Unox sets its sights abroad, opens a hub in Italy and a production site in the USA

More than 100 million investment, an area of 130 thousand square metres in which an Innovation Hub, the Experience Hub, the production areas and the logistics platform in the industrial area between Cadoneghe and Campodarsego, in the province of Padua, are concentrated. This is Unox City, a stage in the growth path of the Group, leader in the design, production and sale of professional ovens for the catering, retail, pastry and bakery sectors, which accelerates its internationalisation with the opening of its first production site abroad, in the United States. "Unox City represents the starting point for a new phase of internationalisation," explains Nicola Michelon, CEO of Unox. "Just in the last few days we have started production in our new plant in the United States, the first one abroad, a key element of a strategy that sees Italy at the centre of our global network".

The Unox City project dates back more than ten years as a vision of industrial expansion and rootedness in the territory, and follows a vision, a completely different logic compared to many other manufacturing realities. "Since the 1990s, when many companies chose to delocalise, we made a different choice: to stay and invest in our territory, building a local and integrated production system," says Enrico Franzolin, the company's founder and president. "Unox City is the crowning achievement of a strategy that has led us to keep our production chain in Italy, strengthening a vertically integrated industrial system and giving new job opportunities and growth to hundreds of people.

The industrial model of Unox followed over the past 35 years has created a vertically integrated local industrial system, a choice that has enabled the company to face the recent global supply chain crises by gaining market share. All production processes take place in the province of Padua, just a few kilometres from the Cadoneghe headquarters, within highly specialised group companies: from sheet metal working, to the design and production of electronic boards, moulds and plastic components, to the design and production of detergents and pans. An industrial ecosystem rooted in the territory, in which research and development work side by side with production, guaranteeing innovation and quality along the entire supply chain.

 Unox City is a pillar of this industrial design, which envisages a total of 12 production plants in Italy, confirming the group's desire to invest in the country and make it the nerve centre of its business, contributing to the growth of the territory. Unox City, in fact, is not only an industrial investment, but also a human one. Since the start of the expansion project with the Innovation Hub and the new plants, the employment impact is growing steadily and may reach 1,800 employees compared to the current 800, strengthening the industrial and social fabric of the area where it is located..

From the North entrance, the first facility you encounter is the Innovation Hub: 20,000 square metres of laboratories and offices where over 120 people work every day to imagine the future of professional ovens. Here, test stations reproduce real kitchen conditions, electronics, mechanics and hydraulics labs test components and processes, while the food digitisation lab transforms food data into intelligent algorithms. To complete the picture, a semi-anechoic chamber measures the impact of electromagnetic waves, ensuring safety and quality. Technology and well-being walk hand in hand: ergonomic offices and relaxation spaces have been designed to make the transition from idea to prototype faster and more effective. A tree-lined boulevard leads to the twin factories of 21,000 square metres each. It is here that one perceives the industrial reach of Unox City with highly automated production plants, 16 loading bays, automated vertical warehouses and flows organised by geographic area that reduce shipping times by 30%. Beyond the Logistic Hub is the South entrance, where the iconic Cadoneghe headquarters is transformed into a real Experience Hub: renovated spaces, demonstration kitchens, test areas and training rooms allow to directly experience the innovation of Unox technologies. Inside the Hub stands out Unox Casa, the division of the Group dedicated to luxury residential. Further expansion is already planned with the creation of an entirely dedicated showroom, where architects, designers and private customers will be able to experience first-hand the exclusive solutions designed to bring Unox technologies and excellence into high-end domestic kitchens. A distinctive environment that enriches the offer of Unox City and that will become a reference point consolidating the company's leadership in the high-end residential sector.