The beginnings of the F.Ili Cerruti worsted spinning and weaving mill go back to 1881 and the purchase of the factory in Biella. The F.Ili Cerruti spinning and weaving mill now occupies a production site of more than 50,000 m², employs a staff of 360 and produces around 2.5 million metres of fabric per year. 65% of the company's sales are achieved abroad, with the remaining 35% in Italy. The trading company established in Paris is expanding business in other directions, such as the creation of perfumes and the production of ties, shirts and clothing bearing the Cerruti label.

Production at Cerruti is characterized by three inseparable concepts: uniform quality, service and price in complete harmony With the collection. The company has invested extensively in the modern equipment to increase productivity and quality. The goal is to produce high-class, quality fabrics and increase production without increasing production times. Electronic, automated process control systems play a large part in this regard, but Cerruti has never underestimated the importance of the human workforce, which also has a significant input where quality, service and product price are concerned.

The weaving mill
Cerruti's latest project in chronological terms is the complete renewal of the weaving mill. Particular importance is ascribed to this operating phase as it represents a crucial moment in the production process, to be precise the point at which the materials come together. The new weaving mill will boast more than 60 machines (50 previously), controlled by a completely automatic yarn monitoring system facilitating comprehensive monitoring of the yarn in the warehouse as well as in production. This makes it possible to determine the size of the production batch and the quality features for any product.

According to Roberto Pozzi, Technical Director, "Further development of the fabric was undertaken with the objective of achieving a reduction in weight." Very fine yarns are therefore used with regard to yarn twist and filling. This calls for very gentle handling of the single yarn, which was not possible using the previous machines, even though they were good machines. It was therefore necessary to test new machines, and following- a careful selection process DORNIER weaving machines were chosen.

These rapier weaving machines with a positively-controlled rapier permit continuous control of the filling, which is not possible using the systems favoured by other manufacturers. Series of demanding tests were performed, confirming the company's expectations of the rapier weaving machine. At the same time as quality standards have risen, the cost problems associated with increased productivity have also grown, as a consequence of which setting-up times have had to be speeded up.

DORNIER has already made a name for itself thanks to good supplier-customer relationships and by offering user-friendly solutions, and proved approachable and sensitive regarding questions of quality and productivity standards. The innovations introduced to enhance the value of these machines represent the beginning of a new era in weaving.

Italian products are only able to hold their own nowadays compared with foreign products on account of their better quality - a goal which can be achieved by virtue of the extra ordinary performance of DORNIER machines. The realization of this goal is not easy and cannot be accomplished overnight, as it requires the ongoing collaboration of all partners.

The product on offer
The product leaving an integrated spinning and weaving mill such as Cerruti is the result of a diversity of endeavours. The company purchases raw materials of the highest quality, to produce fabric which is qualitatively unsurpassed and sell it at a price for industrial goods. Only extrafine merino wool from Australia (count: 17.5 microns) is used and processed with the maximum yarn twists, conforming to current fashion demands.

Cerruti also intends to sell to the ready-to-wear industry, since as a sole market the "linea boutique would not be sufficient to utilize production plant ofthis kind to capacity.

Roberto Pozzi says: "We are convinced that we need to achieve a system of online controlling in order to establish on a step-by-step basis what performance level we are actaininc, with reference to quality and productivity. To pursue this aim, integration of the machine, product and electronic control system is required. The yarn is critical for achieving satisfying results: even if the machines are able to operate at higher speeds, the yarn attributes still set definite limits.

Using the present yarns we are able to effect careful, precise processing. Of course, considerable emphasis is also placed on the ability to coordinate machines and products to one another in this regard." To this end, machines are subjected to rigorous testing at Cerruti. The units must deliver the expected results with the precondition that maximum quality must be achieved without any adverse effecton productivity.

The contribution of the textile machinery manufacturer
Textile machinery manufacturers often offer general solutions, as their product has to fulfill the various objectives of the users. The profile of requirements for Cerruri and the solutions demanded provided proof of the capabilities of the company's partner. The attitude of manufacturers towards the client has changed in recent years, even if obstacles are still encountered which are rooted in the size of the wool industry: it only accounts for 5% of yarn consumption worldwide. Greater synergy is therefore required between machinery manufacturers and textile producers in the research field to find an acceptable balance as far as the return on the resources expended is concerned.

The aim is to offer clients better service with regard to response times and reliability, which in Cerruti's view constitutes a fundamental service tied into the value of the product.

Extract from a publication of the renowned Italian specialist journal Tecnologie Tessili on the standard of quality of F. lli Cerruti.