Insight

This year Bontempi Vibo celebrates its 60th anniversary having used its family business ethos, combined with a passion for continuous development, to become an international leader in advanced industrial fasteners.

Over the last 60 years Bontempi Vibo has seen its product range and production capabilities develop significantly, with the company monitoring its strategy year-to-year to meet customers’ and market needs – enabling it to build strong relationships with customers, suppliers and employees.  

“As a business we have always looked to adapt to the needs of the markets and this is represented by how our product range and capabilities have grown,” points out Raoul Bontempi, CEO at Bontempi Vibo. “Initially as a company we started with hot forging, but by the end of the 1960s we were already working with cold forging. This developed more and more throughout the 1970s and 1980s, during which time our focus as a business was stainless steel fasteners. However, in the first decade of the 21st Century this changed and we started to concentrate on carbon steel fasteners – specifically special items or niche standard items that aren’t readily available within the market.”

Through this commitment to meet customers’ needs, and its ability to continuously evolve, Bontempi was able to develop a wide variety of screws, bolts and specialises in diameters M5 up to M64, all available in several top quality surface coatings.

“I remember twenty years ago when all customers’ required, when it came to coatings, was either a black finished product or zinc plated product,” points out Vittoriano Calomeni, general manager at Bontempi Vibo. “Since then, customers’ requirements have developed more and more to a point where we need to be able to supply fasteners with a whole range of surface finishes, as well as patching options.”

In this time customers’ needs have also developed when it comes to quality requirements, additional production steps, as well as special packaging or labelling needs. “Customers are definitely asking for more each year, especially when it comes to the requirements regarding quality,” mentions Raoul. “We are regularly audited by our customers and our customers’ customers. The demand on quality levels and PPM requirements are continuously increasing, but this is what the market is requesting so it is up to us to meet these requests. We are completely dedicated and committed to satisfying all our customers’ needs.”

Vittoriano adds: “We have also seen distributors move closer to their customers in order to meet various obligations – so their customers can save internal costs. Our customers have focused on the service they give their customers and this has therefore led to more responsibility for the products and services for us as a manufacturer. We have accepted this challenge, because we understood that this is the key to our customers’ success, which is why we ensure we can provide the necessary flexibility and services requested.”

Through this flexibility, Bontempi Vibo has become renowned for its good service and prompt delivery for its range of products – all at a competitive price. “We are able to combine stock, service and price as one package,” states Raoul emphatically. “We can do this thanks to our extensive production capabilities as well as our automated warehouse, which is a key part of the service we are able to provide our customers.”

Bontempi Vibo is in the process of expanding its automated warehouse to include an additional 6,400 pallet spaces – which will take the total to around 22,000. “This is a big investment for us and will enable us to deliver even more products to customers from stock,” mentions Raoul. “We will be able to have more items instantly available for customers who want to buy straight away or we can hold more stock for our distributor customers for when they need them. This ability to provide big volume orders, supported by first class service, enables us to stand out within the market as a European manufacturer.”

This service has been particularly vital during the last 18 months as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe. “Service and understanding your customers’ needs, and being flexible enough to answer new requirements, has been essential during the whole pandemic,” states Raoul. “At the very beginning we did close our factories for 20 days, but then it was the market itself that pushed us to reopen – due to the fact we were a key part of supply chains. Initially it was just the logistics department, but soon after we opened all the plants in order to meet customers’ needs, which at the time were very urgent. During the whole process we kept in close contact with our customers and did our best to provide the products and flexibility they required.”

Even with the pandemic, Bontempi Vibo continued with its investment plans to give it the best opportunity to grow once the market restarted. “We have an industrial growth plan to achieve €80 million in revenue by 2025 and there are two key focuses for us in how we achieve this target,” states Raoul. “The first is by investing in new machinery and enlarging our capacity, as well as introducing new products. The second, and main one as a commodity business, is to acquire new companies, which is what we have done.”

Bontempi Vibo announced the acquisition of Italian manufacturer Mi.Me.Af. SpA in March (for more information go to page 58), which is in addition to the acquisition of the entire ownership of FRAM Srl in 2019. “These acquisitions have enabled us to expand our production capabilities, as well as widen our range of products, and we have plans for further acquisitions within the fastener market in the future,” concludes Raoul. “We will look for companies that can offer us new product ranges and new markets. We want to be a supplier where customers can find all the products they need; at the correct price; with a very high-quality level; all supported by a leading logistics service; and through our commitment and industrial growth plan we are confident in reaching our goal.”