Company History

Over 65 Years Of Passion and Business Vision

SMEG was founded by Vittorio Bertazzoni from Guastalla, a town near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, and is today one of the country’s leading home appliance manufacturers. The Bertazzoni family’s entrepreneurial history begins way back in the 19th century. Starting out as blacksmiths, the Bertazzonis soon branched out into building cookers.

In the second half of the 1950s, Smeg launched one of the first gas cookers with an automatic switch-on function, an oven safety valve and cooking programmer/timer. In 1963, the laundry and dishwasher range was launched and soon produced a world first in 1970: a 60cm, 14 place setting dishwasher. The mid 1970s heralded the arrival of the very first built-in hobs and ovens and the establishment of partnerships with internationally renowned architects and designers. In the 1990s, Smeg added even more products to its various product lines, including sinks, hoods and coloured retro 50s refrigerators, which were soon to become iconic items all over the globe. Having consolidated its position in the home appliance sector, Smeg has branched out into other areas, creating newprofessional divisions that handle products for restaurants and instruments for health and medical applications. Today, Smeg is run by the third generation of Bertazzoni entrepreneurs, but it still keeps the memory of its beginnings alive in its Italian name:Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla, or the “Guastalla Emilia Enamel Works”.

Technology with Style

Style, for Smeg, is a distinct concept: the way a product communicates with its surroundings and enables users to interact with it.

Attention to detail and design solutions bring homes that reflect the image of their occupants to life. With Smeg, appliances take centre stage in the heart of the home, a place where people can congregate. The kitchenintegrates all of their functions and becomes a perfect, fullyequipped backdrop for those precious and enjoyable moments. Smeg’s internal design studio, which carries out painstaking research into aesthetics and style, has the support of internationally renowned architects such as Guido Canali (watch the interview), Mario Bellini, the Piano Design studio, Marc Newson and Giancarlo Candeago. Knowing how to combine technology with style is the key for Smeg in creating products which become truly iconic.

Smeg and Planning

The kitchen is the materialisation of all planning and design considerations: the need for top performance, an evaluation of needs and functions, aesthetics and environmental concerns.

Smeg’s certified laboratories therefore strive to develop solutions that respond to the demands of contemporary living, drawing on all of the company’s experience and the most advanced technology. Essential qualities such asdurability, safety, flexibility and attractiveness can be seen in all Smeg products. The stringent testingthat is repeatedly carried out during the production process is proof that Smeg is 100% committed to ensuring 100% reliability. Moreover, Smeg is fully in tune with the needs of appliance users: all of its products are easy to use and manage resources very intelligently thanks to cutting-edge interfaces and various programming solutions.

The Excellence of Italian Design and a Passion for the Home

Know-how, creativity and style: these are the qualities that spring from Smeg’s Italian identity and characterise the company’s commitment to bringing everyday objects to life.

Of course, aesthetic reasons aside, Smeg’s identity is an expression of its actual Italian origins and the fact that the company is passionate about what it does. Smeg aims to and identify and reflect the defining characteristics ofItalian design, such as inventive elegance, originality and product quality. Smeg appliances are thus snapshots of Italian style, from the retro 50s refrigerators to steel-only cookers, and are able toshape trends and tastes and establish a rapport with the user that goes beyond mere practical concerns. With this philosophy in mind, the firm has embarked on projects with leading designers and architects and internal development programmes which assess current tastes and market trends.

Environmental Sustainability: A Priority

Smeg has been adopting policies for some years now which target the ongoing improvement of company values in terms of environmental sustainability. In fact, Smeg HQ has become the symbol of this green approach.The company’s commitment to the environment consists of a particular focus on the ecological aspects of designing and manufacturing domestic appliances. The idea is to ensure maximum performance while keeping energy consumption to a minimum.

GREEN HQ

 The Smeg Head Office has been named one of the most innovative buildings in Italy thanks to its intelligent consumption management and sustainable development policies. Designed by the architect Guido Canali, it won the Modena Domotics Competition, part of the “Bio-architecture Week” held in the city in 2007.

The Smeg head office will be presented at the 13th International Architecture exhibition at the Venice Biennale 2012 as an example of Made-in-Italy architectural excellence. It is a structure attentive to the poetics of the surrounding territory, the lives of the people within and around it, and to environmental sustainability.

