History

History

BARBANTI: A STORY WHICH BEGAN IN 1957

It was 1957 when Ilario Barbanti, owner of a sale-and-repair shop for electrical equipment, grew tired of repairing electrical iron power cables, which would constantly wear and fall apart through continuous use in laundries. He decided to find a solution to that problem. He quickly invented a simple and practical device: it consisted of a slanting stand for two irons, where the modified irons were powered simply resting on the support itself. The invention was immediately called “Coppia”, meaning “pair”: while the operator was using one iron, which was cordless and therefore very handy, the other iron was warming up on the support; as soon as the temperature of the operated iron lowered, this was replaced with the other one, thus eliminating all the typical inconveniences of traditional irons and resulting time wasting. The invention proved right and was immediately a big success, becoming popular all over Italy. Suffice to say 70% of the laundries in Rome used the “Coppia”. Collaboration of the two sons brought new life to the company, which had by now expanded its business, taking part as early as 1966 in the Milan trade fair.

In 1975, the decision to concentrate on high-level products led the Barbanti brothers to separate; the company Barbanti Carlo was thus established and started producing and marketing machines under its own trademark, achieving very high specialisation levels in the finishing sector. In 1980, the company moved from Mirandola to San Giacomo Roncole, where, operating in an area of 1,700 square metres, Carlo Barbanti, besides managing the ordinary production of steam generators and ironing tables, took great pleasure in designing and manufacturing more and more innovative machines.
The increasingly demanding requirements of a market in constant evolution led to the creation of the “Maxi 90” model, a unique form finisher at the time which, besides the functions of common models with pneumatic sleeve tension, offered some big advantages, such as automatic detection of garment height and clamping and tensioning in all key positions; moreover, all functions were pneumatic and adjustable, and times and pressures could be preset, which was a real innovation.
Thanks to this new model, Barbanti was introduced to a big foreign company and started manufacturing several machines for them, on a worldwide exclusive basis.

presentazione-manichino-camicie-1992
Samab Stand 1992 – Presentation of shirt finisher

Constant research and technological innovation have resulted in the attainment of several national and international patents, allowing the company to claim an increasingly important position on the market.
Another important innovation, which gave further impetus to the company, was the Shirt Finisher, designed and manufactured in 1992. This machine completely changed the concept of shirt finishing. Nowadays, after over twenty years predominance, the Shirt Finisher is still being improved, based on actual needs and made possible through years of experience.
Over the years, Barbanti has strengthened the values upon which it has built its reputation: quality, reliability and technological innovation, thus widening the business area all over the world.

Unfortunately, a violent earthquake struck Emilia Romagna in May 2012, with the Barbanti factory seriously damaged and declared unfit for use and irreparable.

 

The Barbanti family did not give up and, making a tenacious, big effort moved the production department temporarily to Sala Bolognese and, only 11 months later, the company moved back to Mirandola, to a new, earthquake-proof, completely rebuilt building.

Today, Barbanti is a company with over 40 years of experience in the design and production of top-quality industrial finishing equipment.

 

It is currently operating in an over 5,000m² building, equipped with a showroom where all the machines are available for clients to test, allowing them to choose the most suitable products for their needs.