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Bonfiglioli news from Hannover fair 2008
May 2008
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Bonfiglioli Riduttori is releasing significant statistics for performance in 2007 to coincide with the World Exhibition of Industrial Technology in Hanover. The group is also announcing strategies for international development and unveiling the latest solutions and products it has developed to tackle the challenges that globalisation and market mega-trends are inevitably presenting.
In 2007 Bonfiglioli Riduttori closed trading with a turnover of 610 million Euros, 22.3% up on the previous year, an EBITDA of 68.9 million Euros (11.3% of turnover) and a 12.2% larger workforce, accounting for a total of 2,500 people between the company’s Italian and foreign operations. Investments in 2007 alone reached 58 million Euros (9.6% of consolidated turnover).
In 2007 the group’s market grew in a number of areas, with heavy plant and machinery and large plant solutions becoming important areas of consolidation for the Bonfiglioli brand.
The growth of Bonfiglioli Riduttori is to a large extent attributable to major international expansion, driven by consistent demand and by an intelligent strategy for market presence.
The group’s German subsidiary, Bonfiglioli Deutschland GmbH, has expanded and inaugurated new premises to keep pace with impressive overall growth (2007 turnover was 65 million Euros, 19% up on 2006). Germany has now become a major force in the group’s approach to the market.
Bonfiglioli’s new headquarters in the Republic of Slovakia are also well under way. Destined to cover an area of 18,000 m2, the plant will produce a specific selection of mainly planetary gearboxes.
2007 also saw the construction of Bonfiglioli USA’s new premises, long overdue given the dramatic 70% growth the USA market saw in 2007 and the subsidiary’s plans for expansion over the next three years.
Bonfiglioli’s future growth will be driven firstly by consolidation of the group’s standing in markets where it is already a leading player and secondly by the identification of new applications demanding shorter than
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ever finished product development times.
The supply of raw materials for energy production is becoming a major headache for the entire industrialised world. Research into alternative energy sources is therefore acquiring greater impetus, with wind, photovoltaic and biomass based generation, providing interesting solutions to the world’s ever great need for energy.
Bonfiglioli Riduttori saw years ago that alternative energy was destined to become an important area for growth and invested in the development of mechanical solutions (mainly Trasmital gearboxes) and electronic solutions (Vectron inverters) capable of providing effective answers in the field of renewable energy. Turnover from this market has seen average growth of over 50%, becoming a significant part (approximately 15%) of the Bonfiglioli Group’s total turnover.
The economic growth that many regions of the world is seeing is necessitating development in other directions, too, including the planning and construction of new residential areas, industrial areas and infrastructures. These developments are behind the excellent results that Bonfiglioli has seen in the field of heavy duty industrial plant (earth moving machines, construction machines, etc.).
Turnover in this area is likely to grow by over 20%, driven mainly by key accounts (Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, JCB and others).
Rapid growth has brought with it the need to rationalise internal organisation. It was a part of this process that the group opened its new subsidiary Bonfiglioli Italia Spa at Carpiano near Milan. To all intents and purposes Bonfiglioli Italia has assumed responsibility for the domestic market with full autonomy: all Bonfiglioli’s Italian customers now interface directly with the new company. Customer relations, order processing times and technical assistance efficiency have all improved as a result.
The Bonfiglioli Group’s prospects for future growth pivot on the internationalisation of its commercial and productive activities.
Research into new solutions is assuming fundamental importance in this context, so the close co-operation between Bonfiglioli Riduttori and the University of Modena’s Faculty of Engineering, guaranteed by the signature of a protocol of understanding, is of strategic value. Under the terms of the agreement the university will partner Bonfiglioli in the design and development of both products and applications.
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