Italian brake manufacturer Brembo has announced its $100 million investment in a new cast iron facility near its Homer facilities in Michigan, beginning the process of vertically integrating its production capacity in United States. Construction will begin in 2015 and is expected to be completed in 2017, allowing Brembo to bring together all phases of production for greater process efficiency. Once completed, the plant will have an annual output of up to 80,000 tons in brake disc castings and add 250 jobs there and at the company’s Plymouth, Mich., research and develoment center and headquarters.
The realization of a new foundry in Michigan reinforces the company’s commitment to the North American market, which has grown substantially over the past five years and is slated to become Brembo’s number one geographic market by the end of 2014.
“Following the opening of our Plymouth headquarters and R&D center in 2010 and two months away from the completion of the recent Homer plant expansion, we are glad to announce this significant investment approved today, which will reinforce the link between Brembo and the United States, one of the most important automotive markets in the world,” said Alberto Bombassei, chairman, Brembo S.p.A. “The increasing number of global platforms being built by vehicle manufacturers prompts us to seek the best possible integration between the different stages of the value chain, replicating the integrated production model that we have adopted for some time now in our facilities in Italy, and recently in Poland and China.”
This investment will be financed with cash flow generated by the group and will be supported by incentives from the State of Michigan and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Brembo began its expansion in North America in 1988, but its recent growth was spurred by the purchase of the Hayes-Lemmerz Automotive Brake Component division in November 2007, when it acquired the manufacturing facility in Homer, Mich., as well as one in Apodaca, Mexico.
In 2010, Brembo opened its American headquarters and R & D Centre in Plymouth, Mich., and expanded the Homer plant earlier this year. Brembo also has a facility in Mooresville, N.C., near the headquarters of several major racing teams. Brembo’s high performance brake systems have supported F1, IndyCar, NASCAR, Le Mans and MotoGP, among others.
Will the Brembo foundry be sand molds, die casting or investment casting. Thank you for an answer