MARAZZI

Marazzi is the ceramic tile industry's best known brand. Present in more than 140 countries, it is universally recognised as synonymous with quality ceramic tiles, and symbolises the best of Italian style and manufacturing in the interior decoration and design sector.

Marazzi was foundedin 1935 at Sassuolo, in what was to become the top international hub for the creation of state-of-the-art, high-end ceramic tiles, which has grown together with the company over the decades.

In fact, Marazzi has been responsible for the main technological, process and design innovations in the ceramic tile industry – some of which have become major milestones in the history of modern ceramics – that have made the company and the district a benchmarkfor the entire ceramics world.

An unfailing flair for research and experimentation, the ability to predict and respond to changes and developments in lifestyles, architecture and design, and the prioritisation of the environment and sustainability. These are the strong points that have enabled Marazzi to rise to the top of its industry, in Italy and internationally, and constantly confirm its leadership.

In the last five years Marazzi has doubled production capacity at theFiorano Modenese and Finale Emilia plants, reconstructed the historic Sassuolo factories and research laboratories, renovated its headquarters with new offices and the new showroom, restored and opened to the public the Crogiolo, the 1930s building where Marazzi was founded, and opened the flagship stores of Milan, London, Paris, Warsaw and Lyon.

Today Marazzi belongs to Mohawk Industries Inc., the world’s biggest flooring manufacturer listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and enjoys amazing international notoriety, both with designers, architects and contractors and with dealers and final customers.

Putting people first, innovative spirit, quality-focus and environmental protection; these are the values that permeate the Marazzi Group’s approach to its business.

People
People, and their knowledge, experience and expertise, have always been the core resources for the development and growth of the Marazzi Group. The Marazzi Group Code of Ethics commits the company to respecting personal dignity, privacy and the rights of the child, as well to an eco-friendly industrial policy. Non-stop staff training and development supports the company’s growth process, hand-in-hand with the huge investments made in new technologies and new plants. The Pietro and Maria Marazzi Training Centre provides a space of more than 1000 square metres for training activities for the entire workforce: more than 15,000 hours per annum dedicated to the development, safety and technical training of all staff.
In 2019 Marazzi Academy was born, a multi-company project aimed at building skills and knowledge, with a focus not only on internal development and use, but also on the local area, industry and district. The project is a tangible demonstration of the evolution of training within the company. These training courses have been created to meet requirements related to business digitalisation and the need to develop and enhance skills connected to ceramic design. The people-focus is also expressed through innovative, ground-breaking corporate welfare, performance bonus and flexi-working schemes. Marazzi Group has been certified as a Top Employer for the fourth consecutive year. The Top Employers Institute is an independent international organisation which examines, analyses and certifies employment conditions within companies under various headings: talent management, planning, training, corporate culture and corporate welfare. In 2018, with the OHSAS 18001 standard, Marazzi Group certified its commitment to the continuous improvement and direct involvement of all staff in the occupational health and safety management system.

Innovation and Quality
Marazzi Group’s established position as a model company in the global ceramic industry is due to its technological leadership, the result of continuous and on-going research into aesthetics and innovative product and process solutions. The use of tunnel kilns in the 1950s, the revolutionary single-fired tile patent (which went on to become the most widely used process in the ceramic industry worldwide) and the first large sizes in the 1970s, the “Enduro” patent in the 1980s, which expanded the technical performance and range of application of ceramic tiles, the SistemA crystallised stoneware patent – these have all been milestones in the story of Marazzi’s decades of commitment to R&D.
Today the Marazzi Group can count not only on tens of patents, but also on sophisticated plants with productivity that outstrips the competition, and new technologies – developed by the Group itself – which guarantee outstanding product quality, rigorous attention to environmental issues and highly flexible processes. Recently developed the new Stepwise technology that characterizes products with high slip resistance and a surface that is soft to the touch and easy to clean thanks to the absence of surface roughness.

Environment
All products are eco-friendly, thanks to Marazzi Group’s contribution to making the ceramic industry a closed-cycle production system, with limited consumption of natural resources, reduced environmental impact, controlled waste management, optimised energy consumption and industrial water recycling and re-use. In order to save energy and minimise resource wastage, the Group has equipped its factories with co-generation systems which account for around 75% of their energy consumption and power the raw materials preparation phase. The company’s product quality and environmental policies are reflected by a long series of certifications and qualifications, starting with ISO 9001 Quality Management System certification, which Marazzi was the first company in the industry to obtain back in 1994, and Environmental Management System Certification under the ISO 14001, awarded in 2003.

A number of Marazzi product lines have received the EU Ecolabel quality mark, awarded to products with low environmental impact, while other collections, made with recycled material, meet the requirements for LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for sustainable architecture. Marazzi Group has also assessed its products’ environmental impact throughout their life cycle, from extraction and processing of the raw materials through to the recycling of demolition spoil, and the findings of this life cycle assessment (LCA) are published in the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).