Madras Engineering Industries (MEI) has been a prominent and preferred OEM source for safety critical products. During 2006 when the Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) was revised to include ‘auto brake adjustment’ as a mandatory requirement, MEI was the only Indian company which had products validated and approved by OEMs.
MEI had commenced the manufacture of automatic slack adjusters used for auto adjustment of drum to lining clearance on commercial vehicles (CVs), from 2002 to serve customers in the European market. The products had been developed through in-house R&D efforts.
MEI was the only Indian company that exported automatic slack adjusters for both OEM and aftermarket fitments at that time. With rich experience in designing, validating and manufacturing the product, MEI became the most preferred development partner for Indian OEMs when the regulations called for auto adjustment. Today, MEI is the largest manufacturer of automatic slack adjusters in India and the second largest manufacturer globally.
MEI added functionally-critical products to its portfolio from 2012 onwards. The clutch boosters for ILCVs and M&HCVs were developed as an import substitution exercise for Tata Motors. MEI has emerged as a leading supplier of clutch boosters to the CV market leader while the product is under evaluation at other OEMs.
The ADB journey
MEI continued to focus on its core competence – CV brake system – and developed Air Disc Brakes (ADBs), again through home-grown technology between 2012 and 2016. While the Indian market was yet to mature for ADB, MEI worked closely with customers in Europe, the most populated ADB market in the world, and commenced exports to the region. Today, MEI’s ADB is a well-recognised and appreciated product across many European countries.
Talking exclusively to MOTORINDIA, Mr. Jonathan Jackson, Managing Director of MEI’s UK subsidiary, said: “We developed our range of ADBs and launched the first product in January 2017 in Europe as an aftermarket caliper for fitment in European vehicles. We are currently selling the product in almost every country in Europe and have recently started sales in North America as well. In India, we have been running field trials for the last two years and have supplied our ADBs to a leading private fleet customer and also a well-known State Transport Undertaking (STU). We are receiving very good response and the product is working well under different and harsh environmental conditions.”
Considering its ever-growing export market and engagement with OEMs in India for developing ADBs, MEI had set up a manufacturing plant at Mahindra City, near Chennai and augmented the validation facilities of ADB at its R&D Centre at Maraimalai Nagar in Chennai. Today, MEI is the only company in India capable of offering the widest range of ADBs to suit most global vehicle models, with a product that is developed, manufactured, tested and validated locally, with local content of more than 90%.
Significant advantages
ADB is the next-generati
on of CV braking and is a significant upgrade from the conventional drum brakes. The evolution of ADB brings up salient advantages to the OEMs, fleet operators and enhances safety of road users.
“The operating efficiency of ADBs is superior to drum brakes considering the improvement in response to braking and stopping distance. Disc brakes are more stable, unaffected by dampness or changing environments and are much quieter than drum brakes. They are also a lot easier to maintain and service and deliver significant reduction in vehicle downtime. MEI ADB has an added edge since it is a twin-piston brake which results in better pressure distribution and longer pad life”, explained Mr. Jackson.
Considering the duty cycle of brakes in city-operated buses and the efficiency required in long haul buses, ADBs are an inviting option for commercial passenger vehicle manufacturers. While the ADBs in the Indian market are currently fitted on European platform buses – Scania, Volvo, Mercedes Benz – as OE fitment, the advent of the technology on Indian OEM buses is yet to be seen. MEI is in active discussions with the OEMs and is confident of making a breakthrough in the near future.
Moving from the bus & coach sector to trucks, ADBs are likely to attract customers involved in transport of hazardous goods and specialized cargo, with tractor-trailers also a potential opportunity in the future.
Winning customers’ confidence
The fleet operators who ply both imported as well as Indian buses have voiced their appreciation for MEI ADBs, thanks to the reduced downtime and lower maintenance time they have delivered. MEI has installed and tested its ADBs in a significant number of buses, both imported and India-made ones, for over one million km in Indian operating conditions. The brake maker is also catering to the replacement requirement for all wear parts such as pads and repair kits for its customers’ existing range of buses.
“On the STU side, MEI disc brake assemblies fitted in TSRTC (Telangana) buses have won huge appreciation and recognition for their “performance on par” with imported products. On the other hand, private fleet operators like Parveen Travels have switched to sourcing wear parts and kits locally from MEI instead of importing them at much higher costs”, shared Mr. V. Gunasekaran, Head of R&D, MEI India.
Future-ready
With the focus on “Vision ZERO” on road accidents by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, brake systems in CVs are expected to undergo significant improvements as a result of which their operating efficiency is slated to improve for better vehicle stability. Further benefits for modern coaches and city buses is the compatibility of ADB with futuristic safety systems. The efficiency of ADB is high whilst its threshold load and hysteresis are low, making it the most preferred braking option for more advanced technology such as EBS and ESC which will slowly but surely become more common on new vehicles moving forward.
“We are very well placed and are ready with a wide range of products to cater to the Indian and multi-national OEMs. We have an extensive sales & service network across the country which will come as a major boost for us during the technology change from drum to disc brakes. Customers and end-users are new to disc brakes and we are actively focussed on training and awareness programmes. We will continue promoting the technology and keep improving our products so that we are ready with the best solution to support the OEMs when they launch relevant programs”, concluded Mr. Jackson.