Laminam’s data are positive, announced company CEO Alberto Selmi at the beginning of its 2022 Sustainability Report. Performance levels have been more than satisfactory in 2022, a year that put the most consolidated businesses to the test. Laminam is reaping the fruits of wise strategic choices, capitalizing on investments made as early as 2021 and choosing to strengthen them in the future, focusing on the group’s milestones — internationalization, digitization, human resources and sustainable innovation.
Internationalization as a Driver of Development
Laminam is preparing to become an increasingly global, synergistic and integrated concern. As part of this engagement, 2022 stands out for the brand’s acquisition of Best Surface, the group’s first Spanish plant, located in the heart of the ceramic district of Castellón de la Plana, which is already famous for its excellent reputation, and according to Selmi, “a team of well-trained and passionate people, who immediately proved to be perfectly in sync with the Laminam spirit.”
Over the course of the year, the establishment of Laminam Benelux BV – a distribution center for surfaces – and the acquisition of Interstone Poland further contributed to strengthening the brand’s international scope. Today, Laminam can boast four production plants, a service company in Italy and 11 sales branches; these are backed by warehouses and logistics hubs in all the main geographical areas, multiple flagship stores as well as a network of distributors across the globe.
While the physical network continues to grow, the digital network is equally boosted. Two key projects have been launched in the areas of Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital go-to-market, including the “Click-n Cut” e-commerce platform, which allows marble workers to view product availability in Laminam warehouses in real time and forward orders independently. This project confirms how digitizing processes can contribute to improving customer satisfaction and deliver significant added value.
People-centric Approach
The starring role of the latest edition of the Sustainability Report was played by the “human factor,” which is confirmed as a key element of development. In 2022, recruiting activities continued across Italy and abroad in continuation of the previous year’s activities. It was not just a question of occupational growth but rather of Laminam’s strategic determination to promote a culture of well-being for the benefit of its employees.
This is the reasoning behind the launch of Laminam Cares, a project that brings together corporate welfare initiatives and health prevention and protection activities. While the numbers are often inadequate to represent a broad concept such as that of “well-being,” they remain eloquent indicators of a concern: at Laminam more than 9 out of 10 employment contracts are open-ended; 8 out of 10 employees are under 50 and 36% are women. More than 9,000 hours of training were provided in 2022, and there were zero serious work-related injuries.
Innovation Can Only be Sustainable
“Our investments have always been made for the ultimate improvement of products and processes, day after day,” stated CEO Selmi. “We believe that this is the only concrete way to ensure sustainable development for future generations.”
This vision not only looks to the immediate future but also beyond, and it is articulated in tangible and measurable actions. The 2021/2022 two-year period saw the implementation of a substantial investment plan in new plants and machinery to support an increase in production as well as an improvement in environmental performance levels.
These include the renewal and extension of the photovoltaic system in Fiorano, which is distinguished by a peak power of 1,432 kW. Thanks to this expansion, Laminam is now in a position, during daytime hours, to meet the energy needs of its three electric kilns – the only company to own them in the ceramic district — entirely with solar power.
For 2023, a photovoltaic system is in the works in Borgotaro, Italy, and another one in Castellón, Spain through Best Surface, along with two trigeneration projects. This year too, Laminam is continuing its studies into the CO2 capture process, proud of the sophisticated system installed that allows the brand to reduce emissions significantly, retaining the pollutants in the fumes and not producing any CO2 in the purification process, which is instead the case when using afterburners.
These activities are the expression of an industrial development model that, in terms of sustainability, today achieves the highest standards in the sector — from the gradual break away from traditional energy sources to consumption level efficiency, scraps reduction and recovery, with a view to achieving circularity while paying particular attention to safeguarding biodiversity.
Laminam is determined to achieve increasingly ambitious and certifiable goals. In 2022, the company’s existing extensive range of certifications was supplemented with the ISO 14064-1 certification, resulting from the study on the company’s carbon footprint, along with the ISO 20400 “Sustainable Procurement” Certification.
The 2022 Sustainability Report itself was drawn up with the technical-methodological advice of Nomisma in conformity with EU Directive 2014/95 and according to the GRI Standards defined by the Global Reporting Initiative.
