Alongside traditional bolts and screws, Berardi Bullonerie has gradually added new items to its stock including springs, clamps, magnets, operating and anti-vibration elements, as well as accessories for industrial lifting, hydraulics, pneumatics and fluidics, plus personal protective equipment.
More recently, Berardi added a new range of plastic industrial components, including cable glands, wiring supports, closures, clips, nuts, rivets, spacers, and cable clamps to its inventory – due to its desire to innovate.
With the company approaching its 100 year anniversary, Berardi still displays a youthful enthusiasm typical of a company that wants to keep growing and expanding in the market. “Berardi pursues a simple strategy: To increasingly affirm ourselves as a service provider and partner company by actively contributing to the completion of a project,” explains President Giovanni Berardi, the fourth generation of a dynasty of entrepreneurs.
With a modern headquarters in Castel Guelfo, Bologna, inaugurated just over a year ago – as well as 12 warehouses and two subsidiaries (Vibolt and Vitman) – Beradi is able to cover the whole of Europe. In addition the company has two offices abroad in Morocco and Croatia.
Berardi boasts 150,000 articles, 45,000 items in stock, more than 3.5 billion pieces delivered per year and a turnover that is poised to reach €70 million in 2018. “We continue in that process of innovation that we began at the beginning of the 2000s, with the addition of new items in stock and an integrated logistics service capable of keeping up the pace and predicting the needs of customers,” adds Giovanni Berardi. “By offering high-quality products with technologically advanced solutions, we are partners, not just suppliers for our 7,000 customers.”
Riccardo Leoni, lean manager at Berardi Bullonerie, adds: “The variety of our offering is supported by a vision of integrated logistics where the goal is not simply to respond to needs but to adapt to our customers, saving time, energy and resources. It is not the vision of a traditional supplier, but of those who see themselves as service providers and contribute to a project.”
Riccardo continues: “It is a tailor-made service because it is built directly on the client’s processes, analysing structure, needs and peculiarities. To date, we have been providing about 350 integrated logistics services – you would be hard pressed to find two identical ones.”
Thus, processing operations, schedules and document management are evaluated in every aspect. “The goal is to provide a ‘zero-impact’ service, because when we approach a customer, we do not look at an individual supply, but we aim to provide efficiency, and by extension, achieve savings across the board. Our goal is to streamline purchasing and warehouse procedures, facilitate the identification of materials, eliminate unnecessary operations and simplify the inventory. So that we can work with our administration department through electronic documentation compatible with different operating systems and achieve efficiency,” mentions Riccardo.
To meet Industry 4.0, Berardi has an App (Kanban-up) and Easy Self 24, where everything is calibrated to maintain a continuous flow of production – providing a fast stock service and quick response.
“To reach our planned growth, we understand that we must combine the opportunities Industry 4.0 offers with the experience we have gained from one hundred years of corporate activity. We will also continue to be innovative as a daily tool to enable us to further consolidate ourselves in Italy, whilst aiming to expand in Eastern Europe and North Africa.”
Having spent a decade in the fastener industry experiencing every facet – from steel mills, fastener manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, as well as machinery builders and plating + coating companies, Claire has developed an in-depth knowledge of all things fasteners.
Alongside visiting numerous companies, exhibitions and conferences around the world, Claire has also interviewed high profile figures – focusing on key topics impacting the sector and making sure readers stay up to date with the latest developments within the industry.
