Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC celebrated the grand opening of its new actuator manufacturing facility based in Acuña, Mexico. The new facility marks the opening of the third manufacturing plant, expanding its Acuña operations.
The Acuña III site, located near the Bendix Acuña I and Acuña II plants, manufactures actuator products, including spring brakes and service chambers. The 67,000-square-foot former brownfield was leased by Bendix in May 2010 and has been refurbished and upgraded to meet the company’s rigorous manufacturing and quality standards for facilities, equipment, and production layout. Lean manufacturing experts have reviewed the entire production process using a Systematic Layout Planning model to ensure maximum efficiency.
“We’re very pleased to announce that the state-of-the-art Acuña III facility began production in December and has added 112 jobs to the local Acuña economy,” said John Cairo, Mexico country manager for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems. “Expanding our existing Acuña operations through the latest manufacturing site addition has enabled Bendix to further leverage corporate shared services, while maintaining lean and cost-effective manufacturing processes to allow us to remain competitive in the markets we serve.”
The Acuña III facility is expected to produce at least one million actuators per year for Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC, the joint venture of Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC and Dana Commercial Vehicle Products LLC.
Bendix designs and manufactures a complete range of service chambers, piggybacks, and combination tamper-proof spring brakes for today’s commercial vehicle market. Bendix actuators are available for all commercial vehicle makes, models, and applications.
Attending the grand opening celebration was Klaus Deller, member of the executive board of Knorr-Bremse AG; Joe McAleese, president and CEO of Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems; Walt Frankiewicz, president of Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake; Scott Burkhart, vice president and general manager of the controls group at Bendix; Steve Mance, vice president and general manager of the charging group at Bendix; Eddie Wilkinson vice president of quality and product safety at Bendix; Jorge Torres, governor of Coahuila, Mexico; Jesus Maria Ramon Valdes, a member of the Mexican Senate; Alberto Aguirre Villarreal, mayor of Acuña; and Roberto Fernandez, mayor of Del Rio, Texas.
