Germany / USA – As part of its 2020 unveiling of its Intelligent Braking Platform for the trailer market, ZF Friedrichshafen AG of Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany has invested significantly in its first brake production line at its manufacturing facility in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Further underlining the company’s commitment to localising production in North America, ZF’s Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic Braking System (EBS) systems will no longer be imported from its European plants. With the introduction of ZF’s new intelligent ABS for trailers - named ‘iABS’ - ZF has localised production for the North America trailer market.  

According to Christiaan Verschueren, Vice President Trailer Systems with ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Control Systems (CVCS) division, ZF is capitalizing on the roll-out of its new Intelligent Braking System by globalising its operations even further. This is just one of the reasons for ZF’s investment in a separate production line in North America. “Achieving this has been a global company effort”, points out Verschueren, “We leveraged the Group’s extensive technology and lean manufacturing capabilities, including our end of line testing operations in India as well as ZF’s engineering expertise in Europe, to rapidly deliver a state-of-the-art production line in the USA.”