Newfren produces its own line of brake shoes, brake pads, brake discs and clutch discs near Turin and at its own factory in Tunisia.
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| Newfren has invested heavily in new manufacturing technology at its 10,000 sq m site near Turin. |
Founded in the 1950s by Alessandro Barbero, the company is still in family ownership with Valter Barbero at the helm, and in recent years has invested heavily in new manufacturing technology at its 10,000 sq m site near Turin and 3,000 sq m facility in Tunisia.
Ahead of industry requirements where environmental manufacturing and compound formula requirements are concerned, Newfren has been granted UNI EN ISO 9001-2000 certification for their quality control systems and ABE certification from the German KBA for many of their products.
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| Newfren's 3,000 sq m facility in Tunisia. |
Speaking with Valter Barbero on the Newfren booth at EICMA last year, it was clear that he sees his company's ability to achieve advanced recognition status for its processes and product quality as central to success in an always competitive and ever-changing market.
"As an aftermarket as well as OEM supplier we have to ensure that our procedures meet the very highest standards at all times", Valter said. "So, in the early 2000s we started to certify our own ISO 9001 processes and have subsequently also met the updated ISO 9001:2015 standard.
"It is interesting though, because while manufacturers are familiar with what an ISO standard means, it is surprising how many industry customers, and especially consumers, still do not fully realise just how high the quality bar is set for a manufacturer to reach the standards - it is the ultimate assurance of product quality, and nothing could be more important where brake components are concerned, but there is still uncertainty about exactly what these standards mean.
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| Recently launched PRO RACE brake shoes. |
"ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies, a non-governmental organisation that comprises standards bodies from more than 160 countries, with one standards body representing each member country.
"The ISO rules determine the requirements of a management system to certify the quality for an organisation. The monitored requirements are of a general nature and can be implemented by any type of organisation. The ISO 9001 is the reference standard for those who want to submit their production process to quality control.
"The start-point for defining the requirements are the needs that the customer has of a product, and the monitoring and standards of the entire production process flow upwards from that - the consumer's needs for a safe and reliable product are at the focus of ISO 9001 in terms of how they apply to a brake component manufacturer. Every activity, application and monitoring of activities and processes is aimed at determining the maximum satisfaction of the end user.
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| Valter Barbero, seen here in the middle at Newfren's 2018 EICMA booth. |
"Next to the evolution of the processes to achieve that there is then the development of the products themselves. Here at Newfren we continue to adapt our product lines to the demands of the market and the performance of new vehicles."
During 2019 Newfren demonstrated its ongoing development of new products that are tuned to the needs of the market with the launch of what has been described as a revolutionary line of PRO RACE brake shoes, and as of September 2019 Newfren will be introducing a new line of Turin made off-road brake discs.
"People sometimes think that ISO is a single, settled and static concept, but it isn't. In the motorcycle industry we all live and work in a dynamic business environment, and ISO is as much about preparing for the manufacturing challenges of the future as it is about proving the quality of the way things have been done. ISO is a platform that allows a manufacturer to move forward with R&D and to meet new business opportunities and customer requirements with confidence."
www.newfren.com
