Smeg is an Italian home appliance manufacturer based in Guastalla, near Reggio Emilia in the north of the country. Smeg has subsidiaries worldwide, overseas offices, and an extensive sales network.
For over 60 years now, Smeg appliances have come to be seen as tasteful and elegant solutions to the demands of contemporary living as a result of the company’s partnerships with world famous architects. Not only does Smeg have a unique profile in terms of domestic appliances, it is also renowned in professional business sectors. The Foodservice and Instruments divisions specialize in the area of large-scale restaurant/catering appliances and electro-medical instruments respectively.
The Smeg Group, thanks to a corporate culture which dictates that maximum emphasis be placed on product quality, technology and design, is consequently known all over the globe as one of the key representatives of "Made in Italy" standards.
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 kitchen integrates all of their functions and becomes a perfect, fully equipped 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, 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.
World renowned Italian Architect, Guido Canali, has long worked with Smeg to create some of the most iconic lines that the brand as to offer.
Smeg interviewed Guido Canali at their head quarters in the beautiful Emilia Romagna region of Northern Italy. Watch the video to discover what Architect Canali has to say about architecture, and get an insight to the products he created with Smeg and his long-standing collaboration with the company.
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 characterize 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 of Italian 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 to shape 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 programs which assess current tastes and market trends.
World renowned Italian Architect, Guido Canali, has long worked with Smeg to create some of the most iconic lines that the brand as to offer.
Smeg interviewed Guido Canali at their head quarters in the beautiful Emilia Romagna region of Northern Italy. Watch the video to discover what Architect Canali has to say about architecture, and get an insight to the products he created with Smeg and his long-standing collaboration with the company.
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.
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 optimized 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.
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).
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.
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 reduced pollutant 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 for recycling 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.
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.
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 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.
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