Bendix celebrates 70-year legacy

THIS year marks the seventieth anniversary of brake pad manufacturer Bendix in Australia, beginning operations in Ballarat in 1955.

The organisation is set to commemorate its success in the automotive industry with several events, including a public open day in November with a visit from the Bendix Racing Team.

“Considering manufacturing’s a tough game in Australia and you’ve got your Holden, your Ford and your Toyota and all those have shut up shop… to be an automative manufacturer still producing world class product out of Australia is a pretty significant event,” head of manufacturing Tony Simmons said.

Bendix began as Mintex Limited in 1955 operating from a four-acre site with equipment to produce strip moulded linings and pressings.

By 1961, 51 per cent of the company was acquired by the Bendix Corporation of United States and the company began to manufacture disc brake pads.

Bendix secured its first original equipment contract two years later with General Motors Holden and by 1967 they were the exclusive supplier of brake linings to the company.

Throughout the decades, Bendix expanded with warehouses in Sydney and Singapore, and the development of home-built Troika presses.

By the early 1980s, the workforce had grown to more than 300 people and Bendix products were sold under other brand names in the United States and Canada.

By the end of the decade, the company was exporting to more than 40 countries.

In the 1990s, a purpose-built laboratory was added to allow engineers to test brakes under simulated conditions and by 1994, there were more than 800 employees.

With the demise of the local automotive industry, Bendix began to focus on the auto aftermarket and new products for emerging markets.

Mr Simmons said the success of Bendix could be attributed to the people who work for the company.

“A lot of people have worked here for a long time. I’m 31 years this year and there’s people who have been here longer than that.

“There’s a strong team of people that know the game and are passionate.

“For a small team, we punch well above our weight against the world.”

Specialised grinding equipment has recently been installed in Ballarat and about 120 people are currently employed by the company.

“The Australian car market has become very populated. Nearly any car that’s sold in the world is sold in Australia,” Mr Simmons said.

“Every different vehicle on the road has different sets of brake pads so we don’t have that mass production in Australia, our market is more off smaller volumes spread across a wide variety of vehicles.

“I’s really investing in getting that flexibility to do that small lot manufacturing.”