A company that sets things in motion in the heart of the Modena Motor Valley. Bieffe Project boasts over 60 highly-skilled professionals and a conspicuous female presence. Today, clients entrust this Emilian gem with all design and validation phases of vehicles. For FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti interviews Franco Bonavigo, owner and sole administrator of Bieffe Project
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
There are companies with a heart that beats strongly. And the one we are about to illustrate has the beating of a roaring engine. But, behind that endless sound, there is a lot of study, research and team work, as is always the case in the Modena Motor Valley. This is the story of Bieffe Project, an advanced engineering company boasting over twenty years of experience. It was set up in 2002 in Modena as a service company for the mechanical design and engineering consultancy in the automotive and manufacturing sector. Franco Bonavigo was the one who had the intuition, the owner and sole administrator who has always been enamoured with that roaring engine. Therefore Bonavigo, thanks to the experience acquired in the design of high-performance cars, set up a technological business and became a certified supplier to the leading world car manufacturers. No sooner said than done. But there were lots of obstacles that needed to be overcome. And lots of goals to be achieved. Today, Bieffe Project takes care of all phases of a project starting from style to virtual validation, passing through product and process engineering and manufacturing. It started with general design and, over time, it specialized in the manufacturing of frames and bodies. Then the technology and structural calculations departments were added to design. Everything started with aluminium frames, then steel ones were introduced, followed by hybrid and carbon fibre bodies and frames. Then came the combination of these same elements. But there is even more. A prototyping department with milling machines and 3D printers was added to the bodywork department in 2016.
Over the years, direct clients included global excellences such as: Ferrari, Maserati, Stellantis, Bugatti-Rimac, AstonMartin, VWgroup, Lamborghini, Magna, Segula.
Ongoing research. The company has two facilities. We have the headquarters in via Emilia Ovest, plus a production and quick prototyping laboratory featuring plastic and resin 3D printers, numerical control machines and high-definition scanners. Bieffe employs over sixty highly-skilled professionals, over 40% of which are engineers following the entire car design part, with a female presence of 21%. A two-figure data that represents a success for an engineering company. «We created the Befoolish3D division from scratch as part of R&D activities. It is a constantly-expanding innovative laboratory that combines hi-tech with skills. Here, we physically bring projects to life, using design for additive manufacturing and industry 4.0 technologies,» explains Bonavigo. Befoolish3D is equipped with modern 3D printers, state-of-the-art scanners and precision mills ideal for the prototyping of small series. Looking to the future, always in a rush but with a knowledge that makes the difference: over the past few years, the R&D department filed as many as five patents in the new mobility, biomedical and 3D printing fields.
People at the centre. Train to grow. The company takes part in international research projects and collaborates with the most prestigious Italian and European engineering faculties. «Our core business is the design part but, with an eye to an ongoing and global development plan, we are aiming to launching a hydrogen-fuelled prototype. We check type approvals with our external suppliers so as to carry out all checks on the approval limitations of vehicles. Once the vehicle is in production, we keep working on it to reduce costs,» stresses Bonavigo.People first, technologies second. «Teams are what counts the most, as people are what makes a company. For each new sector, we have had to find expert engineers who in turn trained the young resources who have then grown with us. It took twenty years to build up such a team. Today, Bieffe boasts excellent figures recognized by technicians on an international level. But there is even more: we have the skills needed to manufacture cars with low or high production volumes, racing cars as well as special and one-off versions. In addition, thanks to the experience of some of the people on our team, clients are increasingly asking us to manage aspects that go beyond design, i.e. identify people in charge with project timing and work organization,» adds Bonavigo. Before setting off on a long journey and covering many miles, you need to listen. And then study, experiment and make.
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