AN ENDLESSLY UNFOLDING STORY.

The Fenzi group started out in Milan in 1941 during the War, when Otello Fenzi, a chemist already working in glass, decided to start his own business. The first plant made coatings for mirror glass, products which were to allow the firm to grow for the next fifty years.

The impressive growth of the first thirty years.
From the 1950s onwards Fenzi began also to sell accessories, as an all-round service to the glassmaking industry. In 1968 production started on lead profiles covered with brass, for which Fenzi still today holds the record for volumes, extent of range and quality. The constant growth of the firm meant several relocations, until in 1972 the group moved to the Tribiano plants, location of the firm’s headquarters still today.

New product ranges.
In 1981, therefore, Fenzi decided to develop another product range, that of sealants, a decision which was to enable the group to approach the market of producers of double-glazing. The industry has expanded a great deal since the early 1990s, to the extent that it has become the most important for the Fenzi group in terms of volumes.

Alu-Pro comes into being.
In 1992 Fenzi, with reliable partners, founded Alu-Pro, a firm specialised in aluminium profiles for double-glazing and which today has plants in Italy, Denmark and Poland. The sealants-profiles synergy led to exponential growth of the sector, and nowadays Alu-Pro combines 250 million metres of aluminium spacers produced each year with steel and stainless steel profiles produced by Rolltech, a firm in Hiørring, Denmark, which it took over in 2001.
2002 saw the creation of Glass Alliance, a leading world network for products for insulating glass, set up by Fenzi with Alu-Pro and Rolltech. Fenzi has also extended its coverage of this market even further with the opening in 2004 of the Fenzi North America sealants plant in Canada, aimed at meeting the needs of the American continent.

New market.
In the 1990s another promising market was identified, that of enamel paints. The innovative paints of this kind produced by Fenzi are used worldwide in building, furniture manufacture and interestingly, as this is a new market for Fenzi, electrical household appliances. The use of glass is increasingly frequent in this type of product whose colouring requires the latest products.

Mirrors once again in the foreground
In 2004 Fenzi acquired from Akzo Nobel the business unit specialising in mirror coatings. The plants in Vilvoorde, Belgium, are equipped with high-tech systems, able to ensure the maximum quality standards. The acquisition was strategic, both due to the location in the heart of Europe and the specialization with producers of copper-free mirrors, the latest trend in the sector.
2006 marks another important stage: Fenzi, present in China since the early 1980s with its sales network, started to produce mirror coatings at a plant in the area of Shanghai in order to stay closer to the market of the future, that of the Far East.

Today and tomorrow
The group currently has 7 plants in Europe, America and Asia, its products can be found in almost every country in the world and it is world leader in chemical products for the processing of flat glass. What are the ingredients of its success? Focus, the pursuit of excellence and innovation, attentiveness to market needs, production synergies and efficiency and long-term strategic planning.