MEI Ready To ‘Brake' Into The Future With Proven Range Of Air Disc Brakes

Madras Engineering Industries (MEI) has been a prominent and pre-ferred OEM source for safety critical products.

- N. Balasubramanian

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.