The story of B.B. S.r.l.
The enterprising workmanship of mechanics
B.B. S.r.l. has long enjoyed the reputation of being a dynamic company renowned for its reliability, versatility, and product safety.
From the outset, our strategy has been to design and manufacture products (including those for today’s global market) that are both competitive in terms of quality and adaptability as well as suited to the broad range of applications demanded by our ever-increasing number of customers.
Creators of innovative products, we at B.B. have maintained superlative technological standards while doggedly focusing on offering the guarantees this type of work requires, ensuring continuity in the seamless transition from artisanal to large-scale production.
It all began in the1950s. Our story is as typical as it is extraordinary: after extensive work experience ranging from the technical up to management level in an important precision mechanics company in Bologna, owner and founder Luigi Bergonzoni (together with his extraordinary business partner Tonino Bendini) decided to patent a selection of his own designs.
As we’ve just stated, ours is both a typical and an extraordinary story: Emilia in northern Italy was, in the post-War era, a region of mechanics and car engines, where young technicians, designers, and workers also became entrepreneurs. This entire process was underpinned by their sense of duty and sacrifice, first of all in their renowned technology colleges and then in their ability to create a network of mechanical workshops from scratch. Many of these entrepreneurs were destined to become the leaders of a new breed of industrialists who would go on to worldwide success.
Bergonzoni, who firmly belongs to that era, ushered in a new “way of thinking” and a new approach to design and invention, the result of his remarkable imagination.
Even though B.B. started out manufacturing a motley range of products (including screws for scooters and reduction units for agricultural machinery), it rapidly specialised and grew into a manufacturing brand celebrated both in Italy and abroad for its (then) left-field idea of injecting “ingenuity” into the design formula – an ingenuity that nevertheless refused to compromise when it came to the distinctive quality that a product like ours demands. Steadily over time (and most notably since the 1970s), the company embarked on the production of a range of successful, high-end products of ever-greater precision. These products, which include the recirculating ball screws that rapidly achieved the enormous success they continue to enjoy today,
At the heart of B.B. products
The “niche market” broadens
Just as the world is rediscovering a new “old industrial craftsmanship” model, the so-called niche market is expanding, inspiring fresh dynamism and taking the concept of globality to greater heights thanks to competitive pricing and inspired product proposals. Knowing how to offer fast, adaptable solutions is both the company’s core element and, above all, its driving force.
B.B. products – recirculating ball screws, precision rolled and ground screws, and gear mechanisms – are at the very heart of machine tools.
Thanks to over fifty years’ experience and an ability to “listen and interpret” in order to adapt and reinvent, the B.B. brand not only offers unique products that are constantly being tested and enhanced but also explores new ways of guaranteeing reliability.
We provide rapid services for companies working in the Italian market as well as large multinationals, all of whom need prompt solutions and swiftly delivered spare parts (as well as repairs and replacements) to keep assembly lines running smoothly and efficiently.
We are also providing more and more personalised, tailor-made products. Our stock of semi-finished products is updated in real time, and able to handle the most diverse applications. All this at competitive prices while maintaining standards of excellence and control.
Even though we started out as contract manufacturers (working for companies who designed and built their own machine tools) what drives our growth today is our constant commitment to adaptability and our capacity to follow and, above all, be one step ahead of major market trends.
The “niche market” broadens
Just as the world is rediscovering a new “old industrial craftsmanship” model, the so-called niche market is expanding, inspiring fresh dynamism and taking the concept of globality to greater heights thanks to competitive pricing and inspired product proposals. Knowing how to offer fast, adaptable solutions is both the company’s core element and, above all, its driving force.
B.B. products – recirculating ball screws, precision rolled and ground screws, and gear mechanisms – are at the very heart of machine tools.
Thanks to over fifty years’ experience and an ability to “listen and interpret” in order to adapt and reinvent, the B.B. brand not only offers unique products that are constantly being tested and enhanced but also explores new ways of guaranteeing reliability.
We provide rapid services for companies working in the Italian market as well as large multinationals, all of whom need prompt solutions and swiftly delivered spare parts (as well as repairs and replacements) to keep assembly lines running smoothly and efficiently.
We are also providing more and more personalised, tailor-made products. Our stock of semi-finished products is updated in real time, and able to handle the most diverse applications. All this at competitive prices while maintaining standards of excellence and control.
Even though we started out as contract manufacturers (working for companies who designed and built their own machine tools) what drives our growth today is our constant commitment to adaptability and our capacity to follow and, above all, be one step ahead of major market trends.
Clearly, customers are pivotal to our company and our business for two reasons: first, they require an immediate response to requests of the most diverse and targeted kind, and, second, they provide the inspiration for new studies and research within and beyond the industry sector. This is why B.B. is excited and proud to take its place in a market and industrial technology sector while privileging a broader vision of theoretical and practical applications and not just focusing on competition, competitiveness, and rivalry.
