Bono Innovations LLC is a newly formed company specializing in the manufacture of off-road accessories. Bono Innovations LLC was formed by Ron Bonofiglio Jr. in September of 2008.
If you are reading this page, you are probably a little curious about how this whole thing got started, so here is a brief history explaining just that. I am a fairly new off-road enthusiast, and an active member of a local New England off-road club. During one of the club runs, I witnessed a fellow club member get their Jeep's engine skid plate hung-up on a good sized rock. This scenario got me to thinking that there is a need for a better skid plate. A skid plate that would protect the vehicle from impacts and not cause the vehicle to become hung-up by the obstacle. After a lot of thinking, and many many design concepts, I came up with the Roller Skid Plate. I thought that this idea might be innovative enough to get patented. After performing a very thorough patent search, I decided that the idea was innovative enough, and it had not been patented yet, so why not give it a try. I schooled myself on patent law and filed my own patent application. The patent application is currently being reviewed by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
I purchased some steel and with the help of my Uncle Skip, fabricated up a prototype skid plate. During the prototype build, new ideas were formed which made the skid plate better and easier to manufacture. The prototype was painted by a former colleague of mine and then installed on my 1998 Jeep Wrangler.
I attended a few club runs and some club trail cuts with the prototype. It worked great! The roller skid plate took a beating and held up without any problems.
In the true spirit of American entrepreneurship, I decided to start a company to manufacture and sell the roller skid plate, which has been named the "High Roller".
So far the High Roller is only designed to fit 1997 - 2002 Jeep Wranglers with manual transmissions. Designs are in the works for a version that works on automatic transmissions and 2003 - 2006 Jeep Wranglers. Depending on customer interest, designs will be made for other vehicles as well. So send in your requests by using the contact us page with a message containing which vehicle type you would like to see a High Roller designed for.
Background on Ron Bonofiglio Jr.
Of course this is written by Ron, so I will try to keep it as unbiased as possible by sticking to just the facts.
I received a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), and a Master's of Science from RPI (Rensselear Polytechnic Institue). My professional career has included various manufacturing engineering, product engineering, and operations management positions at several world class manufacturing companies over the last 15 years.
I have a very strong background in lean manufacturing principles, and six sigma quality tools. I enjoy the manufacturing environment and get a sense of accomplishment from solving complex problems and turning ideas into reality.
In 2005 I purchased my first Jeep, a 1998 Wrangler. One of the main intentions for the Jeep was to enjoy the sport of off-roading with it. Of course I wanted to wheel responsibly, so I joined a local club and got out there. It has been a great experience to meet a lot of other Jeep enthusiasts. I had no idea what a "cult like" community there was for fellow Jeepers. In fact, the entire off-roading community is something I had no idea existed until I joined. Another amazing thing I learned once I owned a Jeep, is just how customizable a Jeep is. I don't think there is any other vehicle out there with such an unlimited ability of modification. This just made the experience of owning a Jeep even more appealing to me. Tinkering with cars has always been a passion of mine, but never had I possessed such an open canvass.
Coming up with the High Roller was a lot of fun for me. I got to dig out all of my old engineering books that I hadn't used in a while to design something that hopefully will be useful to a lot of other people and will help people enjoy off-roading without the fear of damaging their vehicles.
Thanks for taking the time to find out a little bit about me, I hope it wasn't too boring.
Sincerely,
Ron
