Insight

In Italy the name Brugola has long been synonymous with internal hexagonal parts, the company having first patented the hexagon socket head bolt with spiral shank in 1945. Here Editor Will Lowry speaks with President Jody Brugola about the development of the family company and how it established itself as a crucial supplier of critical components for the automotive market.

Brugola OEB was founded in 1926 in Lissone, to the north of Milan, born of the technical expertise of its founder, Egidio Brugola. Originally a factory producing washers and special engine rings, it soon diversified and expanded its production into the fastener sector and hexagon socket bolts. In 1945 Egidio patented the hexagon socket head bolt with spiral shank, which was to catapult the company name to international fame.

“Not many people in Italy realise the name Brugola comes from our company and is an invention by my grandfather,” explains Jody. “He did not have any degrees or training, but he understood how things worked and the critical importance of being precise – especially when it came to mechanical processes. He was always attracted to very complicated pieces that were unusual. This is when he invented the Brugola screw, which was a lot easier to use than other components at the time, especially in very small sizes for any kind of usage.”

In 1959 Egidio Brugola passed away, with his son Giannantonio Brugola (Jody’s father) becoming president of the company – aged just 21. “When my father took over he changed the commercial view of the business and decided to have a much more mass production focus on the Brugola screw,” mentions Jody. “In addition to renewing the production, he also reorganised the company and placed greater emphasis on sales and marketing, which helped the business to further grow its markets.”

At the beginning of the 1980s, Giannantonio approached automotive OEMs about the possibility of supplying specialised products with zero defects. “In the mid 1980s automotive OEMs had a lot of trouble on production lines regarding fasteners and the robots used to assemble the parts,” says Jody. “Through our production capabilities, and unique know-how, we were able to show them zero defects supply was possible. A key factor in this was our bespoke sorting machines with cameras, which were capable of identifying the defects before the products were sent to the customer. Sorting machines are very common in the market now, but at the time it was a huge advantage and resulted in us becoming the sole supplier of engine head assembly bolts for a large German automotive OEM.”

By the 1990s, Brugola had developed its range of products to focus solely on special fasteners – especially for the engine, which enabled the company to become a key supplier to several automotive OEMs around the world. In this way Brugola became a reference point for critical bolts within the industry, and a world leader in engine cylinder head bolts.

“Ever since we started to specialise in critical fasteners we have experienced huge growth,” states Jody. “The reason is these critical fasteners are difficult to produce because of their very strict tolerances. Also, through our partnership with the automotive OEMs, we gained their trust, providing the opportunity to become a single plant provider for some of their engines. Now one engine out of four, produced anywhere in the world, uses our cylinder head bolts. That works out to around 260 million cylinder head bolts every year.”

The Brugola business very evidently runs through Jody’s veins – hardly a surprise having grown up around the family company. “I’ve always been into the business. When I was a child, around six or seven, my father used to bring me into the factory on a Sunday and show me exactly what he was doing. At the age of 13 – 14, during the summer holidays, I would go with him around the world visiting companies, which was a great experience.”

Jody officially joined the company at the age of 21, learning all about the business, before leaving at the age of 24 to gain broader experiences. However, he returned at the end of 2011, at the age of 32, to take on the responsibility of vice-president. At the end of February 2015, Jody’s father died at the age of 73. “I became president then, but realistically I had been running the company since becoming vice-president, as my father had not been very well,” explains Jody. “During his 51 years as president my father’s mission was always to be one step ahead of the competitors. He came up with the slogan ‘spirit of excellence’ because, when he first went to visit the automotive OEMs, it was clear we were able to develop and produce parts other companies had said were impossible. Ever since, as a business we have thrown our heart at every challenge, to provide what the clients ask of us.”

Passionate about quality
Jody is emphatic that a big part of Brugola’s success has been its complete commitment to the very highest quality. “We have to use the best technology, the best steel, and our workers must have extensive knowledge of the production process – to produce the high-quality parts for which we are globally renowned. There are a lot of secrets we have developed over our 92 year history, which has helped us to reach the perfect balance for even the smallest parameters.”

Brugola has four production sites in Lissone, with a vast range of capabilities – enabling it to produce over 7 million parts a day. Through strong investment the company ensures it is always up to date with leading edge technology, targeted at the highest levels of productivity as well as cost optimisation. The ultimate aim is always to achieve increasingly stringent quality requirements.

