Over twenty years of experience and a corporate philosophy based on a concept that is easy to tell but difficult to deploy: teamwork. To explain what Zator is today and the milestones of their journey to become one of the most interesting players in the adhesive application business, we met the person who created the company, Alessandro Donati, who launched this initiative back in 1998 with his father Luciano and with Maurizio Tapparo. From the origins “in a Milan basement” until today.
“When we founded Zator, in 1998, we were aware of our potential and our longstanding experience in this sector. We knew how to move. The original headquarters were in Milan, then in 2001 we moved to Cusano Milanino. This relocation did not change our philosophy or our goals, and neither our way of working.
Today Zator is a company with fifteen people and a turnover exceeding 2.5 million euro, handling the entire production internally and minimizing outsourcing. We set this goal from the very start: always keep control and monitor our production completely…
Customer care is our ace in the hole. I daresay it is one of our key strengths, from the early sales stages – when we look for the best solution together with our customers – up to after-sales, from installation to the resolution of possible issues. If you choose Zator, you have a partner next to you who supports you in case of problems. Ultimately, this is our philosophy: always work in team, both internally and with customers. We go beyond sales, we build ad-hoc plants for customers and we always want to be present.”
From the left: Alessandro Donati, Luciano Donati and Maurizio Tapparo
Many ideas, many projects, and the pandemic in 2020. How did you face last year?
“It was not easy from a financial point of view, but we can be satisfied. The problems we had were more “technical”, especially in terms of sales and service. It was a new situation, an unprecedented experience that forces our engineers to change approach, to turn the “physical” relations with customers into an online interaction, especially in the first period.
During the lockdown of March 2020, we stopped only a few days to identify the best approach, then we resumed production very quickly, as many of our customers are in the food industry. So, yes, we suffered from slower business, but in the end, we have restarted powerfully.”
What are the consequences of this situation?
“Right now, the big issues are market fluctuations and uncertainty. It’s not easy to make long-term plans. In normal conditions, a company must face daily changes, and even more in this period, we must be as flexible as we can. All companies are paying close attention to developments. That’s normal: in these situations, the instinct drives you to a more conservative option. Some try to delay investments to see what happens in the coming months, some are approaching 2021 as a year of transition and decide to invest, trying to make the best of this difficult situation. We have chosen a third option. We have invested in ourselves, in our staff, adding to key roles last year, as well as in machinery and in the improvement of our automated systems. We are fighting the virus by investing in our own organization, rather than adopting a wait-and-see attitude. We prefer to keep moving. It was not easy, I confess. Especially in the early days, when the flow of customers stopped, it seemed impossible to be optimistic, but then we looked into each other’s eyes, we looked inside ourselves and we decided to start over. Sooner or later, the pandemic will end and the entire industry will restart at full steam. And we want to be ready.
After all, we are like a big team: without unity, we are going nowhere.
What are the goals in 2021 and in the near future?
“Starting from the assumption that it is not easy to make plans, we want to restyle our products, possibly introducing a new line of controls and sensors to be integrated onboard our machines. The first quarter 2021 seems to have started positively, largely beyond expectations. Now we’ll see what happens. If it continues like that, it depends on the sanitary situation and how companies will face it. You asked what has changed. The answer is: the vision of companies has changed. Until one year ago, orders were submitted based on annual forecasts, in January you prepared for the necessities you would have in December. Now we are working with a much shorter vision. The way of working has changed…
If I should imagine Zator in the near future, for instance, I would like to expand the business, find a larger building, approach new sectors. Working in several sectors, diversifying our core business is not easy, but this year more than ever it has proved effective to remain active, to keep going. So, we must grow, but at the same time keep the flexibility that has distinguished us so far”.
What does it mean to make innovation in an industry like adhesives?
“In our industry, innovation lies in details, in the constant refinement of products. There is no revolution, but daily work that leads to progressive improvements in techniques, materials, equipment. You try to optimize everything, to improve the performance of all systems. Every piece of innovation strictly depends on customer requirements. Customization is our keyword, finding the ideal solution for each customer is our mission. And in this context, innovation is a direct consequence.”
One final question: where does the name Zator come from?
“It’s funny, it came to my father during a trip in Finland – said Alessandro Donati with a smile –. There was a restaurant called Zetor. He was struck by the name and it soon became Zator. An original name with pros and cons. You can find us easily, but you have to leaf through exhibition catalogs until the last page…”.
Team, flexibility and unity: In one word: Zator.
