Bonfiglioli Vietnam: Enhancing Customer Experience, Staying Ahead of the Competition

“The quality of our products and the safety of our people are the most important aspects of our manufacturing facilities,” said Mr. Genuini Andrea, General Director of Bonfiglioli Vietnam, in an interview with Vietnam Business Forum on its efforts to enhance customer experience and stay ahead of the competition.

As a European company in Vietnam, how have you maintained the dedicated balance between European style and local culture?

Our key focus when we open a new factory around the world is to apply the same quality standards and safe working environment that we have in Europe. While visiting a Bonfiglioli factory in Vietnam, India or Germany, a customer, or anyone else, should have the same feeling of Excellence Manufacturing and should find no difference between them. The quality of our products and the safety of our people are the most important aspects of our manufacturing facilities. We came to Vietnam with the same spirit and we applied these concepts to our factory in Binh Duong. At the same time, we recognize that we are working in a different country, with different habits, costumes and ways to see things. Therefore, we understand the importance of integrating ourselves with the local people and the local community. We try to bring our experience and knowledge through extensive training programs and organizing frequent visits to our factory. Our experience in several countries has taught us that a valuable approach to understanding local culture and connecting with younger generations is through support of local schools and collaboration with universities and institutions. And yet sometimes the balance of European culture and local culture is not easy… however our managers are Vietnamese and they are able to catch the needs of our local employees and community and translate them into action.

Digital transformation is increasingly becoming a crucial factor in ensuring sustained growth and prosperity. Could you elaborate on how Bonfiglioli Vietnam has prioritized and approached this aspect?

Industry 4.0, also known as the fourth industrial revolution, is a term used to describe the integration of advanced technologies into manufacturing and other industries. The implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies is a crucial aspect of digital transformation, allowing businesses to improve their operations, enhance customer experiences and stay ahead of the competition.

Our company focuses a lot on the quality level of its products and the first applications related to industry 4.0 were aimed at the possibility of recording all relevant parameters in our production processes with the possibility of maintaining them and making sure that they were easily available for our customers. Today all the data related to the manufacturing flow are recorded through the production process with a fully digitalized system.

Another application is related to acquisition and processing of large quantities of data with the aim of providing real time performance of production lines, highlighting possible problems or loss of performance. In fact, all Bonfiglioli facilities are gradually being equipped with the Manufacturing Execution System that gives us in Real Time the visibility of what is going on in the factory.

Other fields of interest are those relating to augmented and virtual reality. Augmented reality is currently being implemented to offer support to assembly line operators, who can see the subsequent actions necessary for assembling the product through a video camera positioned on the workbench. Regarding virtual reality, however, a use is being sought in the training phases of new operators so that they can become familiar with the production processes to which they will then be assigned.

Bonfiglioli Vietnam has strategically invested in advanced automation technology to enhance capacity, enabling the production of high-efficiency motors, gearboxes, and innovative products

In light of the current challenges such as component supply issues and escalating energy and logistics costs, how has Bonfiglioli Vietnam managed to navigate through these difficulties?

In the last three years, we experienced supplier’s long lead time, vendor delay and logistics cost and long transit time due to COVID-19 and the recent crisis. We have taken many different initiatives including a strategy to localize components to Vietnam for Asian Suppliers and increase safety stock. We apply proactive planning, forecast and budgeting processes to ensure the continuity of production and material flow.

Could you tell us about the innovative solutions that Bonfiglioli Vietnam has introduced in the material handling and construction equipment segment?

There are many innovative solutions for material handling and construction equipment such as application of Bonfiglioli planetary gear that reduce weight for hoist cranes to 70% compared to traditional gearboxes in the construction and material handling segment. Our high efficiency, negative brake motors help to save energy and ensure the safety for machines in material handling. Also, the integrated inverter gearmotor DGM series helps reduce installation times, limiting the risk of errors for the material handling segment.

Could you please share a little bit about Bonfiglioli Vietnam’s future plans?

Bonfiglioli Vietnam is our manufacturing hub for South East Asia and through this factory we want to increase service level for customers in the region and gain market share.

Our vision is to stay as a strong production site of Bonfiglioli group for high efficiency products that serve not only the industrial sector but also the Green Energy field. In the last period, we have invested in technology and machinery with higher automation levels to increase our capacity, enable us to produce big and high efficiency motors, gearboxes and new products.

Thank you very much!

By Le Phuong, Vietnam Business Forum