HISTORY

Disc from FestoEver since the dawn of history, the tanning of hides has been one of mankind's principal activities. We have certain evidence of this in Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian and Roman times. In the Acts of the Apostles, the chapters dealing with the conversion of the Centurion Cornelius, commander of the Italic cohort, stationed at Caesarea, relates how Cornelius sent men to Joppa, then the Port of Jerusalem, to summon St. Peter who lodged with Simon, "a tanner". In this era more effective tanning techniques were being developed for the production of shoes, clothes and harnesses. A perfect monument to this is the Officina Coriariorum, the tannery workshop, in the archaeological site at Pompeii. Much less famous, a pity from our point of view, are the very first archaeological traces of tanning activity, found at Solofra during the excavations of the early 70's at Passatoia-Madonna del Soccorso, a Bronze Age settlement of shepherds. Evidence of a sheep-herding culture in this period have been uncovered all over Irpinia, but the findings from the Solofra excavations indicate that the Solofrian shepherds where the true founding fathers of what was to become the art of tanning. The tannery tradition has deep historical roots and Solofra is one of the most important tannery centres in the world, in particular for the tanning of sheep and goat skins, and is capable of offering to the clothing and footwear industries a product which is both competitively priced and of the highest quality.

THE COMPANY

DMD SOLOFRA S.P.A. occupies a site of 12,000 square metres, 6.000 m2 of which are covered and in a continuous state of expansion. Diodato De Maio Snr, who founded the tannery business in 1944, was later succeeded by Michele and then Diodato Jnr, the current Managing Director. A real passion for the art of tanning together with a level of professionalism acquired through years of research and countless worldwide study trips has caused the company to evolve from its traditional roots. Company policy, founded on a spirit of collaboration and the involvement of every single employee, as well as constant updating of the processes allow the improvement of the finished product. The raw material, a fundamental factor in this type of business, is carefully selected, checked and treated by specialist personnel in the country of origin then, once it arrives at the tannery, it is chosen for the right creation of the product.

THE ENVIRONMENT

DMD SOLOFRA S.P.A. takes the environmental protection seriously and is therefore sensitive to this type of issue. The company is constantly stretched out to the modernization of its plants in order to remain in the forefront of ecologically friendly plant and production processes. The company has activated the environmental management system ISO 14001 by February 2005 with certificate no. CERT-027-2005-DNV/ICEC





AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Right from its beginnings, the company has been committed to professionalism and this, added to improved production methods and full exploitation of modern technology, have carried it ever forward to reach new objectives. DMD SOLOFRA S.P.A. is stretched out to create eco-compatible articles, to achieve international brand recognition and to include dedicated research laboratories at the customer’s service.