“We are always developing our processes and investing in machinery to guarantee a high and consistent performance,” points out Jody. “We have highly automated production processes. A prime example is our heat treatment department, where we have five fully automatic lines that enable us to control the process for all products. Heat treatment is undoubtedly one of the crucial elements of the entire process. It gives the parts the resistance and strength demanded by the applications, which is why we have invested heavily in this area. Since the company was founded, we have proudly developed and produced to only the highest standards and through our Lean manufacturing capabilities and investment, as well as continuous improvement as a mandatory guideline, we will continue to follow this philosophy.”

Targeting the USA
In 2015 Brugola took the next step in its growth by setting up a production plant in Michigan, USA. “Since 2003 we had been shipping critical parts to the United States for an engine in a particular US car model,” explains Jody. “We realised that whilst the customer was happy with the service and product we were supplying, there was an opportunity to increase quantities as the customer had just relocated production of another model we supplied from Spain to the USA. This would have meant production and shipments to the USA doubling, increasing our transport costs significantly. That is why we decided to set up a production plant within the USA.”

Within only three years the US operation has reached 90% of the output previously produced in Italy, whilst still ensuring consistent quality products. “We brought our know-how and technology to the USA and we are already seeing the benefits,” states Jody. “In fact, the US company will grow even further as we are about to start supplying another automotive OEM customer within the US.”

Introducing the US operation also helped create extra capacity within the Italian operations. “When we opened the US site we did not cut any jobs at our Italian operations,” says Jody. “Instead we used that extra capacity to bring in new business from existing customers, as well as to work on further projects with new customers.”

Another major market for Brugola in the future will be Asia. “We have been working very hard building relationships with key Asian markets, such as China, Japan, South Korea and India,” mentions Jody. “I am confident within the next 24 months we will have started cooperations with key automotive OEMs within Asia. Our goal over the next five years is to become a truly global company and not just produce parts for the engine, but also become producers for the entire car – working with the European, US and Asian markets.”

Unique know-how
Jody is clear a key success factor over the last 92 years has been the knowledge and experience within the company. “We have operators with real depth of experience and I constantly tell them how important they are as part of the overall process. Somebody who knows the processes and products intimately can ensure the parts are being produced to the highest standards. Working on cold heading machines and threading machines requires both skill and experience. We believe everybody needs to have that knowledge of the production, whether they are operators or managers, and are able to ‘get their hands dirty’ if necessary.”

Jody adds: “A problem we are facing, which I believe is true across the industry, is that the next generation is not necessarily coming through to take on that knowledge. That is why we’re very focused on training the younger generation. I still believe there are some who are willing to learn and develop their skills, but it is up to us to help them.”

Close relationships
Being involved so closely with automotive OEMs means Brugola has been in a unique position to see and respond to the key trends within the automotive industry over the last 20 years. “The most noticeable trend from our point of view has been the downsizing of the engines,” explains Jody. “What was previously a V8 engine is now a V6, and what was a V6 is now a V4. There are also a lot of three-cylinder engines on the market now. Thanks to our close relationship with customers we have been able to work with them on these new engines and ensure we continue to supply perfect bolting solutions.”

“Over the last 25 years we have worked closely with our automotive customers to understand their needs and provide solutions. Sometimes customers will come to us with an idea regarding parts – maybe higher resistance or smaller – and we tell them whether it is feasible. We can do this thanks to the experience and the know-how we have and our production capability.”

As for new developments, a big topic within the automotive market is e-mobility, which has the potential to significantly impact Brugola’s business. So, what is the company’s strategy for the future? “I think the next 3 or 4 years will be crucial to understanding what will happen with electric vehicles. Personally, I believe the best solution for the next 10 – 15 years will be hybrid systems. However, a big consideration will be whether somebody is able to design a battery that will recharge quickly (within 15 minutes) and offer an increased range (600km plus). Another significant factor is whether people will really adapt to the new e-mobility solutions. A lot of people that like cars, like engines, and like to hear a certain kind of sound.”

Jody concludes: “I’ve always been focused on tomorrow in the automotive industry and through our commitment to ‘spirit of excellence’ we are ready to be a supplier for our customers, whether it is the engine, the body, all that it takes to build a car. We will also continue to invest in new technologies that will enable us to automate our production and take special care, and control, of the prices. Most importantly we will keep the values, beliefs and ideas that we have developed successfully over three generations.”

www.brugola.com