Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC (BSFB) has unveiled a multiyear, $8.7 million expansion and improvement project at its Bowling Green, Ky., manufacturing facility. The initiative has helped lead to another annual production milestone, with the Bowling Green operation manufacturing more than 1 million foundation brakes in a 12-month period.
A joint venture between Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC and Dana Commercial Vehicle Products LLC, BSFB manufactures Bendix brand name air disc and drum brakes in Bowling Green.
“For more than a decade, Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake has led the industry in developing safer, more effective and more efficient wheel-end solutions, and those advancements have become reality at our Bowling Green facility,” said Andy Dale, Bowling Green plant manager. “This investment strengthens our commitment to highway safety technology, and has had an immediate impact on our ability to meet the continually increasing demand for Bendix foundation brakes. We raised our production volume by 67 percent in 2014, and our overall production capacity by 70 percent.”
BSFB expanded its air disc brake production capacity in 2014 through the addition of two new machining centers and 75 new jobs. Two more machining centers will be added in 2015, along with a new assembly line and an expected 15 new jobs, to further support the increasing demand for air disc brakes. Further expansion investment plans include the addition of another assembly line in 2016.
According to the company, since 2009, production levels of the Bendix ADB22X air disc brake manufactured in Bowling Green have increased more than fivefold due to the growing popularity of air disc brakes in North America. In 2014, air disc brake production rose 60 percent compared to the previous year, and in October, employees produced a plant record of nearly 35,000 air disc brakes.
The Bendix ADB22X is available through all six major truck original equipment manufacturers, including Peterbilt, Kenworth, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA), Mack, Volvo and International. The brake has been standard equipment on the steer axle of all Peterbilt Motors Company Class 8 tractors since 2011.