of Laura Reggiani | A turnover of 20 million euros, 32 people working to support over 1,500 customers, a specialised product range with 15 top-level suppliers in the catalogue, two offices in the territory, a warehouse available to customers, a website structured for e-commerce, the recent entry into the world of social media, are some of the data that help to understand the positioning of Darton on the market.
Founded in 1982 by Gaetano Bruschi, the company was acquired in 2006 by Francesco Mongiardo, Riccardo Balconi and Mauro Crespi, who are still at the helm. We asked Francesco Mongiardo the reasons for Darton's success and his objectives for the future.
Darton is heading into its first 40 years in business. How has the company changed in recent years?
Darton was founded in 1982 by Gaetano Bruschi as a distributor of connectors and mechanics for the Lombardy region, and since then the company has come a long way. In 2006 we acquired the company and turned it into a structured and consolidated company, a reference supplier on the whole Italian territory not only for connectors, but also for electromechanical and passive products. An important step to remember, which took place in 2008, is the acquisition of Raimondi, Murata's historical distributor, later integrated into Darton in 2018, leading to the birth of a single national distribution reality. In these 15 years Darton has changed a lot, as shown by the turnover, which has increased from 3 to 20 million euros, the team grown from 6 to 32 people and the linecard arrived to include 15 suppliers compared to the initial 6. So the size of the company has changed, as a logical consequence of the change in vision and long-term objectives.
<<Siamo convinti che la correttezza e la trasparenza unite alla competenza e alla specializzazione siano e rimangano la strada migliore per costruire e mantenere un rapporto proficuo e di lungo respiro con tutti i partner siano essi collaboratori, clienti o fornitori>>
Francesco Mongiardo, Darton
What are the advantages of being a national and specialized distributor? How do you stand out?
Our personal vision is that, today and more than ever in the future, the distributor must be increasingly specialised. The secret of Darton's success lies in being a local distributor, operating throughout the country, but above all in its ability to offer added value to both the customer and the supplier. We work side by side with the customer in the development of his projects, we are able to propose a complete solution, to support him in the research of the right product and in the management of his logistics. Therefore, not only an offer made of products, but a real consulting service, which takes the form of complete help provided by specialists in the development of the project with a co-engineering approach. On the other hand, we guarantee the supplier total focus on his lines and products, the professionalism and competence of our team, security in the development of the design activity, and demand-creation work. All activities that a broadline is no longer able to perform. We stand out for our specialisation, which means working on the product and not only on the code. We can do this because we favour the competence of our sales staff and their technical training on the product. We distinguish ourselves for our presence in the territory, our knowledge of the market and our customers, our ability to network with our customers, with whom we share the same culture and mentality, as we are both national companies, and whose problems and needs we understand. We stand out for our flexibility and speed of reaction, guaranteed by a short decision-making chain and for our ability and willingness to tackle problems together with the customer.
Darton's offering includes leading IP&E suppliers. Do you have plans to further expand the product portfolio?
Darton's product offering includes a range of leading brands such as Molex, Harting, Souriau, Weidmuller, 3M, Panduit and Connfly in connectivity. Murata in passives and power, TDK-Lambda in power supplies, Brady for traceability and identification, plus specialist suppliers such as East, Tokyo Parts, Klasing, C&K, Raltron, Fujipoly and 3M for Thermal Management and Coating. These are synergic and complementary suppliers that form a complete offer that we could integrate over time, without losing competences and focus on the suppliers already in our catalogue who, like us, are engaged in a continuous path of development and innovation.
Molex and Murata are the flagship of your offer. How important is the partnership with historical suppliers? What results have you achieved together over the years?
One of the fundamental aspects is certainly the teamwork between our team and our suppliers, with whom we have always cultivated (about 40 years) stable collaborations and mutual trust. Taking care of our relationships with suppliers has proved to be a winning strategy to overcome the difficulties of recent times and to increase our visibility and recognition on the market. If in these years we have continued to increase our shares, it is thanks to the support we have received from historical suppliers such as Molex and Murata, which represent about 60% of our business, as well as Darton, which is constantly on the first steps of the podium among their best distributors in Italy. We consider equally important the contribution offered by all our partners who have always relied on us to increase their presence in the Italian market. We are always looking for new opportunities to support our customers more effectively.
The semiconductor world is experiencing a shortage. Is the same situation occurring in IP&E products?
Certainly, the IP&E world is experiencing the same problems as semiconductors; we have gone from a year with full warehouses to a year in which we are all looking for material. The shortage is there and has been felt for several months in the passive world and for some time now also in the connection sector. The recovery of the Chinese and US markets has in fact led to what will be the real "leitmotif" of 2021: the increase in the cost of raw materials which, combined with the soaring cost of transport and freight, is leading to a significant rise in component prices.
What are the development plans for the next three years? What tools and strategies will you put in place to achieve the objectives set?
Over the last few years, particularly the last three, we have consolidated, achieving significant growth, sometimes in excess of 20%, until in 2019 we reached the ambitious target we had set ourselves of €20 million. The growth in turnover has also been supported by the growth in our workforce; we have in fact constantly added people to the team, three also in 2020 and another four will be added in 2021. Today we can confidently and consciously present ourselves on the market with a solid structure that is adequate to support the growth we have planned for the next three years: 25 million euros of turnover by 2023. This result will be achieved organically, through the work of our people on the proposals of our suppliers and the needs of our customers. The strategy, on which we are already working, foresees an upward dimensional growth with our current brands through the strengthening of the sales network also with digital and social channels. The change will be driven, as I said, by an expansion of the structure so that all our lines will grow in a constant and effective way. A paradigm shift that will allow us to better exploit the potential of our suppliers and their technological know-how with the ultimate goal of meeting the needs and requirements of our customers in an excellent way, an essential asset and a fundamental value of a distributor like Darton.
