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Moving closer to promising markets
15 May 2009
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The presence of an assemblingfacility in the region reduces longlead time and ensures fast serviceand strong engineering supportfor our customers Mr. Malcolm Lewis, Managing Director,Bonfiglioli Transmission (Australia) Pty Ltd.
Emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region haveattracted major industrial players - cautious yetoptimistic of the bright prospects the region has to offer.Industrial Reporter for Asia (IRA) talked to Mr. MalcolmLewis, Managing Director, Bonfiglioli Transmission(Australia) Pty Ltd on the company’s recent move to expandits operations by setting up an assembly line in Australia.
IRA: Bonfiglioli is now expanding itsoperations in Australia. Please give us anoverview of this move?
Lewis: Bonfiglioli Transmission (Australia) PtyLtd has moved to expand its markets for advanced lowmaintenance helical drives by commissioning a completeassembly and testing line in Australia dedicated to HDPparallel shaft and HDO bevel helicals engineered foroutstanding torque per dollar, high casing strength, longlifebearing technology and quieter, trouble-freeoperation. The HD series is a totally new modular designfrom the ground up, which was always intended to beassembled remotely around the globe to customerrequirements by qualified Bonfiglioli subsidiaries.We are proud of this development because theseheavy industrial helical drives are among the world’smost advanced and most durable.
IRA: How will this new facility add up to yourcompany’s achievements?
Lewis: The new production and testing linein Sydney is designed to assemble gear drives from14,000 - 125,000 Nm. HDP drives in sizes 60-140 andHDO drives in sizes 100-140 will be among the first tobe assembled locally for the benefits of our customersin Australian and New Zealand, thus, cutting deliverytime by more than half as these used to be assembled inEurope. The introduction of the new line facilitatesquicker response to customers’ needs for customizeddrives intended for heavy duty applications.In addition to engineering HDs as main drives in abroad range of high power applications - such asconveyors and cranes - the new line greatly enhancesBonfiglioli’s local ability to rapidly develop high torquecombination drives together with its Trasmital planetaries.We have had great success in engineering combinationdrives in recent years and this new line further extendsour reach into the heavy drives market.
IRA: To date, what are the specific industriesthat Bonfiglioli serves?
Lewis: Bonfiglioli Transmission (Australia) Pty Ltdis part of the international Bonfiglioli group, with 2,500employees worldwide and sales of two million productsannually worth almost 650 million Euros ($A1036 Million).We serve the needs of a wide range of industries, among them: agricultural and bulkmaterials handling; construction andquarrying; cement; civil engineering;electricity generation; foodprocessing; electronic process controlengineering; food and beverageproduction; government and publicworks; infrastructure; manufacturing;materials handling; metal working;mining and resources, printing; pulpand paper; timber processing; textile;clothing and footwear manufacture;pharmaceutical processing; mobileequipment and ports facilities, production automationand process control; transport and automotiveengineering; and water/waste water; and water andsewage treatment.The Australian branch is part of a global networkof 13 subsidiary branches and eight production plantssupported by nearly 80 national distributors and anAustralasian network of distributors complemented byoffices in Australian States and New Zealand. BonfiglioliTransmission Australia has grown over 50% in the lasttwo years and we are looking forward to continuing thisgrowth during 2009 even though market conditions areless favorable.
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IRA: What are the secrets of Bonfiglioli’ssuccess in its European as well as Asia-Pacific operations?
Lewis: We spent years of R&D for all our products.For instance, we dedicated three years of R&D to comeup with state-of-the-art gearbox which can outperformmost competitor units in torque per dollar andcomprehensive design features. Locally, we have investedin a stock model plus a special purpose assembly machinewhich ensures the same build quality that is achieved inthe Italian factory. Apart from the enormous amount ofnew inventory that we now have in our warehouse, wehave also added the latest specialist equipment so thatthese heavy duty gears can be assembled safely by ourskilled factory trained workshop staff.We have also invested in the employment of productspecialists with over 50 years of experience betweenthem in heavy gearing products.These efforts have been undertaken to ensureunrivalled performance of our products as well as toguarantee extended working life toreduce the overall production costs. Theadvantages of innovation in design willbe further enhanced with the assemblyand testing in Australia, where we haveinstalled high-precision assembly andtop quality testing facilities, withspecific testing and auditing procedurestailored to customer requirements.
IRA: Where do you obtain yourequipment and productioninputs?
Lewis: Modular components are imported fromItaly but as much local input as possible is utilized likedesign engineering and qualification of applications,back up service, and also specialist assembly labor. Wealso procure some components like bearings and specialfabrications like baseplates from local suppliers.
IRA: Does the company have any plans toexpand to other parts of Asia-Pacific?
Lewis: Over the years we have learned thatAustralian and New Zealand customers appreciate localin-house engineering without having to rely on overseasassistance, and so Bonfiglioli is proud to be able to offerthis as part of our normal service to customers, by meansof our facility in Australia.But we also see Asia as an exciting new market forus and we are planning to spend a lot of time there thisyear. To begin with, Bonfiglioli Transmission (Australia)Pty Ltd has set up a permanent office in Singapore tosupply high growth markets in the Southeast Asian region.The Singapore office aims to enhance local service tomajor customers in the area, including those involved incranes, primary processing, materials handling, marine,mining, mineral processing, manufacturing, water andwaste water, cementand offshore oildevelopment. Theseare markets in whichwe already haveconsiderable expertiseas a result of ourexisting activitiesthroughout Australasiaand the Asia Pacific. There is a strong market in the region for helical drives, planetary Trasmital drivesand combination drives - types that arealready being engineered and delivered inAustralasia to resources, infrastructure andprocessing industries. We are initiallyconcentrating our efforts in Malaysia andSingapore and can only go up as we arestarting from nothing. Right now we areseeking to add another person to ouroperations there.In addition, Bonfiglioli Italy havejust built a brand new facility in Vietnamwhich has just been commissioned andis already manufacturing Bonfigliolielectric motors. Located in Binh Duongindustrial city near Ho Chi Minh City,the factory is equipped with modernproduction facilities and mechanizedprocesses, as well as an office andservice building.
The Bonfiglioli GroupBonfiglioli Transmission (Australia)Pty Ltd is part of the internationalBonfiglioli group. Bonfiglioli Riduttori isa major brand leader in its industry. Suchachievement is the result of 53 years ofoperation in line with a corporatephilosophy that sees expertise, innovationand quality as the cornerstones of productand corporate development. The exhaustiveproduct range covers virtually all industrialapplications. The robust design of BRgearmotors supports ongoing performanceupgrading to withstand the most demandingheavy-duty conditions. In 1976, Bonfiglioliset up a dedicated production facility forthe manufacture of electric motors to besupplied alone or in combination with gearunits in order to ensure improvedperformance. The significant investmenteffort teamed with corporate technical skillsenabled Bonfiglioli Riduttori to achieve ayearly output of 300,000 units. The totallyautomated processes turn out over 5,000gearmotors on a daily basis. The corporatequality system is DNV and TüV approved.The range includes: in-line helicalgearmotors; worm gearmotors; helicalbevel gearmotors; parallel shaftgearmotors; shaft mount gearmotors; rightangle units; mechanical speed variators;AC three-phase motors; DC motors andservomotors.
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