Insight

Berardi has experienced a very busy couple of years handling the challenges of the market, coupled with H.I.G. Capital, a leading global alternative investment firm, acquiring a majority stake in the Italian wholesaler.

The Berardi family decided to accept the ambitious offer from H.I.G. Capital as it would enable the company to further develop its capabilities and provide more products and services to customers, with the family remaining part of the business.

Giovanni Berardi, CEO of Berardi, comments: "The entry of an international alternative investment fund such as H.I.G. into Berardi represents a recognition of the work carried out over the years and of the great growth potential of our company, which has a leading position in the sector and a growing share of high value-added services. With the support of H.I.G. Berardi will be able to develop faster, thanks to a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions".

As a leading operator in the Italian market, Berardi is already a reference partner for Italian industrial companies for the ‘Just in Time’ supply of standard and customer fasteners. Berardi also benefits from a broad geographical presence, with 14 warehouses located throughout the country and commercial offices in Italy, Croatia and Morocco. In the last decade, the company has successfully embarked on an ambitious path to expand its product range in adjacent segments, in the C-Parts sector, and has been a pioneer in Italy in the introduction of advanced integrated logistics solutions through its own Kanban platform, becoming the reference point in the market in terms of quality, service levels and breadth of offering – with Berardi’s integrated logistics services supporting over 420 active plants.

“The mission of the Berardi Group is to become a broad-spectrum partner for its customers, which is underlined by our new logistics division, B-Lean Factory System, which aims to provide a 360-degree service and help customers with the management of all fasteners, C-Parts and industrial components used in the assembly of finished products,” explains Giovanni.

Key developments for the business over recent years include the implementation of a new ERP system in January 2021, which has enabled the company to take a significant leap in quality at the technological level, while on the sustainability side it has constantly looked to optimise transport, especially for customers who have adopted its integrated logistics services.

“We have also noticed that more and more customers are asking us to deliver the material directly to the assembly lines in order to reduce the costs of internal logistics,” points out Giovanni. “Berardi is well equipped to help its customers to achieve the goal, thanks to our experienced and knowledgeable logistics team.”

“Over recent months there has certainly been an increase in a lot of costs and lead times for items,” highlights Giovanni. “Thanks to our inventory planning we have been able to manage the situation. We constantly analyse the sales history of our customers and monitor the lead times of the items. In addition, with our kanban customers we also have agreements to constantly maintain stocks of material in our warehouse.”

Whilst it has been a challenging period, Berardi has also seen it as an opportunity to meet new suppliers and to acquire new customers who could not find the material from their usual suppliers. “Thanks to our in-depth product range and first-class services we are able to support every customer and meet their individual needs. As a business we will look to continue the expansion of our range of products and also look to further develop new services and technologies.”