Customisation. We listen, and then interpret
Customisation. We listen, and then interpret
Clearly, customers are pivotal to our company and our business for two reasons: first, they require an immediate response to requests of the most diverse and targeted kind, and, second, they provide the inspiration for new studies and research within and beyond the industry sector. This is why B.B. is excited and proud to take its place in a market and industrial technology sector while privileging a broader vision of theoretical and practical applications and not just focusing on competition, competitiveness, and rivalry.
People first, then the market
It may seem academic to even speak about human resources, but here at B.B. we are convinced that it is individuals, the parts they play and the parts they make, who define a company, regardless of the type of business. Rather than an asset, we prefer to think of this as a unique form of energy driving the company forward, compared to mere technology or the strength of capacity at the company’s disposal. We believe that “competences” derive from the importance we give to people and their rights first and foremost, followed by their duties, their abilities, and their roles.
The reins of business have passed through the hands of at least two generations who have handed on their experience and dedication to their work. Yet B.B. is now also a new company, ready to put its name and reputation on the line and take up fresh challenges and explore uncharted waters.
Luigi Bergonzoni’s children and their children as well, together with many long-standing employees and fresh young students from Bologna’s technical schools, strive to “leave something behind” for the next generation and the future labour market, and as such define a much broader idea of enterprise.
People first, then the market
It may seem academic to even speak about human resources, but here at B.B. we are convinced that it is individuals, the parts they play and the parts they make, who define a company, regardless of the type of business. Rather than an asset, we prefer to think of this as a unique form of energy driving the company forward, compared to mere technology or the strength of capacity at the company’s disposal. We believe that “competences” derive from the importance we give to people and their rights first and foremost, followed by their duties, their abilities, and their roles.
The reins of business have passed through the hands of at least two generations who have handed on their experience and dedication to their work. Yet B.B. is now also a new company, ready to put its name and reputation on the line and take up fresh challenges and explore uncharted waters.
Luigi Bergonzoni’s children and their children as well, together with many long-standing employees and fresh young students from Bologna’s technical schools, strive to “leave something behind” for the next generation and the future labour market, and as such define a much broader idea of enterprise.
Society, in the making
We are here, but we can reach the entire world
Our headquarters are strategically located in Casalecchio di Reno, a major road, rail, and air transport hub in the heartland of the industrial area that defined the history of machine tool production in Italy. We are gradually transforming, restructuring, and innovating our offices, workshops, and, not least, communications sector – we feel, after all, that our productive offshoots and new branches are as important as our roots, and perhaps even more so.
Our screws are used in a wide variety of sectors and can be found the world over. Besides providing products for leading manufacturers of machine tools, B.B. also provides products for wood and sheet metal working machines, presses, flexographic printing, as well as many other applications in robotics and the shipping industry.
From Italy to the United States and in areas as remote as China, Tibet, and Kazakhstan, our special products for railway switches are made to operate in the severest of temperatures, flawlessly withstanding extremes of heat and cold. They are simply designed to last, whatever the context.
We are here, but we can reach the entire world
Our headquarters are strategically located in Casalecchio di Reno, a major road, rail, and air transport hub in the heartland of the industrial area that defined the history of machine tool production in Italy. We are gradually transforming, restructuring, and innovating our offices, workshops, and, not least, communications sector – we feel, after all, that our productive offshoots and new branches are as important as our roots, and perhaps even more so.
Our screws are used in a wide variety of sectors and can be found the world over. Besides providing products for leading manufacturers of machine tools, B.B. also provides products for wood and sheet metal working machines, presses, flexographic printing, as well as many other applications in robotics and the shipping industry.
From Italy to the United States and in areas as remote as China, Tibet, and Kazakhstan, our special products for railway switches are made to operate in the severest of temperatures, flawlessly withstanding extremes of heat and cold. They are simply designed to last, whatever the context.
For some time now, B.B. has been broadening its scope to include training, education, and other activities. We regularly collaborate with secondary technical institutions in Emilia (providing internships in our production facilities for specialised in-house training) and the University of Bologna (providing research assistance for graduate theses on our recirculating ball screws, among other things).
Last but not least, B.B. puts the same determination and sense of purpose into actively supporting social and cultural initiatives promoting solidarity campaigns, exhibitions, and artistic events. This is just the start of a long-term process that we hope will further define a company that considers the world of work to be part of everything that surrounds us, of our existence, of our shared heritage.
A company that looks to the future
A company that looks to the future
For some time now, B.B. has been broadening its scope to include training, education, and other activities. We regularly collaborate with secondary technical institutions in Emilia (providing internships in our production facilities for specialised in-house training) and the University of Bologna (providing research assistance for graduate theses on our recirculating ball screws, among other things).
Last but not least, B.B. puts the same determination and sense of purpose into actively supporting social and cultural initiatives promoting solidarity campaigns, exhibitions, and artistic events. This is just the start of a long-term process that we hope will further define a company that considers the world of work to be part of everything that surrounds us, of our existence, of our shared heritage.
This post is also available in: Italian
