a taps and fittings designer and manufacturer took place in the 1970s, when the Dormelletto (Novara) plant was built. This was followed in 1990 by the Suno (Novara) site, which from the very start was designed to be technologically-advanced and environmentally friendly. This is still the main site of the company and will soon undergo further expansion. In 2000 the new generation of the family – Alberto, Pierluigi and Maria Grazia Nobili – took leadership of the company. In 2015, as well as gaining the UNI EN ISO 14001 certification, thanks to implementation of the melting department the firm became the first company in Europe to be able to avail itself of full-cycle production at a single production site.

Suno is the main site of the company, where all production for the Nobili brand takes place. It occupies a 100,000m2 covered area and will soon be expanded by another 50,000 to manufacture and assemble new components and thus be ready for future production growth. Production for the other previously mentioned brands takes place at other sites. “All our products are manufactured in Italy and we intend to continue to pursue this production model, as in this way we have full control of the whole production chain, even at supplier level. This is a guarantee in terms of quality, efficiency, reliability and environmental sustainability.”

A zero emissions company

Since its establishment the Suno plant has been strongly focused on environmental sustainability. Here the company has installed 9414 photovoltaic modules covering an area of over 9000m2, thus enabling it to produce a large amount of green energy, estimated to be around 1,000,000 KWh. In fact, a very significant percentage of the power required by the company is produced in this way. Furthermore, the company has installed LED lighting, thus reducing energy consumption by another 40 per cent.

Another important step has been that of equipping itself with a fleet of electric vehicles, which has translated into a 20 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions. Furthermore, no production dust or fumes are released into the atmosphere and water waste is also kept to a minimum. All its packaging is FSC-certified and fully recyclable, in addition to the fact that all the thermo-plastic and brass waste is recycled. Production materials waste is kept to minimum levels anyway, all of which has resulted in Nobili being classified as a zero-emissions company.

The products offered by Nobili are also highly efficient in terms of water and energy consumption. The company was the first to offer water- and energy-saving mixers. Furthermore, being equipped with its own R&D department, the company collaborates with its larger suppliers in terms of materials and machinery innovations. “Occasionally innovation comes through collaboration with a small supplier, but this is obviously more difficult for them. Generally, it is mainly achieved in cooperation with our larger materials and machinery suppliers.”

Global presence

“We exclusively work with the B2B segment, mainly supplying wholesalers/showrooms and professionals in the bathroom, kitchen and private wellness taps and fittings sector. Seventy per cent of our turnover is generated by this clientele. In addition to this segment, we serve the nautical industry (from yachts to cruise ships), building developers and hotels. These are niche sectors and generate the remainder of our turnover. These percentages slightly vary from year to year, but I expect them to keep the same balance in future.”

Present in over 80 countries, covering all continents, in order of importance the company’s main geographical markets are: France, Italy, Australia, Germany, Spain and South Africa. “European markets are taken care of through a network of agents, and in other areas through collaborations with local distributors. Demand for the different products is pretty uniform as taste and needs have become globalised: the only differences relating to product adaptations are due to technical requirements.

“We are working hard to establish ourselves on the Chinese market, having opened a commercial branch, but production will remain in Italy. We will grow organically, thanks to the expansion in China, but also through further penetration of other existing markets, including Europe. For instance, we expect significant growth in Germany. The Middle-East is another market in which we are already present that offers good growth prospects.

“Alongside the opening of new logistics and commercial branches, other factors aiding our future growth will be the adoption of a new organisational model and the significant technological investments we are making to develop energy- and water-efficient products in line with environmental sustainability. The new organisational model has become necessary due to the fast growth trend that we have experienced in recent years. With all of this in place, we should be ready to grow for the next 20 years.”