July 26, 2016 Beauty For Everyone

Volume 10 | Issue 4

Founded in 1908, American Biltrite (Canada) Ltd. creates and sells the highest quality rubber products for industrial and flooring applicati

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and for Mundial SA, the beholder is a consumer that finds everything it needs from this leading Brazilian brand.

Mundial SA is the result of the merging of Zivi S/A Cutelaria and of the operations of Hercules S/A Fábrica de Talheres in Eberle S/A. The joining of these three companies resulted in a new company directed toward development of its brands, both in Brazil and abroad.

The company has roots that extend way back to 1896 which, needless to say, means it has experienced countless changes, always seeking to adapt its product and brand portfolio to the needs of the market. A business merger in 2003 allowed it to further divide into segments to serve particular areas of the market. The company’s portfolio of brands include:

• Mundial, the undisputed leader in the beauty care segment with its line of personal care products for professional and home use. These range from scissors, brushes, cuticle and nail clippers, to cutters and tweezers with assured quality in design and safety;

• Eberle Fashion, the leading brand in the fastening component segment for fashion, with more than 70 percent of the national market. Its products and services follow international trends. Its industrial complex has one of the biggest galvanizing plants in Brazil, where more than 400 million parts are produced per month, among buttons, eyelets, ornaments and buckles;

• Eberle Solution, the new brand of the traditional Mundial Creative. This segment offers a broad line of scissors, staplers, stilettos, tools, and other products that awaken and encourage creativity in people. Its products have professional, home and school application;

• Eberle Tools, offering a broad range of clippers, cutting instruments, wrenches, magnifying lenses, hammers, spatulas, chisels, files, drill bits, professional pistols, bench vises, soldering irons, mason trowels, screwdrivers, pocketknives, gardening items and safety items, offering practicality and ease with high quality for handyman, electronic, light mechanical and other jobs;

• The Hercules brand, the result of more than 70 years in the manufacturing of premium cutlery. Its varied line of knives and accessories was conceived to meet the sophisticated requirements of kitchen chefs, as well as home conditions for preparing culinary dishes. While the traditional line of cutleries, table sets and utensils place true works of art on the table.

• Syllent, the world’s first silent motor pump. Its exclusive differentials present a new concept in performance and practicality in water movement. Syllent means more water, greater comfort, more innovation.

A new evolution
Through the years, Mundial adopted a system of uninterrupted evolutionary change, through which the company has constantly reevaluated its concepts regarding markets, products, processes and personnel. This constant need to improve itself has resulted in important accomplishments, at the same time enabling the company to garner unique recognitions in Brazil and abroad.

Deserving highlight is the 2003 Technological Innovation award – Product Category from Finep (Financer of Studies and Projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology), as well as the Top Human Being and Citizenship awards from ABRH-RS (Brazilian Association of Human Resources), which was won for four years in a row (2000 to 2004). The company also was awarded “Best Product of the Year” in various categories promoted by renowned entities in the national and international market.

Innovations in products, processes and personnel management have been the main reasons why Mundial leads its market segments. The company has grown from a solid foundation, which began as EBERLE SA, on April 2, 1896, founded by Abramo Eberle, manufacturer of small lamps in a small tin shop. In 1918, the company Abramo Eberle & Cia started manufacturing cutlery and tableware. In 1923 and 1928, Eberle’s first forging shop was set up with the manufacturing of forged parts, blades for knives, swords and small swords for the armed forces, and the snap button and hollow rivet plant was inaugurated. Always searching for new opportunities, in 1925, it started manufacturing sacred items.

At the same time, Zivi, another side of Mundial, founded by Paul Zivi, started its operations, specializing in fine cutlery. In the beginning of the 1930s, the first scissors and forged knives were leaving the production lines. In 1936, Zivi gave origin to Hercules, Latin America’s first manufacturer of stainless steel fine tableware. The growth compelled the company to change to a new industrial complex of 64,000 square meters in Passo D’ Areia district.

With the start of World War II in 1939, imports were restricted and the company started manufacturing its first electric motors, giving rise to its electric motor plant. The end of the war brought a period of expansion in the economy. With the aim of replacing imports, in 1947, it started the production of tableware, scissors, knives, home use machinery, assembly items of the Piteira brand and stamps in general. EBERLE became a publicly held company in 1966, starting the construction of the São Ciro Industrial Complex, in Caxias do Sul, in a total area of 427 square meters.

The perception that the textile market would have great potential led to the creation of the fastening component plant, producing buttons, eyelets, rivets, buckles, among others in 1974. Its success was so huge that in 1982, this plant was expanded to allow a significant increase in production and expand its range of products.

By 1981, Zivi had expanded its activities to an area of 520,000 square meters in the industrial district of Gravataí, 25 km from Porto Alegre, where all activities of Mundial’s Product and Consumer Division are concentrated.

In 1985, Zivi-Hercules purchased the company Eberle, thus giving rise to the Zivi-Hercules-Eberle Group. A period of deep changes began in both companies. These changes took almost a decade. Between 1994 and 2003, the then so-called Eberle-Mundial Group underwent a thorough strategic and corporate reorganization that gave rise to Mundial SA Produtos de Consumo, the name by which it is known today.

The company recently has received much recognition for new lines of products. The Eberle Fashion brand, present in more than 25 countries in South America, Central America, Europe, Africa and Asia, was expected to see growth of 12 percent in earnings this year. The company expects that its lines of buttons, eyelets, buckles, decorations, etc., manufactured in the Caxias do Sul unit, will increase sales in Mercosur countries, especially Argentina, through the Eberle Argentina affiliate. Markets in Central America will also be expanded through the development of products destined for each country together with the novelties in the 2007/2008 summer product launches. “For this growth to be possible and successful, the distributors and representatives in the diverse countries will have all the technical support and necessary qualification for sales,” notes Michael Lenn Seitling, director general.

Meanwhile, Eberle Solution has introduced a new line of sprays encompassing eight different product lines: graphite, metallic paint, Vaseline, spray grease, general use spray paint, silicone spray and expansive foam. In making these products, Mundial is very mindful of its environmental responsibility: “By valuing economic and technological development to quality of life, we guarantee a better future for the new generation,” Seitling says.

As a company that has been around since 1986, Mundial knows about marketing for the next generation. Through its vast and diverse product line the company’s commitment will no doubt continue well into the next century.

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