Bendix Unveils Cutting-Edge Manufacturing Facility in Acuña, Mexico

Sign up for our weekly email to stay on top of the latest news and insights!

Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC celebrates the grand opening of a new production facility in Acuña, Mexico. The 185,000-square-foot plant will use highly automated manufacturing processes to produce two emerging, next-generation technologies: Global Scalable Brake Control (GSBC) and Global Scalable Air Treatment (GSAT). Production on the new lines has begun and is slated to expand on a staggered, multiyear schedule.

Key Highlights

• New 185,000-square-foot facility in Acuña, Mexico.
• Production of Global Scalable Brake Control (GSBC) and Global Scalable Air Treatment (GSAT) technologies.
• Highly automated processes with advanced robotics and technical skills.
• A step towards greater automation and high-tech assembly.
• Part of Knorr-Bremse’s BOOST 2026 program.
• Partnership with Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Acuña (ITSA) for education and talent development.

The facility represents the latest step in the ongoing expansion of the bustling, multisite Acuña operation. Opened in 1988, the campus engages in manufacturing, remanufacturing, and assembly across a wide range of products – antilock braking systems (ABS), air dryers, compressors, valves, actuators, and integrated vehicle modules.

“We’re proud to unveil this new plant, which is the physical manifestation of the move toward greater automation and high-tech assembly at our Acuña operation,” said Piotr Sroka, Bendix president, chief executive officer, and chief operating officer. “Reaching this milestone is the result of an ongoing, concerted effort over the last eight years to increase the sophistication of the operation across a range of products – and doing so with Bendix’s signature product performance, quality, and reliability.”

Sroka continued, “Most importantly, as customers are always at the center of our thinking, the increasing high-tech production capabilities in Acuña improve our productivity and give us the added flexibility to respond to the growing demands of our OEM and fleet customers – including meeting and exceeding their delivery expectations. The new facility is the latest example of our manufacturing operations evolution – here in North America and around the globe – in step with the changing commercial vehicle marketplace.”

Sroka noted that the opening of the newest Acuña facility is not just a manufacturing showcase, but also another key milestone in Knorr-Bremse’s – the Munich, Germany-based parent company of Bendix – company-wide program BOOST 2026 (Knorr-Bremse Operational Optimization Strategy and Transformation). The global program brings together an array of existing strategic initiatives, all with the same goals: to guide Knorr-Bremse along a trajectory of sustainable growth in the years to come, and to foster innovations and new technologies.

High-Tech Home

Bendix Acuña’s remarkable record of achievements over more than 35 years includes growth initiatives and expansion of its high-tech production capabilities with outstanding safety and quality records. That record, along with the development of the management and leadership team strength, made Acuña a prime location to elevate those capabilities further by using advanced automation in the manufacture of GSBC and GSAT.

GSBC and GSAT are brake control and air treatment modular global systems that are designed to be adapted to customer needs in various markets. The high integration of base and advanced technologies enables more flexible installation options, making adaptability to different vehicle platform requirements and needs easier. In addition, GSBC and GSAT advanced capabilities and diagnostics enable the groundwork for automated driving.

“In manufacturing GSBC and GSAT products, we will take advantage of the stability, knowledge, skill sets, and strong quality and safety records we have cultivated here,” said Jacqueline Perez, Bendix senior director of operations in Mexico. “Also, since Acuña already builds all Bendix valves and air dryers currently, we are well positioned to manufacture GSBC and GSAT – the next generation of those products – with both the space and capability to make that happen.”

The lines are being built from a global design by Knorr-Bremse.

“Bendix is installing the lines in a space with strict environmental controls and on specially designed antistatic flooring because of the electronic components being produced there,” Perez said. “The new facility is very heavily automated – using robotics and employing operators with advanced technical skills. It is the most advanced plant at the Acuña location and stands alone in sophistication among the facilities of the many other manufacturers in the Acuña area. We will look to it to help enhance productivity, increase precision, and ensure a continuous degree of quality. It’s the culmination to date of everything Bendix has strived to do in the operation.”

At the same time, the new plant is the latest opportunity for Bendix Acuña to support education and develop local talent for the future, an ongoing commitment of the operation.

“Bendix is proud to establish a partnership with Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Acuña (ITSA), a local university, by launching the first dual-education apprenticeship program with the institution to host five students for one year, focused in the new plant,” said Reginaldo Olivo, plant manager of the new facility. “In this partnership, we have created a rotation program covering fields like operations, quality, supply chain, manufacturing engineering, and maintenance. This program will allow these students to develop in a working environment, gaining the necessary exposure for their future, while also providing Bendix the opportunity to prepare our future engineers.”

A hallmark of Acuña has been the active, ongoing investment in its manufacturing campus by Bendix, the North American leader in the development and manufacture of active safety, air management, and braking system technologies for commercial vehicles. Since 2016, funds totaling mid-double-digit millions have been allocated for overall facilities improvements and strategic expansions aimed at broadening product lines and making the production floor even more lean, state-of-the-art, defect-resistant, and safe.

The new plant moves the Acuña campus another step closer to the most advanced manufacturing operations across the global Knorr-Bremse network. Bendix will hire an estimated 200 employees for the facility, bringing the Acuña workforce to approximately 2,000 people.

Acuña represents one of the fastest-growing Bendix manufacturing sites, and executives of Knorr-Bremse consider it a model manufacturing facility. Knorr-Bremse honored the Acuña operation as its top-ranked plant in 2011.