Brembo to build $100M foundry in Mich.

HOMER, Mich. (July 23, 2014) — Brembo S.p.A. is investing $100 million to build a cast iron foundry near its Homer brake and caliper manufacturing plant.

Brembo said the expansion is part of its effort to vertically integrate its production processes. The foundry will allow Brembo “to bring together all phases of production in order to guarantee greater process efficiency,” the company said.

 Once construction is completed, the approximately 323,000-sq.-ft. facility will have an annual output of up to 80,000 metric tons of brake disc castings. Construction will begin in 2015 and is expected to be completed in 2017.

The foundry, along with engineering and technical offices and warehouse space, will create 250 jobs at the foundry and at the company's Brembo North America Inc. R&D center and headquarters in Plymouth, Mich.

“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 Brembo S.p.A Chairman Alberto Bombassei.

“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.”

The investment will be financed with cash flow generated by the company, along with $3.5 million in 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 of 2007 when it acquired the manufacturing facility in Homer, as well as one in Apodaca, Mexico.

In 2010, Brembo opened its U.S. division headquarters and R&D center in Plymouth and earlier this year it expanded the Homer plant.