AN ULTRAMODERN FACTORY

The process also included a series of new buildings, starting with a two-story family villa/workshop where the latest Gilmar designs intermingled with the toys of daughter Patrizia and son Paolo who by then had come along, and where the children’s bedrooms initially served also as stockrooms. Eventually they constructed a warehouse out back, but in no time that too became insufficient. Due to local urban planning regulations, any further expansion would first entail demolishing the family home which for Giuliana’s father represented forty years of hard work. While sad about it, Luigi went along with the move for he realized that company development depended on it. To be sure, booming business led in 1985 to the creation of a state-of-the-art industrial hub in San Giovanni in Marignano.
AN ULTRAMODERN FACTORY
The place is an impressive production/logistics center where thanks to the seamless merging of tradition and technology fine craftsmanship takes on an exquisitely contemporary connotation. The secret lies in the fact that all computer input re pattern making and size development, in addition to Gilmar’s famous graphic prints and embroideries, is the work of man and his at once invaluable and inexhaustible creativity. This 45,000-sqm structure holds the mind and heart of the company, in particular the styling, prototype, quality control and shipping departments. The customer warehouse, with a precision-perfect carousel system, can accommodate up to 250,000 garments. The idea for it came from Silvano Gerani, who after seeing a similar one at a Volkswagen plant in Germany figured that if it worked so well for auto parts it could surely do the job for clothes too. Ever in charge of business organization, real-estate expansion and production management for the family company, Silvano Gerani had a custom carousel system installed complete with in-house staff of technicians to ensure smooth operating at all times.