Design of a transmission plays a vital part in delivering better efficiency, its optimisation with other elements in the drive train enhances the performance, right sizing of transmission gives higher durability and finally smooth operation, and low noise levels improve operator comforts. All these objectives don’t always run concurrent to each other and many a time’s achieving one may lead to undoing of the other. The challenge in design and manufacturing of a transmissions lies in coming up with innovate solutions that meet all these objectives. Bonfiglioli having worked with all major OEMs across the globe in CE, has decades of experience that enables it to provide solutions meeting these diverse objectives.

What challenges do you see facing the industry in the coming years, and how is your company preparing to tackle them?
It is our belief that with ever stringent emission norms will pose a significant challenge to the industry. This will give the necessary impetus for CE’s to evolve and become more efficient than ever before. Hybrid and electric technologies will come in for greater use as we move towards a greener economy.

Bonfiglioli’s commitment to the green economy is a strategic choice, whose roots run deep into the company’ past, and has conditioned Bonfiglioli’s entire organisational model, not only in the choice of markets, but in the development of new products. In the last decade we have developed various products designed specifically for use with electric motors that offer a wide range of performance specifications. These include a series of drives for electric material handling equipment and drives with integrated electric motors for hybrid machines. These solutions have shown to deliver numerous benefits in terms of machine manoeuvrability, reliability, operating costs, and sustainability, thanks to low emissions and low working noise levels.

Are there any upcoming projects or initiatives your company is excited about that you can share with us?
We are excited about the diverse range of products that our customers are planning to add to their manufacturing portfolio in India. The drivers for this portfolio extension are both domestic and global demand, in all types of CE raging from earth moving to road construction, mining and material handling. Our business philosophy has always been to partner with OEM who are leaders in their business and develop tailormade, highly customised power transmission solutions catering to their requirements. This approach has made Bonfiglioli the largest producer of planetary drives for mobile equipment. Whenever our customers are looking to expand their range of equipment or bring out new models, that require us to design and produce specific solution, they have a partner in us that is ever eager to expand its range.

With the Indian government now fast-tracking infrastructure projects, the CE sector is expected to get increasingly busy. How do you look at the market for your products in India?
Government capex on infrastructure projects have been and will remain in foreseeable future the drivers for the CE sector. The enhanced government spending especially after the pandemic has resulted in market expansion, especially for specialised CE. Bonfiglioli offers an unmatched range of drive, and we are in the only manufacturer globally in a unique position to offer various types of geared drives in applications like track, wheel, drum, slew, conveying, winch, mixer, etc. We are a one stop shop for our customers, and we are very conscious of sensitivities and needs of customers. We are making conscious efforts to cater to the needs of our customers by making investments in India.

Please share more information on the investment made in the Indian market in terms of the manufacturing facility, etc.
Bonfiglioli is in midst of Rs 3,200 million capex in India, catering to our various businesses. We have already inaugurated our modern manufacturing facility in Pune in the first phase of this expansion and now have laid the foundation stone of our third and largest facility in India, coming up in Cheyyar in Tamil Nadu.

In the new era of growth, Bonfiglioli group continues to invest in its commitment to innovation, excellence and sustainability. Keeping these in view we inauguration of our innovation centre at Chennai, “Bonfiglioli Technology Space”.

We have a state-of-the-art facility that will house over 180 engineers with diverse expertise. The centre is designed to create breakthrough solutions by integrating the most advanced mechanical, electrical, electronic, and hydraulic technologies.

How was the year 2024 in terms of performance? What is your company’s plan for 2025?
The year 2024 has turned out to be a fruitful year; we registered growth across the various business segments. We expect this momentum to continue in 2025, with Indian CE Industry expected to register another record year. With the wide range of products, we offer to various segments of CE Industry, we expect growth across product segments.