Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems shares that investments made in air disc brake (ADB) production over the past several years have resulted in 100% growth in its ADB production dating back to 2018, with a more than 30% increase in volume realized to date.
According to Bendix, the ADB market for commercial vehicles in North America continues to expand, with adoption rates on Class 6-8 vehicles now exceeding 50% – up from approximately 25% in 2018.
Bendix produces the ADB22X and ADB22X-LT air disc brakes at its wheel-end manufacturing operation in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
According to Aaron Schwass, Bendix vice president for wheel-end North America, the investments help in three key areas. Firstly, some of the investments were part of a 130,000-square-foot expansion completed at its Bowling Green facility in 2020. Bendix says the funds will also help the company focus on doubling the operation’s production capacity and addressing customer need. The third key focus area was an increase in supplier capacity, both in product-specific tooling and supplier development, to enable the supply base to sustain the level needed to support Bendix’s internal capacity.
“Bendix has the largest installed air disc brake assembly capacity in North America for the commercial vehicle market thanks to our sustained investment focus over the years,” Schwass said. “That position is further bolstered with strategic levers that have put us in position to meet current and future ADB demand.”
Specifically, Bendix says the installation of a high-volume assembly line increased ADB assembly capacity by more than 40%. The company also expanded its resources with additional machining capacity to support the increased volumes.
In addition, Schwass cited the co-locating of some R&D personnel and test equipment in the Bowling Green facility to help expand the capability and efficiency of the plant. Beyond Bowling Green, Bendix invested in the capability of air disc brake aftermarket operations at its Huntington, Indiana, facility.
