Bendix boasts top manufacturing ops; Announces new brake facility

ELYRIA, Ohio — Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems says it’s achieved world-class safety levels for a record fourth consecutive year in 2006 at its North American manufacturing operations, exceeding industry benchmarks in both recordable injury rates and lost workday incident rates.

Despite a 40 percent increase in overtime work hours in 2006 compared with the previous year, far-reaching internal programs combined to position Bendix, the North American leader in commercial vehicle safety and braking system technologies, among the safest workplaces in its industry.

In 2006, Bendix finished at 0.91 TCIR in recordable incidents per 100 employees, plus it completed the year at 0.00 lost workday incidents.

Some of these programs included: safety leadership training in which leadership staff and supervisors were educated on behaviors that managers and supervisors need to demonstrate to support safety and the basic tools to drive safety performance; the formation of active safety teams from among the plant-floor workforce; and a focus on ergonomic programs incorporating work cell design reviews and employee feedback.

Workplace safety is measured annually in both Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR) and Lost Workday Case Incident Rate (LWDCIR). Health, safety, and environmental professionals use TCIR as a common way to report workplace injuries and compare accident and injury statistics across industries and specific measurement periods.

Meanwhile, preparation work is currently underway to establish a state-of-the-art foundation drum and air disc brake manufacturing facility in Bowling Green, Ky., the company announced yesterday at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky.

Lean manufacturing experts have reviewed the entire production process using a Systematic Layout Planning model.

“The SLP model allows us to evaluate our current processes and then develop new and efficient processes that enable us to manufacture our products (air disc brakes and S-Cam/foundation drum brakes) in the most efficient manner possible,” said Erich Papesch of Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake, program manager for launch of the new site.