Our slogan is… Simply effective: above all it is our commitment to those who have chosen us. A commitment that we solidify every day by reaching objectives and enhancing customers’ competitiveness. These results are of course measured in numbers, KPI, and statistics. But that’s not all. We like to think that they are also measured by a smile, by the serenity we see in customers who have trusted us.
The Columbus Group with three divisions, 250 professionals, and more than 110,000 square meters of warehouses has become the logistics partner of some of the most successful national and multinational companies in various market sectors. A synergy of structures and thinking that allows us to diversify our offer, guarantee flexibility, and develop high-quality, reliable customized services.
Amedeo Bianconi and Felice Schieppati, after years of working for Philips, decided to share their professional experience and entrepreneurial aspirations to create a new project. Elena Colombo joined them and together they established Columbus. This is the beginning of our history.
Philips decided to outsource its warehouse’s activities and entrusted us with the management.
We opened a first 1,500 square meters warehouse in Desio (which was enlarged to 3000 sq.m. in 1995). Subsequently, after winning the Philips tender for spare parts logistics (small appliances), we moved into a new office in Monza. Its operating area was larger, enabling us to meet the new storage and handling needs: 6000 sq. m. near the headquarters of the Dutch giant.
We directly collaborated with Philips’ management.
Our ever expanding business led us to redefine our statutes, going from a simple SAS (limited partnership) to an SRL (limited liability company). This new definition reflected our organizational and structural development, better meeting the objectives of change in an increasingly competitive market.
We acquired the management of Pirelli’s logistics (merchandising catalog): a major challenge which broadened our skills and the sectors we operated in.
We introduced new management software for the mapping and codification of items (GECO and MATE).
After purchasing a 6000 sq. m. warehouse in Sesto San Giovanni, conveniently located near Milan, we remodeled it and made it operational. Opening this location allowed us to expand our storage space and receive merchandise from new customers. The German giant VDO-Mannesmann was among these: it is a leader in tachograph and navigator productions, and we had our first in-house logistics experience with them, directly managing their warehouse.
In just a few years, the market had changed and the services offered needed to be updated. Columbus Promo was thus created: a division of the Columbus Group that deals with the study, creation, and management of rewards catalogs and communications through objects.
Combining our logistics know-how and great creativity, the newly established division grew and created international projects for large and small customers from different sectors (including Pirelli).
Columbus Logistics was reorganized to create a leaner and more efficient internal structure. We created a generational shift that led to tangible results, such as obtaining important certifications and hiring new management professionals to develop strategic sectors and improve process performance.
We adopted a radio-frequency system in order to offer more efficient and competitive services.
The benefits were immediately obvious: time savings, a greater guarantee of accuracy, a reduction of errors, and optimized processes.
We formed a new company to meet market demands: Columbus Pharma S.r.l., specializing in pharmaceutical logistics. This is a strictly regulated and certified branch of the company that was specifically develop in Desio (2000 square meters).
In the meantime we were also awarded several tenders, including the management of in-house logistics for Watts, a leader in the hydraulic technology market.
To supporting company growth and rationalize and optimize our operational areas, we acquired a 12,000 sq. m. warehouse in Cormano. It is a modern building with 12 meter high warehouses and an office area. After making the space compliant with regulations, we opened the structure, with 10,000 square meters available in the warehouse.
Columbus Pharma opened a new location in Biassono after acquiring the logistics of Bausch + Lomb (leader in optical products and services), ICF (veterinary sector), Aligest (dietary sector), and ABC Farmaceutici (pharmaceutical sector). The warehouse has 7500 square meters at controlled temperatures (+5 °C +25 °C), with features that perfectly follow regulations for the handling of human and veterinary medications and products that require special storage and transportation.
We opened a 7500 square meters warehouse in Cinisello Balsamo to manage Ricola products’ logistics, the Swiss multinational food/confectionery company.
We left the historic offices in Monza and moved into the new, convenient, efficient headquarters in Cormano. This officially became our headquarters with administrative and executive offices for Columbus Logistics and Columbus Promo, in addition to modern warehouses. This proximity often becomes a virtuous synergy to the customers’ advantage.
We opened a new location in Arese to complete the logistics services for the Italian air conditioner company Valliant. Thus, we became their only Italian logistics representative.
Two professionals with vertical skills also joined the company this year: a computer engineer for ensuring the necessary continuity and growth of our IT systems, indispensable for optimizing and controlling processes and communicating with customer infrastructures; the second professional hired was a logistics engineer to design and implement leaner and more efficient logistic flows.
We entered into documentary logistic world. Through the partnership with BN Document Logistics, we offer to our customers a fisic and ottica filing service for any typology documentary, from that paper to that informatic. The BN Document Logistics buildings guarantee the protection of dates and privacy, thanks to the most innovative systems of fire prevention.
The year began with a major acquisition: the logistical management of the 20,000 sq. m. warehouse of the Gias Candy Group in Brugherio. The agreement included handling the shipment of over 200,000 replacement parts per year, destined for markets across Europe: a challenge that we win, every day.
We start the partnership with Liuc - Cattaneo University in Castellanza with the goal of spreading logistic culture into the area. We organize, every year, a specific event in which we talk about the central themes for the logistic world at international level. In collaboration with Liuc Business School, we launch the “Liuc & Columbus Logistics Workshops” workshop, for logistic and supply chain managers. The goal is to concretely face some key subjects looking for possible areas of improvement, through case histories narrated by the direct protagonists and discussed with the LIUC Business School experts.
