Bonfiglioli USA executives recently celebrated the company’s new assembly line for planetary gearboxes with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event was held December 4, 2014 at the North America headquarters in Hebron, Ky, where the assembly line is located.

In attendance were Sonia Bonfiglioli, president and CEO of Bonfiglioli Riduttori, Fausto Carboni, general manager for the company’s Mobile and Wind Business Solutions and Greg Schulte, president of Bonfiglioli North America. Joining Bonfiglioli executives on stage were Lt. Governor Crit Luallen, Judge Gary Moore of the Boone County Fiscal Court, and Trey Grayson, president of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. Numerous other state and local officials attended as well. At the ceremony, Luallen presented Bonfiglioli and Schulte with a gift from Hebron, and Moore presented them with a framed print from photographer Doug Prather.

About the assembly line
The Hebron production line is the first line of manufacturing in the U.S. for Bonfiglioli and will increase the company’s annual capacity of planetary gearboxes by about 24,000 units in the first year. With six different SKUs, the production line will create over 30 new warehouse, operations and assembly positions, with an additional 10 to 12 support positions, when at full capacity.

The facility has also integrated a state-of-the-art quality lab for testing equipment throughout the assembly process, with multiple quality checks and controls performed. The majority of product engineering will remain with the headquarters in Forli, Italy, while continuing to work closely with customers and the application engineers in Hebron to design personalized solutions for each customer.