«My work has always been about research. Everything I did over these 60 years of business was to ease the operator’s work.»
It all started in the Fifties in a small Italian town called Fosdondo di Correggio, located in the province of Reggio Emilia. There, Olmes Ognibene invested his first savings in a workshop and, inspired by his inventive mind and passion for mechanics, at the young age of 25 built his first tractor. He named it Carioca.
The presentation of Carioca on May 1, 1948 during a parade throughout the streets of the town marked the start of the journey for Ognibene Power, even though the official registration in the Chamber of Commerce came a few years later, in 1953.
In the early years and with wife Amneris by his side, Olmes largely focused on building tractors and small farming machinery at the artisanal level. However, it was not too long before the business underwent a transformation. Olmes was a good reader of what the market wanted and started producing trailers for transport of crawler tractors, loaders, plows, bulldozers, rippers, flatbeds and machinery for the wine sector.
In the Seventies, Olmes took a number of important decisions that changed the trajectory of his company and ultimately propelled it to the forefront of the mobile hydraulic industry:
・He fabricates a hydraulic system for a plow and starts to explore the possibilities of hydraulic technology.
・In 1971, he gets his son Claudio involved in the company; he was a minor at the time (a 15-year-old student) but judicial emancipation is granted and he is able to sign legal documents and work proactively alongside his father.
A decade later, in the Eighties, Claudio began to build on the legacy of that first hydraulic system Olmes had created and went on to develop two generations of hydraulic cylinders, a move that defined the identity of Ognibene Power from that point on.
In the Nineties, the company’s hydraulic steering system components (actuators and steering units) for off-highway vehicles drove the growth of the company, ultimately propelling it into the international arena in the 2000s. In 1997, Ognibene Power receives Europe's 500 Job Creating Companies Award due to increasing sales volumes and rapid growth rate.
The company began to expand the business beyond borders from 2005, opening manufacturing facilities in Brazil (2005), India (2006, in Pune and Rajpura), China (2007), and the U.S. (2010, in North Carolina), and two branch offices in Japan (2014) and Germany (2019). In 2018, the innovative product DPS™ – Digital Power Steering received the “Technical Innovation” award during EIMA.
Today, Ognibene is an Italian-owned company and among the world’s top manufacturers of hydraulic and mechatronic steering systems, serving OEMs in the agricultural, material handling and construction equipment sectors. The company also makes suspension systems for luxury sports cars.
After 70 years of business, Claudio (President), his sister Cristina (Vice-president), and his daughter Irene (member of the Board of Directors) continue to embody the values of the company. Thought of as a family when Olmes started it, the company has passed down the legacy from generation to generation with its heart grounded on Olmes’ teachings and its gaze on the future.
0
m in revenue
0
people
0
patent families
0
m vehicles outfitted
0
trademark families
0
m invested in manufacturing
A company is only as strong as its foundation. Our company has grown, reinvented itself and, through constant research into hydraulic systems, has brought innovation by building on the solid ground of a clear vision, a strong mission and unshakable values.
«At Ognibene, we are intent on continuing to expand our business globally, focusing competitiveness on the evolution of innovative technologies and on our strengthening of our strategic role in the market. We believe in the profoundly collaborative work of our teams and what it can do to elevate us to higher levels of excellence in the future.»
Offering superior quality products and services is the road to stay close to customers. We achieve this closeness by responding to their needs when it comes to products, but also by being the partner that invests in proximity as the strategy for a sustainable manufacturing process from start to finish.
Our mission is to provide innovative solutions that meet the needs of our customers around the world.
We are committed to growth and results with the awareness that we have a high responsibility toward the environment and the local community.
We are devoted to creating and developing long-lasting relationships, offering customers superior quality services to support our products on a global level.
Our guiding principles are:
• Teamwork and mutual trust at every level of the organization
• Constant improvement at every stage and in every activity
• Risk analysis and prevention of problems before they manifest
Our values are what we care about, what we believe in, and are the basis of our decision-making and our priorities. To the outside world, they are the reflection of who we are.
The distinctive values that set us apart are:
• Passion
• Integrity
• Quality
• Commitment
• Innovation
All trademarks, company names or logos cited here are the property of their respective owners and do not infringe any patent, trademark, copyright, license or any other proprietary right of any third party.
(*)TIER II SUPPLIER