History

The history of a revolution

The path of Surfaces started in 1986 with the incorporation of Gloxi, a company specialised in the production of magnesium bonded abrasives for stone. In 2001 the product offering was extended with a range of new resin bonded diamond products and the company approached the ceramic sector for the first time. This marked the start of a serendipitous industrial venture which, thanks also to the arrival of new shareholders, enabled the company to gain recognition in the Sassuolo district at the very pinnacle of the world ceramic industry. In October 2010 the company definitively assumed its current title of: Surfaces Technological Abrasives.

Italy was the birthplace of the idea of creating added value in the ceramic sector by adopting a new generation of technologies that make it possible to extend the application potential of ceramics. In particular, the opportunity was created of replicating natural materials by exploiting digital printing technologies. This meant that marbles, granites, woods, and metals could be reproduced on ceramic slabs or tiles with an exceptionally faithful final effect while simultaneously exploiting all the benefits offered by the ceramic material: from the reduction of thicknesses and weights to the unparalleled durability.

At the same time, also slab sizes started to increase, with the possibility of producing maxi size products (160 x 320 cm).

The element that closes the revolutionary triad of Ceramic 2.0 is the possibility offered by technology thanks to line end operations. Processing and transformation of the glazed surface of slabs and tiles, implemented by means of lapping processes, opens the door to infinite possibilities: from different grades of gloss to customisations of the tactile feel of the surface.

Ahead of the pack, Surfaces recognised the importance of this transformation and decided to specialise in the production of lapping tools.

And rather than stopping at this, Surfaces decided to take it to the next level, understanding that in order to achieve another qualitative step forward all line end processes had to be coordinated. This passage is possible only by combining various different competences. In 2014, the entry of Xenon Private Equity in Surfaces triggered the creation of Surfaces Group, with the acquisition of companies specialised in different sectors although synergistically connected, in a process that reached its conclusion with the entry of the Astorg Private Equity fund in 2017.

The first acquisition, in 2016, concerns ADI – a Vicenza business and market leader in the development of consumable abrasives for stone, glass and ceramic – and subsequently of associate company RBM, which is specialised in glass machining tools. In 2018 it was the turn of NoCoat and, previously, of AS Tools: the former is a chemicals company at the technological forefront in treatment products, while the latter is a manufacturer of tools for the application of surface treatments. At the start of 2019 the Group acquired International Chips, a Domodossola based company that produces tools for squaring ceramic tiles and for finishing and tumble polishing of metals, especially in high end work processes.

The vision of Surfaces Group points to the accumulation of the widest possible range of consumable abrasives: complete in terms of breadth, in order to allow us to support different technologies and solutions – many of which unique and exclusive, complete in relation to depth, to obtain an important diversification of the reference industrial sectors.

The intuition of Surfaces soon became a clear winner, allowing the Group to offer its services as an authoritative partner for machinery manufacturers, on the one hand, and for the manufacturing industry, on the other: an irreplaceable interface to create the most efficient machine/tool combination.

The Group’s expansion path continued in 2021 with two major acquisitions that expanded Surfaces’ international profile. Vincent srl, part of the Austrian Tyrolit Group, including a production company in Sozhou, China, and Terminator, a company specialising in the American Fab Lab world, with headquarters in California and a production unit in Korea, in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Surfaces Group is now a company that generates an overall revenue of more than 200 million Euros, thanks to the contribution of about 900 people, divided between 4 business divisions, with 10 production sites, and 10 branch offices serving customers in 70 countries worldwide. The company is headed by the President, Gaetano Maffei, the founding shareholder of the group, and by the shareholder and CEO, Pierluigi Dinelli, who joined Surfaces in early 2019.

A qualified team of entrepreneurs and managers pursuing the company’s growth strategy by offering solutions that are increasingly tailored and aligned to the needs of our customers all over the world.