Global industrial motors and drives innovator Bonfiglioli is investing further Down Under with new testing, assembly and quality control facilities in New Zealand complementing greatly expanded stockholdings there.
The stockholdings, now totaling more than $NZ2 million, permit wider customer choice, custom engineering to individual needs and quicker delivery for many of Bonfiglioli’s most advanced and popular drives, says the company’s NZ National Sales Manager, Neil Pollington.
Expanded stockholdings include Trasmital planetary, helical, helical bevel and worm drives as well as Bonfiglioli's electronic SYN 10, SYNPLUS and ACTIVE ranges, which are designed to offer outstanding flexibility for variable speed industrial process and mechatronic applications.
The expanded Bonfiglioli NZ facility– which supports Bonfiglioli’s national distribution network - now also incorporates assembly and testing equipment for several of Bonfiglioli’s top selling ranges from among the $NZ1.3 billion worth of products the global Bonfiglioli group sells annually.
The Auckland facility complements Bonfiglioli Transmission (Aust) Pty Ltd’s new and larger  branch and its expanded Sydney Head facilities, which undertake local assembly of some of the world’s most technically advanced heavy duty drives, the HDP parallel shaft and HDO bevel helicals.
“Bonfiglioli New Zealand now has four specialist staff working in our expanded assembly area, where we can now more swiftly and precisely tailor drives to customer requirements, said Mr Pollington.
Facilities include a new spray booth for customized coatings and a special assembly press for precision assembly of gears, bearings and seals, while also checking the machining tolerances of castings and parts to ensure optimum reliability. In one operation, the special assembly machine also permits rotational checks for low noise/ smooth running performance, as well as testing the energy draw and testing to ensure correct ratios.
“The whole operation is focused on achieving exactly what the customer ordered, and delivering it fully quality and performance tested to ensure optimum reliability and efficiency,” said Mr Pollington.  Expanded stocking in New Zealand now includes:
* Helical bevel up to 14,000 Nm and 100mm shaft

* Helical and Inline Helical up to 4,000 Nm and 80mm shaft

* Planetary up to 5,500 Nm

* Full ranges of worm product

* STD 50 Hz motors from 0.12-30kW in brake and non-brake models

* UL 60 Hz motors from 0.18-22kW in brake and non-brake models

* Full ranges of SYN10 and SYNPLUS variable speed drives up to 11kw

* ACTIVE drives up to 110kw

Bonfiglioli Transmission (Aust) Pty Ltd’s Australasian Managing Director Mr Malcolm Lewis says the expansion of the NZ operation will have many benefits for Bonfiglioli distributors and customers.
“It follows our policy of decentralizing stock to the sales regions as the company grows with the investment of more than $A20 million in stock and facilities. This local availability is warmly received by customers, who can draw upon local stock the same day if needed, rather than waiting for it to arrive.
“The local moves are also complemented by expanded Head Office facilities, where larger gear units such as the heavy duty HDs are assembled on world class assembly and testing lines that typically halve delivery times out of Europe.”