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Crafil will, once again, register a double-digit a growth. “We’re being swept away by the customers”, admits Vítor Alves, 15-year veteran who turned a small commercial firm established in Riba d’Ave, into an industrial company with a subsidiary in Tunisia that is widely acknowledged in the world for its innovative capability.
“A quick response and competitive prices are the basis of our competitiveness, but it is with great satisfaction that I notice that we are sought for our innovations rather than our prices”, says the founder of Crafil.
They started with two very old machines, later gathering three more, semi-automatic, brought by António Novo. However, the ambition had no limits, and only two years had passed when they opened the subsidiary in Tunisia, to be close to the factories where their customers manufacture.
Specializing in denim was the right path. “It was Salsa that introduced us to the world of denim”, confesses Vítor. However, 2013 was the year to leap forward, by entirely automating production, which led to the move from Riba d’Ave to the new facilities at Oliveira São Mateus, with a covered area above 1.800 m2.
The high-quality 100% recycled polyester made from PET plastic bottles is an example of that strategy, which requires a policy of continuous investment to escape the basic product and bet on added value.
“Over the course of the last five years we invested roughly 1.5 million on wrap reels, labelling, packaging, etc. Last year we invested in a stock management software and on a new colour labelling machine. And last generation wrap reels are already on their way”, concludes Vítor Alves.