“When you start, you never know where you could end up, and I must say that seeing what Albricci srl is today is a great satisfaction”. These were the first words of Mario Albricci as we met in the new headquarters of the company he founded forty years ago, a point of reference for those who work with wood in Brianza and beyond.
A sparkling, funny, enlightening meeting, because Mr. Albricci, born in 1954, is first and foremost a man of values and has so much to tell even limiting ourselves to his professional life, because writing about everything he has done and will do would require a dedicated issue of our magazine!
Stefano Zaniboni, Albricci general manager and president of the Academy, next to Mario Albricci (right).
He started as a swimming instructor and then decided to invest all his possessions in what today would be called a stationery bookshop that also sold sports items. And so, between books and swimsuits, he began a path that would lead him to what is perhaps his strongest vocation, even if we would not be surprised to find him in a few years engaged in something different: a former swimming instructor colleague let him know that there was a company in Bergamo, the Sala F.lli, who was looking for a sales representative. “I must say that I was not very attracted to it: I have always had a certain ease in relationships, but the idea of starting to sell wood equipment just didn’t interest me and I said no. My friend, however, had already made an appointment with them: I felt I had to honor this commitment, I went and the following Monday – I remember it was March 16, 1981 – I was already on the track!”
A path taken by chance, but which did not fail to give him tangible satisfaction. And it was also by chance that, after a few years, the “Albricci srl project” was born: at Interbimall – as Xylexpo was then called, the biennial of woodworking technologies that takes place every two years in Milan – he met a schoolmate whom he involved in his work as a representative. It was the spark that lit the fire, a fire that will be fed, again by chance, by the decision to leave Sala F.lli for Altendorf and open his first sole proprietorship.
“I’ve always liked to be myself, to be different from others,” he told us. “Not a choice, but a necessity, an almost physical need. A condition that has also guided me in my work: when I visit a customer, I try to understand who he is, what his needs and expectations are in order to offer him the most suitable solution, not what would be convenient for me to sell at that moment. This is the most important pillar on which I and the many people who have collaborated with me over the years have built Albricci, always looking for new partners who could give us something more, because every day we all have to do something more and better than the day before, otherwise…
I was among the first to believe in laser technology or to sell software, twenty years ago, an activity in which we believed so strongly that we came – in 2018 – to create Academy srl, an independent company that today employs thirteen people and is also a partner of companies that are not our customers, resellers who have found in this partner a valid help in such a complex and too often underestimated issue that goes from “cad-cam” platforms to enterprise systems, from hardware to IT security”.
Willie Altendorf (left) with Mario Albricci at the 1985 Albricci open house.
Why did you choose to set up an ad-hoc company?
“If you want to be performing, you have to work with highly specialized organizations and people within businesses that have clear and defined objectives. A principle that we also followed at the end of 2023, when we established Al Service srl, a company that deals exclusively with maintenance and after-sales relying on the work of about fifteen people and rapidly developing, because there is always a great need for capable technicians. You see, we have always looked more at the needs of the market than at what we would have wanted… A little while ago I mentioned the hardware: well, we have come to assemble computers that meet the customer’s needs, that are suitable for the software they have chosen, that communicate optimally with the machines. And this is just one of the factors that we believe make the difference, that demonstrate our commitment to building relationships that have reason to be deep and lasting…”.
The old headquarters in Cesano Maderno (Monza Brianza).
…in a sector that has been profoundly transformed in the past forty years…
“The demand for woodworking technologies is certainly not the same as in the Nineties, but Albricci has been able to consolidate its role, creating those relationships I was talking about earlier and a customer loyalty that I believe few others can boast, starting from what in my opinion are irreplaceable skills and values: knowing how to understand the people in front of you, doing everything possible to give them effective and consistent answers, always trying to get there a moment before others, having a clear vision.
Not only that: work hard and with commitment, knowing that in order to ask you must first give, and that money is only a consequence of what we do, a work tool, and cannot be the ultimate goal.
In these forty years, selling a machine or a plant has always meant for us to put the last word on a project, to complete a shared discourse with the customer, thanks also to the fact that we have always had very good technicians in house”.
And today you are also celebrating these new headquarters, which you inaugurated at the end of 2023…
“Very true. We needed to present ourselves in a different way, to allow those who come to visit us to immediately understand who we are, what our values are and above all to have adequate spaces for the many things we do every day.
You see, I don’t have time to get tired and I have always done and continue to do many things… I continue to swim, I am part of organizations and associations that operate in the area, and all this has contributed to making me what I am today, spurs and values that I have transmitted to those who work with me and are today the bones and muscles of Albricci srl. I have always believed in precise values, the true pillars of everything we do: love, freedom, beauty, happiness, justice and integrity, gratitude, responsibility. Selling a machine is not just a technical or economic matter, but a responsibility that you assume and of which you must be aware. Without forgetting passion, empathy, collaboration, always looking for ways to create synergies that give value to everyone, because you cannot always and only think of your own advantage. Here, Albricci is also all this: a reality made up of people who have a history, a tradition behind them, and are guided by a system of values that projects us towards the future, towards a common good.
The same goes for suppliers: we cannot think only of getting an extra, because if we take away their resources, they will not be able to invest and, therefore, they will offer less innovative machines. We need to work hard together, share efforts so that there is a shared result, which gives the right satisfaction to everyone”.
An image dedicated to the event for the thirtieth anniversary of Albricci srl.
Mr. Albricci, let us tell you that we did not expect such profound speeches…
“I admit: I fell in love with this job because when you meet people with whom you share something, relationships and stories are created,” he replied with a smile. “This year at the fair in Milan we met a lot of new customers, I spoke in particular with a couple who then came here to the company and bought what they didn’t think they would buy. I don’t just sell: I invest all of myself… I delivered machines to customers I hadn’t made them sign anything, so they could try them out and decide with good reason.
There is no doubt that in these four decades values have changed, but I continue to be myself, to work with customers who share a thought, a way of being. Clearly behind it there is a structure that allows us to concretely support these principles, to translate them into daily practice, but everything stems from consolidated relationships with customers, which have been strengthened over time: being able to bring everyday life, made up of “things to do”, closer to values and ideals that go beyond selling and buying I believe are the keystones of these forty years of success”.
“If you allow me, I would like to add another consideration: our roots are in Brianza, but we can boast important relationships in the Triveneto and in other regions of our country with all our activities, from the sale of machines and software to customer service. Without forgetting that we are also importers of brands of absolute prestige such as Altendorf and Striebig, for which we operate through a network of dealers that we have built throughout the country, a dual vocation that has made us a “mixed” entity, allowing us to develop our peculiarities and to be able to look at our work from different perspectives…”.
And the next forty years?
“We don’t have a crystal ball, but one thing is certain: we will always try to get one step ahead of the others. We will have to deal with new productions that also appear on the Italian market and there will be new technologies or new ways to make old things.
We must be ready to abandon prejudices and welcome new types of products, because quality is now not only made in Europe, and it is our duty to know and always be able to offer the most suitable product. A path on which we have already taken some steps and which we will continue to follow with great attention.
On the other hand, the dynamics of our suppliers have changed, who too often forget the role of retailers, their proximity to the territory and to the end user”.
