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Minardi Piume

The process

From the bale of raw material at intake to the identified lot in the warehouse, all inside the same plant in Lugo. What we process is in Materials, how we verify it in Quality & Certifications.

Bales of raw feather tied and stacked on pallets, at intake
Raw material at intake: quarantine and lot tracing start here.

Processing

Dedicated washing and sorting plants, sized to handle high volumes without compromising the traceability of each individual lot.

4

dedicated washing lines, served by 5 washing machines.

11

Lorch sorting machines for grading down and feather, plus 4 being installed.

15,000+ kg

processing capacity per day.

  1. The process

    Inside the plant in Lugo. Six moments filmed on the floor.

    ↓ Scroll to explore

  2. 01 · Air

    Behind the portholes the feather moves in the airstream: it dries, opens up, sheds its dust.

  3. 02 · Sorting

    Down rises, feather falls: the machine grades, the operator checks.

  4. 03 · Blending

    The graded batches go into the blender: the blend starts from the customer’s specification.

  5. 04 · Washing

    The drum of the WS9 washing line: controlled water, detergent and temperature, then drying.

  6. 05 · Testing

    The fill-power cylinder: every lot goes through the lab before it ships.

Stage by stage

Six stages, in processing order. Blending to the customer's specification is the one that follows, below.

  1. Bales of raw feather stacked against the wall of the intake department

    Intake

    Raw material arrives in bales and is registered lot by lot. Before entering processing, every batch goes through the laboratory.

  2. The large stainless-steel drum of the WS9 washing machine, with the wooden cabins of the line behind it

    Washing

    Washing and rinsing on a dedicated line, then drying. This is the stage that determines cleanliness, odour and long-term stability.

  3. The corridor with the filter columns of the extraction plant, beside the sacks of material

    De-dusting

    Filter columns separate dust and fragments from the washed material: it is what makes the down breathable and the department liveable.

  4. A sorting machine running in the sorting department, with an operator at the control bench

    Sorting

    Sorting machines separate down, feather and fragments by how they ride an air current: the machine grades, the operator verifies.

  5. An operator at the hydraulic press among big bags of down ready for packing

    Pressing & packing

    Finished material is baled or bagged into big bags, with the lot tag travelling with it all the way to the customer.

  6. The warehouse with bales of down stacked along the aisle lit by the windows

    Storage

    Bales stay identified by lot for the whole time they are held: that is the condition that makes DTS® traceability possible downstream.

The sorting machines running

Sorting is the stage you only understand by watching it: the material rises on an air current and separates itself by buoyancy, cell after cell, behind the glass of the wooden machines.

The sorting machine aisle during processing, with the material moving behind the glass. Silent clip filmed at the plant.

Custom blending

Selected batches are blended to reach the down content and fill power required by each individual customer: production starts from the specification, not from a standard warehouse lot.

Down falling from the bag into the vat during blend dosing

6

dedicated blending machines: several customer specifications in production at the same time, with no cross-contamination between lots.

After processing

Every lot goes through the internal laboratory before shipment, and stays traceable on the public DTS® portal under the same code that travels on its tag.

Quality & Certifications →DTS® Traceability →Materials →