We expand, with Columbus Pharma, our services bouquet and we build a pharmacology production workshop into Cormano second division storage. Into the pharmacology production workshop we can do some second packaging operations of human and veterinary medications and medical devices. Into the building there is upskill staff and it’s clearly separated from storage, in fact it has separate entrances both for the staff and for the products. Moreover, the space is highly sterilized, thanks to pressure monitoring system and air filtering.
We passed national borders and we signed an important joint venture agreement with MWM, italian leader corporate of customs services and with RHS Logistics, one of the most important Dubai logistic reality. So, Tripharma Logistics was born with 5000 square meters warehouse and 7000 pallet place in Dubai DWC, which has the goal to become one excellence from storage and medication distribution, from Dubai to Mena area.
We want to provide customers with superior logistics expertise, understanding their real needs and investing in technology and human resources.
To be the best partner for our customer.
We believe that our ambition for excellence must be customized for each individual customer, in every single logistical project.
We listen to and investigate all aspects of our business, without giving standardized responses. We seek harmony with those who have decided to entrust an important part of their business to us.
We adapt to individual needs to develop a personalized, timely, and accurate service.
Every day we create conditions for working smartly, emphasizing responsiveness, intervention speed, transparency, and the sharing of information.
We want to help our customers become a success story.
Columbus Logistics provides strategic logistic services, with a strong specialization in in-house management. We have worked with national and multinational clients for more than 25 years, providing them with tailor-made solutions that cover the entire supply chain up to delivery. Customer care, responsiveness, and the drive toward innovation guide these activities.
Columbus Pharma provides services and tools for the logistics of chemical, cosmetic, hi-tech, and non-liquid pharmaceutical products. The company is officially licensed and certified, and its warehouses meet all industry standards and are temperature controlled (+5 °C +25 °C). Besides the safe storage of samples, it also takes care of packaging and transportation.
Columbus Promo offers concrete solutions to companies that want to seize communication opportunities through objects. A unique approach that has been refined over the years with passion and professionalism, ensuring unique solutions you can rely on when it comes to merchandising, presents, gadgets, and gifts.
LEARN MORE
Columbus Semea offers advanced logistics solutions and commercial support in the aerospace sector (ISO 9120).
LEARN MORE
Via Dell'Artigianato 1
20032 Cormano (MI)
Via Vittorio Emanuele II, 36
20090 Monza (MB)
Via Dell'Artigianato, 1
20032 Cormano (MI)
guarda la mappa
Via Brenno, 21
20853 Biassono (MB)
guarda la mappa
Via Trento e Trieste, 104
20853 Biassono (MB)
guarda la mappa
Via Dante Alighieri, 40
27011 Belgioioso (PV)
guarda la mappa
Via Manuel Fangio, 11
20020 Lainate (MI)
guarda la mappa
Via Comolli, 16
20861 Brugherio (MB)
guarda la mappa
Via Europa, 5
27043 Broni (PV)
guarda la mappa
Viale Monastir, 8
09028 Sestu (CA)
guarda la mappa
Via Ing. Pilade Riello, 7
37045 Legnago (VR)
guarda la mappa
We love to experiment, which is why we devote great attention to information technology: an operational area that can improve logistics efficiency with cost-reducing solutions.
We were among the first in Italy to adopt Google Apps to increase the connection between warehouses and optimize email use, also via mobile phones. We are also implementing a program to harness Data and Big Data to help with Business Intelligence forecasting.
Our business is sustained and nourished by the principle of operating in line with the market and respecting its players: customers, suppliers, staff, and community.
We thus believe that it is necessary:
We convey the values that inspire us through our work. This gives meaning to our daily commitment and guarantees: correct behavior and valid performance.
Meeting expectations, immediate reciprocal understanding, and professional esteem: we need time to build a trusting relationship that provides the expected results.
The quality of our logistics service is based on these characteristics, which in hindsight, are simply the footprints of the how we do business.
For Columbus, sustainability – environmental, social, and economic – is a core part of our strategy and values. Since 2022, with the launch of our first Sustainability Plan, we have set ambitious goals to be achieved by 2030, aligned with 8 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through in-depth analysis and continuous innovation, we are working to reduce both our direct and indirect emissions. In 2023, we became the first Italian 3PL to achieve carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Starting in 2025, we also offset Scope 3 emissions linked to employee commuting and remote work. We are proud to be members of the United Nations Global Compact, confirming our commitment to human rights, decent work, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. Our company policies – from environmental sustainability to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – guide our daily actions and extend across our value chain, supported by ESG monitoring of suppliers. We nurture a responsible relationship with the communities where we operate, promoting initiatives that strengthen local ties through collaboration and support. For us, sustainability means acting with consistency and transparency, always placing people, communities, and the environment at the center.
No company is an island. Columbus Logistics is a conscious and well integrated member of its community. In fact, in addition to being part of trade associations (Confindustria, Assologistica), it has contributed and is contributing to various social initiatives and medical research projects. A practical response to community demands is a responsibility that connects back to our corporate behavior ethics.
We support the Cancro Primo Aiuto Onlus Association for cancer patients and their families. It offers support for prevention and care as well as psychological, medical, and home assistance, primarily in the Lombardy region. We help them manage and fundraise for specific projects, as well as aid them in the purchase of machinery.
We are always looking for new talent: motivated people, young or more experienced, who want to work in an ambitious Italian company.
Columbus Logistics is proud to announce the renewal of its long-standing partnership with Vaillant Group Italia, a leading international company in the heating and air conditioning sector, present in Italy for over 60 years. The collaboration between the two companies, active since the 1990s, has been further strengthened with the renewal of logistics and transport … Continued
