It’s worth saying that when one door closes, another door opens. It was 2002, and in Alias’s case, a whole new generation of doors was opened: security doors, innovation and design.

This year marks Alias’s 20th anniversary, and from February 2022 we want to share our story, our vision, our evolution, with you.

But first things first.

It’s 2002. Dario Vaccari, armed with commercial and technical experience gained in the security doors industry, decides to leave what was then one of the sector’s leading companies. A 40-year-old graduate with decades of experience in the industry, he decides to “close one door” in order to start a new business, a new business project.

In January of that year, Alias was founded with a challenging and stimulating vision: “to look to the future to get ahead of the curve”. Following these first twenty years, that commitment is even stronger, and the challenge renewed: “to continue looking to the future to get ahead of the curve”.

“Things get done by doing them”, in 2002 there was an immediate need for an operational headquarters and, during those months, Dario Vaccari came across a building, the classic warehouse, in Settima di Gossolengo, neighbouring other manufacturing facilities. A former button factory located in a small artisan area surrounded by fields and dirt roads (and frost, it was mid-winter), but convenient nonetheless being located just outside the city of Piacenza. This was where Alias was to be born and continue to grow.

From that first site, in which both offices and production were located, Alias developed rapidly, month after month, gradually moving from its first 12 employees (plus the owner) to the 143 employees it currently has. The first clients invest and literally take a gamble on the entrepreneurial skills of Dario Vaccari. His credibility as a former-manager is robust and acknowledged, but that is not always enough to start a heavily innovative company from scratch, something that can often scare people off. So, in order to offer a quality product and uphold his promises, Dario Vaccari immediately decided to surround himself with effective travel companions: Maurizio Castignoli, who brings his unceasing commitment to designing and defining all production lines and product layouts, passionately and professionally devoting himself to this challenge unsparingly and without paying attention to schedules – he is still a member of the social team.

Starting from scratch. The initial investment is considerable. Equipment, machinery, and space were needed as well as great organisational, financial and economic effort. But the substance is there. The first 12 months were used to implement the core of the plant, train staff, recruit administrative resources and run the entire operating apparatus.

The secretary has a makeshift chair and a small desk on the first floor; no internet or email, just a fax machine. The perimeter of the room to its left (which leads to the ground floor where production is located and where reception is now situated) is surrounded by white and red construction site tape, because it is still missing a proper staircase. But the spirit of Alias is already hovering between those prefabricated walls, it just needed grasping and interpreting, it required vision.

The production line is reinvented by Maurizio Castignoli, designed from scratch and started up. The production cycle is revolutionary, in some ways closer to the concept of Toyotism than to the classic standard assembly line with semi-assembled elements (as is still the case in many companies manufacturing security doors).

It is not a question of building an ordinary security door or simply improving existing doors. “Looking to the future to get ahead of the curve” means we needed to reinvent the engineering concept of a security door, from the design to the internal configuration, from the laser processing of materials to the line process, from technical and formal research to the exquisitely functional value of the product. Testing, analysis, examination and verification. Weeks, even seasons, go by, the plant is tested, the team is ready, the motors start and in December 2002, the Settima plant in Gossolengo sees the first Alias security door roll off the production line.

A solid, reliable, immediately recognisably designer door. The world had to see it.

That was the beginning of an upward trajectory, expert and challenging, never truly ending, that has seen Alias pass the finish line of many sprint stages. Twenty years during which Alias has had, and has been able, to tackle and overcome various crises in the construction and real estate sector, without ever losing sight of its primary objective: to design and manufacture quality security doors. By innovating and consolidating, by integrating technology with aesthetic beauty, the Alias name is now synonymous with reliability, safety and functional design.

In the coming months it will be a pleasure to share with customers, collaborators and suppliers, all of the other steps that have led Alias to becoming one of the security door industry’s leading companies. And throughout 2022, the historic Alias logo features the new “Alias 20” livery, the anniversary branding that celebrates our twenty-year company history.

Thanks to everyone who has been on this journey, or part of it, with us. We will be back soon with more episodes of “Alias 20”.