“The 2021 was a complicated, sometimes difficult year, which has tested our limits, there’s no doubt. A challenge that I must say Catas has passed, achieving important results on all issues on which it is committed”. Lucia Cristina Piu – President of Catas, the leading European laboratory for the wood-furniture sector – has no hesitation in commenting on the results achieved in the year just ended.
A year of strengthening that confirms the renewed energy of the sector, rewarded by greater attention to the living environments, as well as to the issues of technical standardization, safety and certification.
The 2021 year closes with a turnover that once again exceeds the threshold of 7 million euros, thanks to a growth of 6 percent in “subscribers” (Italian and foreign companies that have a regular collaboration with the laboratory), which have gone from 1,272 in 2020 to 1,345 last year.
A figure confirmed by the growth in the tests carried out (52,218 in 2021 against 49,662 in 2020) and by the increase in the product certifications numbers (177 in 2021, 164 in 2020), with a strong relevance in particular for the “Made in Italy” certification.
“A growth to which the opening of the Catas Point Pesaro has significantly contributed, the first in a series of contact points that will allow us to be increasingly present and proactive in the main furniture districts areas, thanks to which we have started collaborations with some of the most well-known brands of the national retail sector. A new scenario that has enabled Catas to communicate the value of its activities to the final consumers, the real end-users of our certifications”, Piu continued. The 2021 year has involved investments of more than 500 thousand euros in the expansion of the equipment both at the Catas Lissone site in Brianza (for test on furniture products) and in San Giovanni al Natisone in Friuli Venezia Giulia (for the chemical analysis).
Concerning the training activities, Catas Academy has organized more than 30 events, in addition to many internship experiences with students from universities and high schools. A year that also saw the publication of the first “Edging Handbook”, edited in collaboration with Federchimica-Avisa, which makes a clear point in one of the fundamental steps in the furniture production process.
Another significant news has been the launch of “The Life Cycle measured by CATAS” assessment service by which the laboratory offers an objective contribution to the issue of sustainability, providing companies in the sector with a rigorous tool for the measure of the environmental, social and energy “weight” of the products. These results will measure and represent the real effort of companies for a truly sustainable industry and economy. “Now we look to the future”, President Piu continued. “In 2022, health emergency permitting, the presence in Italy will be increased thanks to the roots in Friuli Venezia Giulia, in Brianza and in the large Pesaro furniture district”.
“The organizational response to the growing needs from the clients will be a further important development step, with the enlargement of the Catas site in San Giovanni al Natisone – Piu concluded – where we will build a new three-storey building, covering an area of approximately 2,500 square meters, dedicated to laboratories for the fire reaction tests and mechanical tests on materials, components and adhesives for the furniture sector”. New plans are also being defined for the training services for technical schools and universities. In addition, a wide schedule of webinars will be held in the coming months with the collaboration of Federchimica and Acimall (the Italian Association of Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers) Since several years, Catas has also been designing, manufacturing and supplying test equipment for components, chairs, tables, beds and furniture, including turnkey. The offer is the result of the knowledge and experience gained over many years of activity and already represents a qualifying voice in the activity of the institution, on which in the future we will focus even more. In the light of this direction too, the new Catas Engineering catalog was developed containing this kind of offers.