Designed according to an integrated system which makes the most of available funds and resources, the company offices and plants are equipped with some of the most modern automated technology on the market. Safety, distribution and transport systems are all extremely efficient.

Finally, electricity and climate control are optimised to help protect the environment.

If any further proof was needed, the conscious decision not to build on more than 30-33% of the site, thus conserving the surrounding habitat (or actually improving it, since 4000 plants have been added), shows Smeg’s care and concern for its local environs and people who live near the site.

RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

 Smeg ovens, hobs, coffee machines, cookers, dishwashers, washing machines, washer-dryers, hoods, sinks, refrigerators and freezers are all designed with environmental considerations in mind.

The greatest emphasis is placed on the choice of materials, such as steel, glass, aluminium and brass, which can be easily recycled using carefully-planned separate collections.

In addition, Smeg fully complies with the stipulations of the EU directives RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances), going further than just the minimum requirements.

The RoHS directive places stringent restrictions on the use of hazardous materials and substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium VI, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).

REACH

The REACH regulation concerns the handling of chemical substances and aims to ensure that human health and the environment are protected to the fullest extent.

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

 The Smeg Group operates in line with sustainability criteria, from the selection of eco-compatible suppliers and the use to recyclable packaging to the use of alternative means of transport/haulage.

Smeg has always felt strongly about ecological issues and over the last few years has significantly reducedpollutant emissions and consumption of resources such as water, electricity and packaging materials in relation to production.

The company has also implemented an innovative waste management system: the amount of waste produced and its hazard level have both been reduced, and the separate collection of leftover materials destined forrecycling or reuse has been stepped up.

For Smeg, ecological not only means making appliances that have a negligible impact on the environment, but also following a production process which reflects or even improves on existing environmental conservation standards. This is undoubtedly more challenging, but Smeg sees it as a top priority.

GREEN PRODUCTS

 High performance and low consumption are features of all Smeg ovens, hobs, dishwashers, washer-dryers, hoods, built-in refrigerators, sinks and coffee machines. Special focus is placed on obtaining the highest energy efficiency class rating in order to help the environment and improve quality of life.

SUSTAINABILITY POLICY

 Smeg’s support for environmental sustainability and social responsibility can be seen in its Quality, Health, Safety & Environment (QHSE) policy, which fully complies with UNI EN ISO 9001, UNI EN ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards. These are all compatible with one another, enabling their easy integration into the three management systems.

UNI EN ISO 9001 This is a standard which outlines the requirements for the adoption of an quality management system in order to help companies improve their production and management processes, ensure product quality and increase customer satisfaction.

UNI EN ISO 14001 This is a standard which outlines the requirements for the adoption of an environmental management system and provides guidelines that companies can follow when drafting corporate policy on eco-sustainability and pollution. The certification focuses on optimising the use of energy and natural resources and quality systems for waste disposal.

OHSAS 18001 certification shows that Smeg has voluntarily implemented a sound occupational health and safety management system.

Smeg has received a number of important prizes and awards over the years from leading institutions and international magazines as a result of its deep understanding of aesthetics and the quality of its appliances.

• Modena Domotics Competition: In 2007 Smeg won the Modena Domotics Competition for its HQ, named one of the most innovative sites in Italy thanks to its intelligent consumption management and it being an example of sustainable development policies in action.
• Dedalo and Minosse International Prize: in 2008, Smeg won this competition, organised by an Italian association of professional architects, ALA – Assoarchitetti, for the architectural design of company HQ.
• Wallpaper Design Award: In 2009, the oven and hob from the Newson range received the Best Domestic Appliance award from the illustrious international magazine.
• Good Design Award: Each year the Chicago Athenaeum Museum (museum of Architecture and Design) and theEuropean Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies give prestigious “Good Design Awards” to products that are recognised for their design excellence – products that can enrich society and people’s lives through its design: – 2010 award for the Marc Newson designed oven and gas hob – 2012 award for the PVB750-2E “concept” gas hob – 2013 award for the SFP140 Linea aesthetic oven and for the SMEG500 refrigerator, result of a collaboration between Smeg and Fiat.
• Smeg South Africa – Business Enterprise of the Year 2013: The First National Bank and the Italian-South African Chamber of Trade and Industries awarded a prestigious prize to Smeg South African subsidiary as recognition of entrepreneurial excellence.