TANCREDI

Tancredi srl is an Italian company whose production and trade is entirely linked to the sector of the bedroom furnishing, such as production of mattresses, bed bases and pillows.
History and Management
The company was founded in 1955 in Bassano del Grappa (Vicenza), Italy as a manufacturer of metal furniture such as tables, chairs, tents and similar with the name of "Mobilmetallica Tancredi".
In the 60s there was the evolution of the company's main product: the company, in fact, it got a contract for the provision of bed mesh nets for the Italian Army. This made the production line in need of a change, margining the production of irons and tables to focus on bedding items. As well, this demand made a substantial evolution in the bedding sector since, for the first time in a public Italian institution, a new kind of beds and bunk beds will replace the old used systems (which was composed, until then, of sheets of cloth as main supports for mattresses in the dorms of the barracks). This major contract required the "Mobilmetallica Tancredi" to evolve and change its production methods. Focusing on the supply for the , the company expands its structure, upping to around 250 labour staff and hiring the first employees, as well as expand its production area up to 5000 square meters.
In 1965, the supply for the Italian Army was renewed, and the huge capital input lead the company to move to the status of SNC (Italian for General Partnership) thus assuming the new name of "Industrie Tancredi & C. SNC".
In 1966, the products trade was expanded not only to supplies for the Italian State, but also to the civilian production for ordinary consumers. This made the need of a bigger area of production and the company acquired new areas of production and warehouse in Romano d'Ezzelino (Vicenza, Italy).
The booming expansion had in the late '60 made the company in the way to implement a new expansion plan that sees the addition of new production areas in Italy, and the opening to the foreign market (Europe in particular) with the creation of distribution branches in Italy and in Europe. At that time the labour staff exceeded the 450 units to which was added an induced outer connective craftsmen of around 2,000 people in total.
The massive production and the ability to sustain high speeds, up to about 7000 products per day, made the company to became the first Italian suppliers of multinationals such Ikea, Auchan, Scheider Moebel, Conforama, ID Export and others, opening up to a new sector of the Italian market in which many other companies will benefit over the years.
In the early 1980s the company grow further and then stop suddenly due to an internal mismanagement that will lead into controlled administration in 1984. Italian Judge Domenico Taglialatela freezed the corporate debt leaving "Industrie Tancredi & C. SNC" 2 years time to deposition of the recovery. A Judicial Commissioner was appointed taking over as corporate administrator.
In 1985 the Italian holdng company "Ge.Fin SRL" bought all the debts of the "Industrie Tancredi & C. SNC" becoming, in this way, the owner of the company and the trademark itself. In 1986 "Ge.Fin SRL" managed to renegotiate contracts and procurement with suppliers and customers, overcoming, in this way, the critical moment and turning the company into "Tancredi SpA" (Italian for Joint-stock company).
In 1987 "Tancredi SpA" introduced an advanced automated production lines with the first uses of robots in the bedding and mattresses production.
The new corporate structure allows for greater product specialization from the company. The labour workforce were gradually growing, as well with the opening of new offices and production units in Italy and Europe. The pursuit of innovation brings good results thanks, in particular, to the introduction of new patents tied to the bed plans that, to date, are used by all the world's leading manufacturers in the industry.
The labour staff will exceed the 5,000 total employees, in different locations in Italy and Europe and the company saw the birth of separate dedicated lines dedicated lines for each sectors such as large retailers, end customer, hotel and government supply. In particular the contracts with the Italian government were resumed, making Tancredi SpA the main bedding supplier for Army, Defence, Aeronautical, Prisons, Police, Carabinieri, Fire-Fighters and Law Enforcement in general, with a dedicated production line specially created for them and completely different from product for normal consumer.
In the year 2000 "Tancredi SPA" became the official bedding supplier of the Olympic Village at the 2000 Summer Olympics and also opened a dedicated showroom in Sidney, Australia.
In 2001 the company sees 93% of its sales come from abroad (Europe, Asia and North America in particular), but the heavy financial crisis that comes with the new millennium does not leave unscathed any industrial reality, and "Tancredi SPA" suffered it as well: the massive production for large retailers began to decline and both the Italian and international markets starts to shrink.
The problems encountered at the beginning of the new century are reflected for many years, hence the choice of Tancredi SPA to expand its market by acting internally and further diversifying production and, to better address the economic crisis to an easier solution, the company became an Italian SRL. (Italian for LTD)
The new strategy saw the birth of three new brands dedicated to specific markets: Tancredi for the global market, B&D® for supplies to hotels and institutions, Neoplano® for private trade to the end user / final consumer.
In the year 2011 the company renews its workforce by introducing a new internal office dedicated to product design and innovation: this leads to a redesign of basic products manufactured by the company and the emergence of new categories of models of which the most significant results are the plastic slatted bed bases which find a good spread especially in European and American markets.

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