Giordano Riello passed away at the age of 96 at his home in Porto di Legnago, near Verona. He was known as the "Father" of air conditioners, which he helped spread throughout Italy and the world with his Aermec company. Riello, along with the other brothers of the great Venetian family, an industrial dynasty of weight and importance as the Marzotto, Olivetti, and Zanussi, was one of the protagonists of the country's economic boom and modernization. Today, the Riello Group has eight plants and six commercial companies around the world, employing 1,700 people and billing approximately 500 million euros. Giordano's brilliant insight, which propelled his company to success, concerned the cold: the family group had been manufacturing burners for decades, or "manufacturing" heat. Temperatures, on the other hand, are highly seasonal. So he devised a plan to "manufacture" even the cold in order to balance supply and demand and avoid having the plants work in fits and starts. His entire entrepreneurial career has been defined by a love of innovation and research.
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