2011 was a major milestone for Brembo, as the company celebrated 50 years of business studded with extraordinary technological, sporting and commercial successes. On January 11 1961, Emilio Bombassei and Italo Breda founded Officine Meccaniche di Sombreno, the original progenitor of today's Brembo. Already with them was the current group president Alberto Bombassei, who was just twenty years old at the time. This was the beginning of a half century long adventure that has led Brembo to become the undisputed leader in the braking system market. Brembo started to produce brake discs for cars in 1964 and brake systems for motorcycles in 1972, while in 1975 the company ventured into Formula 1, supplying its own braking systems for Ferrari GP cars.
During this half century, through technological innovation and continuous research into materials and manufacturing processes, Brembo has become one of the world's most prestigious brands.
In 1995, Brembo was listed on the Milan stock exchange and inaugurated a strategy for growth and internationalisation, which would soon lead the company to exceed a billion Euros in turnover, operating with 36 plants in 15 different countries and a workforce of more than 6000 employees. Today, Brembo is a constantly growing industrial concern celebrating its first 50 years of quality and innovation, and a group that is more than ready to tackle the new challenges of the market.
Brembo is now a fully fledged multinational with operations in three continents and production facilities in twelve countries. It also has commercial branches in Sweden, France and Germany and markets its products in a remarkable seventy nations worldwide. The group has a workforce of more than 6000 employees, approximately 10% of whom engineers and product specialists engaged in vital research and development activities.
Each year, new human and manufacturing resources are taken on by the different Brembo branches around the world, especially in emerging and developing markets.
The primary goal of Brembo's strategy of international expansion is to establish a presence in the countries where the group's main clients have production plants, so that its products may be supplied more rapidly and more efficiently.
In its 50 years of existence, Brembo has secured a prestigious place for itself in the automotive braking system sector. This position can only be held through continuous innovation in products and services, maintaining the highest possible quality levels, offering competitive prices and focusing the utmost attention on safety, individual and public health and respect for the environment. The group's Quality, Safety and Environment policy expresses Brembo's commitment to client satisfaction and ongoing improvement.
The Kilometro Rosso Science and Technology Park situated next to the A4 motorway just outside Bergamo, is centre of excellence hosting companies, research centres, laboratories, high-tech manufacturing concerns and services dedicated to innovation. This multidisciplinary centre is a campus that makes diversity a strength and promotes dialogue between the academic, entrepreneurial and scientific worlds. It also encourages cooperation and specialisation, adopting a multidisciplinary approach to explore the new frontiers of science and technology.
Edge technology, attracting businesses with a highly innovative outlook, as well as scientific institutes and research and development centres operating in the most advanced fields. This centre stimulates growth in the innovative capacity of products, processes and services and contributes to raising the technological level of the businesses themselves by encouraging them to pursue a path of radical innovation and experimentation.
Kilometro Rosso is already one of the most important science parks in Italy, and has been accredited by CENSIS (2009 report) as one of the ten most outstanding initiatives for innovation in Italy. It has been chosen as the site for a number of important research and development, high-tech production and advanced service initiatives, and now accommodates no less than 1,500 employees. The prospects for the future are even more ambitious: within 5 or 6 years, the Park will be the place of work of no less than 3,000 researchers and highly qualified personnel, and will host 50-60 companies, research centres and laboratories.
Every research centre, business and laboratory operating in the Park benefits from the ideal conditions to develop all the synergies, collaborations and relations vital to its activities, and may make use of a comprehensive array of shared services representing a substantial added value.
Kilometro Rosso is a genuine interdisciplinary research and technology district, which promotes cross-sector interaction and the integration of knowledge. This is why the Park has already been chosen as the site for a number of research and development centres, as well as for high-tech production concerns spanning different disciplines and sectors. Among many others, these include: the Brembo Research Centre (mechatronics, sensor technology and mechanical engineering), the SGL Carbon Ceramic Brakes laboratories (created as a result of a joint venture with the Daimler-Mercedes group and engaged in the field of ceramic based composites), Petroceramics (a spin-off of the University of Milan, engaged in the R&D of advanced ceramic materials and in treatments for geomaterials), Intellimech (mechatronics - pre-competitive platforms for infra-sector applications: the largest initiative of its kind in Italy), the R&D Centre of the Italcementi Group (“i.Lab” – advanced materials and chemistry), the new laboratories of the Mario Negri Institute (biotechnology) and the Innovation Centre of the University of Bergamo.