BLS History

BLS history

Milan, a city of producers

/

Our birth

The business was established in 1970 in Milan, in the Bovisa district. Once an exclusively industrial area, today an urban fabric where sustainable construction, production laboratories, university campuses and cultural spaces mix together. The University Politecnico di Milano is now based here, with which we collaborate in the research and creation of start-ups.

Here we started our production - initially disposable cup-shaped masks - and we have grown, always focusing on quality. As soon as the CE mark was introduced, in 1996, we were among the first manufacturers to obtain certification for our products.

Big-hearted entrepreneurs

/

Our strength

At the beginning of the new millennium, in 2003, we broaden our offer to reusable respiratory devices: thanks to the acquisition of Tecnopro, an Italian manufacturer of full and half-masks with 20 years of experience in the sector.
 In 2010 we acquired a facility in Barcelona, specialised in the production of high performance filters, completing our product offer: BLS Iberia was born.

In 2012 we crossed the ocean and landed in Brazil: to follow and develop the South American market we established BLS do Brasil in Curitiba.
 In 2017 we launched the BLS NorthWest division in Rotterdam, to follow the growing market of BeNeLux, UK and Ireland, offering better service to our customers and strengthening our commercial presence in the Northern European market.

However our growth does not stop and in 2021 we founded two more sales subsidiaries, BLS France and BLS Germany, in France and Germany respectively, to further focus our development and presence in Europe and ensure constant and precise support for our customers.

An Engineer's brain

/

Our difference

In 2014 we inaugurated the new Headquarters in Milan, with a touch of Milanese design and lots of technology. 5.000 sqm. that allowed us to expand and optimize the production lines: the heart of our difference, which is based on internal research and continuous innovation of production processes.

It is a business model that has made us what we are today: a boutique of the fourth industrial revolution based on technological culture, collaboration with the university, automation of production and enhancement of human asset. To offer a product that goes beyond customer expectations.

A new responsibility

/

The protection of people

We have grown in Italy and in the global market by offering products of the highest quality, certified and continuously innovated, for respiratory protection in the industrial, military and medical sectors. But today a new challenge arises.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we found ourselves at the forefront of fighting the virus. We have supported the Italian Civil Protection and the European institutions with the supply of FFP2 and FFP3 masks.

We have tripled our production, doubled our workforce, invested in new production lines in Italy and Spain: in weeks we have made transformations that take years.

Respiratory protection, which previously involved only a few professional segments, is now at the centre of everyone's attention. This makes our work even more important and our social responsibility even more relevant. And to this we dedicate all our energies.

A constant challenge

/

Innovation

Quality and innovation are the foundation of our path. The protection of people is the value that inspires us and that is why we continue to invest in research and development.

Our goal is to find cutting-edge solutions to meet or anticipate increasingly advanced needs in terms of safety and sustainability.

Our constant relationship with universities allows us to grasp and realise ideas that are always innovative, thanks to the creativity and support of fresh, young minds. These have led to the birth of projects that are unique in our industry, including our circular economy system, which includes reducing emissions, improving production and logistics processes, using recycled materials, converting waste material into secondary raw materials, and the launch in 2022 of the first IoT mask in the industrial world, which integrates protection, design, technology and comfort.

For us, the future lies in "comfort". Comfort is not a luxury, it is the way to improve the conditions in which workers operate every day.