Fainplast on the up in 2013

Thanks to investments in product and process innovation, Fainplast (Ascoli Piceno, Italy), one of Europe's leading compound producers, recorded extremely positive results in 2013, ending the year with a 7.5% increase in turnover, which thus reached 92 million euros. This company has recorded steadily increasing growth over the past ten years or so; over 55% of its turnover is generated by exports all over the world (with a 6% increase against 2012). A particularly important result concerns the company's exports to Germany, which increased by 40% despite the presence of its main competitors in that market.
"We specialise in the production of compounds, which continues to be our core business and has been the focus of our investments in research and innovation, worth 7% of our turnover. The integration strategy pursued by some leading groups in this field, which combine compound production and processing, does not always guarantee synergies, economies of scale and flexibility, and is not always the best route to go down. We prefer to focus on the plastic base material, guaranteeing extremely high quality and better and better performance, both of PVC and of the entire range of crosslinkable halogen-free products and, more generally, on the entire range for the electrical wiring and cable sector. Another particular focus has been EVATech, our new product for the footwear sector, production of which increased by 70% in 2013. We can also guarantee very rapid delivery times, despite keeping our headquarters in the Marche region of Italy where we also have all our roots", explains Fainplast's owner and president, Battista Faraotti.
Several months ago, the company opened a new R&D laboratory, overseen by sales director Vladimiro Fratini. Twenty of the company's 100 employees work in this laboratory which continues to turn out new products for the full range of product categories. This new laboratory required an investment of 300,000 euros, in addition to investments in automation of the plant for the production of polyolefin-based products and in increasing the bulk raw material storage capacity. The company's constantly rising compound production standards has led to increased output in volume terms; in 2013, the increase was 8%. The company's objectives for 2014 are to focus on the Italian market and to record further growth in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe.