Mapei
Encyclopedia
MAPEI is an Italian company founded in 1937 by Rodolfo Squinzi in Milan
, Italy. It evolved from a small wall paint
producer into a worldwide producer of adhesive
s, thinset
s and sealant
s for buildings (building materials).
MAPEI stands for "", Italian for "Auxiliary Materials for Construction and Industry".
in Milan, Italy, with the intent to fill a void in the local construction industry by manufacturing interior and exterior paints and masonry
repair products for commercial building
s, hospitals and airports. MAPEI commenced business on February 12, 1937, with a three-person workforce.
Under Squinzi's guidance, MAPEI expanded its manufacturing to adhesives for laying floors and floor coverings. The company's first adhesives were for linoleum
, later followed by ceramic tile, stone
, carpet
, PVC
and wood
. As the flooring industry grew, especially the Italian ceramic tile market, MAPEI recognized a need for setting materials that would make tile installation faster and more secure, and developed products accordingly.
Rodolfo's son, Dr. Giorgio Squinzi, an industrial chemistry graduate, now heads MAPEI, which has become a leading manufacturer of mortars
, adhesives, grout
s, sealants, waterproofing
agents, additive
s for concrete
and other specialty products for the building industry. MAPEI remains a family-owned and -operated business and is a privately held entity generating annual revenues of more than one billion euros.
Operations in the Western Hemisphere are united under the banner of MAPEI Americas, consisting of affiliates and subsidiaries in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and South America. In 2000, headquarters were moved to Deerfield Beach, Florida
, to centralize management of the various operations.
Today, Di Tempora has retired from his position, and Luigi Di Geso serves as President and CEO of MAPEI Americas. Di Geso was formerly the General Manager of Mapei, Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of MAPEI Group.
MAPEI reinvests 5% of its annual sales revenue into research and development
of new products. The company's worldwide laboratories
work on more than 150 new projects each year.
Fifteen locations in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and South America employ more than 1,150 people who develop, produce, sell and support MAPEI products in the western hemisphere.
and under his leadership the company sponsored the team of the same name team Mapei
in the 1990s, which included stars such as Johan Museeuw
, Andrea Tafi
, Michele Bartoli
and Paolo Bettini
. The company also sponsored a development team which nurtured the younger generation of riders such as 3-time world time trial
champion Michael Rogers, Filippo Pozzato
, and many others.
To support its involvement in sports, the company founded the Mapei Sport Center, a training center for endurance sports. Mapei also is a primary sponsor of NASCAR
driver/owner Robby Gordon
for several races for the 2007 NASCAR schedule. During the 2008 Sprint cup season Mapei sponsored the #7 of Robby Gordon at Kansas Motor Speedway. In 2009, Mapei will be the sponsor of the #7 Toyota driven by Robby Gordon in Phoenix, Daytona, Kansas, and Texas.
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy. It evolved from a small wall paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
producer into a worldwide producer of adhesive
Adhesive
An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...
s, thinset
Thinset
Thinset is an adhesive mortar made of cement, fine sand and a water retaining agent such as an alkyl derivative of cellulose. It is usually used to attach tile or stone to surfaces such as cement or concrete....
s and sealant
Sealant
A sealant may be viscous material that has little or no flow characteristics and stay where they are applied or thin and runny so as to allow it to penetrate the substrate by means of capillary reaction...
s for buildings (building materials).
MAPEI stands for "", Italian for "Auxiliary Materials for Construction and Industry".
History
In the 1930s Rodolfo Squinzi founded MAPEI as a small family businessFamily business
A family business is a business in which one or more members of one or more families have a significant ownership interest and significant commitments toward the business’ overall well-being....
in Milan, Italy, with the intent to fill a void in the local construction industry by manufacturing interior and exterior paints and masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
repair products for commercial building
Commercial building
A commercial building is a building that is used for commercial use. Types can include office buildings, warehouses, or retail . In urban locations, a commercial building often combines functions, such as an office on levels 2-10, with retail on floor 1...
s, hospitals and airports. MAPEI commenced business on February 12, 1937, with a three-person workforce.
Under Squinzi's guidance, MAPEI expanded its manufacturing to adhesives for laying floors and floor coverings. The company's first adhesives were for linoleum
Linoleum
Linoleum is a floor covering made from renewable materials such as solidified linseed oil , pine rosin, ground cork dust, wood flour, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canvas backing; pigments are often added to the materials.The finest linoleum floors,...
, later followed by ceramic tile, stone
Dimension stone
Dimension stone is natural stone or rock that has been selected and fabricated to specific sizes or shapes. Color, texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are also normal requirements...
, carpet
Carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...
, PVC
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride is a plastic.PVC may also refer to:*Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor*Peripheral venous catheter, a small, flexible tube placed into a peripheral vein in order to administer medication or fluids...
and wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
. As the flooring industry grew, especially the Italian ceramic tile market, MAPEI recognized a need for setting materials that would make tile installation faster and more secure, and developed products accordingly.
Rodolfo's son, Dr. Giorgio Squinzi, an industrial chemistry graduate, now heads MAPEI, which has become a leading manufacturer of mortars
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
, adhesives, grout
Grout
Grout is a construction material used to embed rebars in masonry walls, connect sections of pre-cast concrete, fill voids, and seal joints . Grout is generally composed of a mixture of water, cement, sand, often color tint, and sometimes fine gravel...
s, sealants, waterproofing
Waterproofing
Waterproof or water-resistant describes objects relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet environments or under water to specified depths...
agents, additive
Additive
Additive may refer to:* Additive function, a function that preserves the addition operation* Additive inverse, an arithmetic concept* Additive category, a preadditive category with finite biproducts...
s for concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and other specialty products for the building industry. MAPEI remains a family-owned and -operated business and is a privately held entity generating annual revenues of more than one billion euros.
MAPEI Americas
In the 1970s, MAPEI began expanding across Europe and, in 1978, into Canada, where MAPEI Inc. housed the first manufacturing plant outside of Italy. In 1983, Nicholas Di Tempora, a businessperson from Canada, partnered with Dr. Squinzi to create MAPEI Corporation in the United States. In the following years, Di Tempora increased MAPEI Corporation's locations throughout the United States.Operations in the Western Hemisphere are united under the banner of MAPEI Americas, consisting of affiliates and subsidiaries in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and South America. In 2000, headquarters were moved to Deerfield Beach, Florida
Deerfield Beach, Florida
Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, USA. The city is named for the numerous deer that once roamed the area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 75,018...
, to centralize management of the various operations.
Today, Di Tempora has retired from his position, and Luigi Di Geso serves as President and CEO of MAPEI Americas. Di Geso was formerly the General Manager of Mapei, Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of MAPEI Group.
MAPEI reinvests 5% of its annual sales revenue into research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
of new products. The company's worldwide laboratories
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
work on more than 150 new projects each year.
MAPEI Vietnam
Mapei Vietnam commenced production in 2006 in the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, Quang Nam Province. Thanks to the manufacturing facility in Chu Lai, in synergy with the 3 commercial branches in Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City, Mapei is set to develop strongly in Vietnam in step with the continuous growth of the country.Specialty products
One technological improvement recently undertaken by MAPEI is its Fast-Track Ready technology. Identifying a need for completing speedy installations without compromising quality, MAPEI has developed products for the market that reduce the required steps of an installation and/or perform more quickly than current technology.Fifteen locations in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and South America employ more than 1,150 people who develop, produce, sell and support MAPEI products in the western hemisphere.
Sports sponsorships
Giorgio Squinzi, the CEO of Mapei Group, which oversees worldwide operations, is a fan of road bicycle racingRoad bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course .Historically, the most...
and under his leadership the company sponsored the team of the same name team Mapei
Mapei (cycling team)
Mapei was an Italian based road bicycle racing team active from 1993 to 2002, named after sponsoring firm Mapei. From 2003 Mapei dropped the sponsorate, and a new team was built on top of the old with the name of Quick Step-Davitamon....
in the 1990s, which included stars such as Johan Museeuw
Johan Museeuw
Johan Museeuw is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He was a professional from 1988 to 2004 and was particularly successful in the classic cycle races in the nineties....
, Andrea Tafi
Andrea Tafi (cyclist)
Andrea Tafi is an Italian former road bicycle racer who retired from his professional career in 2005. Tafi's propensity to perform best in the harder races earned him the nickname Il Gladiatore ....
, Michele Bartoli
Michele Bartoli
Michele Bartoli is a retired Italian road racing cyclist. He was a single-day race specialist, winning three of the five Monument races. Bartoli won the UCI Road World Cup in 1997 and 1998.-Biography:...
and Paolo Bettini
Paolo Bettini
Paolo Bettini is an Italian former champion road racing cyclist, and the coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classics specialist of his generation, and probably one of the strongest of all times, he won gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics road race and in the 2006...
. The company also sponsored a development team which nurtured the younger generation of riders such as 3-time world time trial
Time trial
In many racing sports an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. In cycling, for example, a time trial can be a single track cycling event, or an individual or team time trial on the road, and either or both of the latter may form components of...
champion Michael Rogers, Filippo Pozzato
Filippo Pozzato
Filippo "Pippo" Pozzato is an Italian road racing cyclist with UCI ProTour Team Katusha.-Career:...
, and many others.
To support its involvement in sports, the company founded the Mapei Sport Center, a training center for endurance sports. Mapei also is a primary sponsor of NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driver/owner Robby Gordon
Robby Gordon
Robert W. "Robby" Gordon is an American racecar driver who currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as an owner-driver, driving the No. 7 Speed Energy Dodge Charger for Robby Gordon Motorsports, and also competes part-time in the Nationwide Series...
for several races for the 2007 NASCAR schedule. During the 2008 Sprint cup season Mapei sponsored the #7 of Robby Gordon at Kansas Motor Speedway. In 2009, Mapei will be the sponsor of the #7 Toyota driven by Robby Gordon in Phoenix, Daytona, Kansas, and Texas.