It was a blisteringly hot day when WBPI rolled into Viadana for our meeting with Gruppa Saviola director and board member Stefano Saviola.
Viadana – the heart of the Group’s national and international operations – is located in the province of Mantua, Lombardy, near the banks of the River Po.
With more than 60 years of history behind it, Gruppo Saviola has built up an impressive and widespread operation, setting great importance on vertical and horizontal integration, operating five business units in total and with a consolidated Group turnover of around €750m.
Our meeting came at an important time. The Group is assessing a range of potential initiatives aimed at the gradual modernization of certain production facilities, including the Sustinente site, subject to technical and strategic evaluations, located in near proximity to Viadana.
Saviola Group has 15 plants worldwide, including four particleboard (PB) plants (three in Italy and one in Germany) and manufactures PB from 100% recycled wood. It was a pioneer in using recycled wood in panel products, now recycling approximately 1,650,000 tonnes of wood each year, equivalent to 30 times the size of Rome’s Colosseum.
It’s the Group philosophy and integration of the business units which Mr Saviola believes makes the Group unique, efficient and future-proofed. This, coupled with a vision of ‘doing business’ inspired by the values of social sustainability.
SAVIOLA SYNERGY
While the Group’s primary production focus is particleboard, Mr Saviola explained the importance of the Group’s structure and operating businesses. These are:
- Saviola – production of the Ecological Panel (100% recycled wood), both raw PB and melamine-faced products
- Sadepan – the chemicals business producing resins and glues for both internal use and on the open market
- Composad – Ready-to-assemble furniture production
- Savionet – Network of recycling centres collecting and sorting waste wood for reuse in panel production
- Saviolife – Business Unit in the Life Science sector, creating products for agriculture, animal feed and leather tanning
To read the full article, subscribe to WBPI.
