German company Knorr-Bremse has opened a new plant in Itupeva, Brazil. Covering an area of more than 32,000m2, the development, production and sales facility will replace the old plant in São Paulo and increase the brand's local capacity by around 30 per cent.
According to Knorr-Bremse, the €40 million plant is “the most up-to-date plant in the entire group. Production line efficiency, for example, has been optimised … the logistics concept for materials supply has been enhanced, and manufacturing and assembly operations have been modified to considerably shorten through-put times at the plant.”
The company also said that, “he architecture and layout of the new production facility are designed to ensure the distance between development and production is kept as short as possible.
At the opening ceremony, Heinz Hermann Thiele, owner and Supervisory Board Chairman of Knorr-Bremse, emphasised the significance of the investment for the Knorr-Bremse Group. “This factory is part of a far-reaching investment program being carried out by the Knorr-Bremse Group with the aim of modernising its global development and production network.”
Between 2011 to 2014, Knorr-Bremse is planning to invest more than €250 million in new production plants and buildings in growth markets around the world.
70 per cent of the plant are dedicated to the commercial vehicle industry. Here, the company manufactures its entire product portfolio for the South American commercial vehicle market – including brake control systems, electronic systems (ABS), air supply and treatment systems, brake cylinders, disc and drum brakes and torsional vibration dampers. For rest of the plant will be used to cater the rail vehicle market.