Expanding Bendix global engineering capabilities, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems and Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake recently held a grand opening celebration of its new Technical Center in Monterrey, Mexico.
Located within an existing building at the Research and Technological Innovation Park (PIIT), the 7,800 sq.-ft. center helps further expand Bendix’s North American presence by driving research and development across the expansive Bendix portfolio of integrated products and solutions, the company says.
The Monterrey-based team — working in tandem with Bendix and Knorr-Bremse engineering colleagues across North America and worldwide, respectively — will help advance new and emerging technologies to deliver more value to the company’s global customers and further strengthen its global presence. The Knorr-Bremse Group is Bendix’s Munich-based parent company.
The projects undertaken at the center will support the entire Bendix product portfolio. The efforts of the Monterrey-based engineering team will help reinforce the company’s ongoing initiatives as well as to address the unprecedented introduction of emerging commercial vehicle technologies, including vehicle electrification, automated and autonomous vehicles, and the ongoing search for greater fuel efficiency, Bendix says.
“Our legacy and future are built on the innovation and expertise of our engineering teams that work around the world to maintain a strong and hands-on relationship aimed at bolstering our existing expertise and long-term strategic impact,” says Richard Beyer, vice president, engineering and R&D, Bendix.
“Mexico, where our industry manufactures more than a third of its commercial vehicle tractors and trailers, has been a vital part of Bendix’s business for 30 years, dating to the establishment of manufacturing operations in Acuña in May 1988. Today, through this center located in Monterrey, we can further enhance our presence in North America and expand our engineering footprint,” Beyer says.
Bendix’s headquarters in Elyria, Ohio, will remain the company’s engineering and R&D leadership hub. The company also maintains engineering operations in Acuña, Mexico; Irvine, Calif; Kalamazoo, Mich; and Vancouver, British Columbia.
“One of the fundamental goals of this technical center is to help develop and validate new applied safety technologies for commercial vehicles, increase overall value for our customers and drive the competitiveness of our engineering,” says Juan Carlos Mellado, Bendix director of product engineering — Mexico. “We can achieve this by incorporating a solid group of highly skilled engineers from numerous universities into our team, leveraging their wide-ranging experience in developing and shaping transportation technologies for today and tomorrow.”
Mellado adds, “We will also develop and maintain a close working relationship with prestigious local universities renowned for their technical experience, such as ITESM, UANL and UdeM, in addition to the CONACYT’s research centers. Our location in the Research and Technological Innovation Park is of fundamental importance in ensuring the success of our new technical center.”
