Talk about going far… Did you know that the Brugola’s fasteners, in 1969, went no less than to the Moon with Apollo 11?
Furthermore, one in four cars worldwide has ‘made in Brianza’ screws in the engine. Hard to say how far they may have gone!
The second generation: a humanist lent to industry
Officine Egidio Brugola was established back in 1926 in Lissone. Initially, the company produced bolts – washers and hexagon socket screws – but success came with its specialisation in ‘critical screws’ for car engines. This type of screw already was produced in the United States. However, Egidio Brugola was the first to mass-produce them in Italy, and he also managed to patent the name and make it coincide with that of the manufacturer. Sadly, Egidio died young, at only sixty years of age, when his son Giannantonio was only sixteen. It was his wife, Emmy Spezia, who managed the company until Giannantonio, at the age of twenty-two, finally took over. “A humanist lent to the world of industry”, as he liked to call himself, Giannantonio ensured that Officine Egidio Brugola became the first manufacturer of ‘Allen screws’ in Europe, to which he added Fasteners, special screws used first for machine tools and later in the automotive sector.
Growth and crisis
Soon, the company entered into agreements with major car manufacturers, such as Volkswagen, Renault, and Ford. Between 1996 and 2006, it experienced a major growth phase, so much so that in 2006 it opened a new logistics hub in Detroit and recorded production of almost seven million screws per day in eight hundred different models. The 2008 crisis, however, did not leave the company unscathed. To cope with the difficulties resulting from the significant drop in turnover, the Fondo Italiano d’Investimento entered the capital with a 15% share, while other partners, such as the Fontana Group and the Agrati Group, acquired a further 15%.
Back to the family
Gianantonio Brugola died at seventy-three. He is succeeded at the helm by his son Jody, born in 1979, who succeeds in realising his father’s great dream: to bring the entire ownership of the company back into the family, buying back the minority shares from the new shareholders. To think that his dream was to be an actor. Instead, in 2018, at the age of 38, he was already the youngest Commendatore al Merito of the Italian Republic.
‘The buy-back is strategic for Oeb because the group is going through a steady growth phase, ‘says finance director Alessandro Galbarini in an interview with Il Giorno. ‘A significant increase in production capacity and profitability is expected for this year and 2025. We expect a 15% increase in volumes compared to 2023, with a further +10% already planned for 2025. We will continue to invest as we have done in the past years, to grow and have more production capacity.‘
Made in Italy excellence
Today, Jody Brugola, who has his grandfather’s name (Egidio Stefano Giovanni), is President of the OEB Brugola empire, a Made in Italy outstanding company and world leader in the production of ‘zero defect critical screws’ for the automotive industry. In Lissone (MB), there are at least five production sites, a logistics hub, a site in Plymouth, Michigan, USA, which opened in 2015, and eleven logistics centres worldwide. There are a total of almost 500 employees (with a plan to hire 40 in 2024).
Congratulations to those who believe in the importance of passing on family tradition for excellence!
Discover other Made in Italy outstanding companies from Lombardy.