Air disc brakes have been under development in Europe now for many years, and have reached the stage where the technical demands of energy capacity, disc and pad life, and general durability are being met.
The focus of development in European brakes has now moved more towards the cost of installation and ease of assembly and service, as the technology matures.
Achieving reduced costs, while maintaining the technical capability of the product, has led to the use of new methods of integration of design and industrial engineering such as “Design for Assembly” and Quality Function Deployment, which in turn have demanded changes in organisation.
This paper discusses the application of these new techniques, and highlights the benefits of their usage.