Top Ten Suppliers of Friction Products and Materials

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Oct 10, 2012, 06:53 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Top Ten Suppliers of Friction Products and Materials

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REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

-The friction market worldwide is estimated to be $10 billion in revenues. Currently, no worldwide player commands more than 20% of the market.

-The friction market is largest for the passenger car segment, as vehicle production and vehicles on the road are highest in this segment.

-The second largest segment is commercial vehicles. In this segment, drum brakes with linings are used more widely—both in North America and Asia, while Europe uses more disc pad brakes.

INTRODUCTION

"Friction" is the term used in this report to include various technologies related to reducing the speed of or stopping moving vehicles using abrasive mechanisms. Numerous approaches based on composite materials, mechanical means and electronic controls are used to achieve the end result of stopping moving vehicles by converting the kinetic energy into various other forms of energy, which are mostly lost and never recovered. In this report, the choice of the top 10 companies is accomplished by considering as the primary criteria the manufacturers of brake pads and linings, which are the wearable components in the braking system.

This focused document profiles the top 10 companies of this industry globally, and provides comments on several upcoming transformative changes happening in the field. The definition of the industry is broadened somewhat to include tightly interconnected products, technologies and industries, including sections and segments of the clutch industry and the brake systems industry.

The field of "Friction" is a complex web of players, with automakers still footing the liabilities for malfunctioning of the brakes, as the product cost of the friction component is marginal compared to the cost of the braking system and the vehicle itself. This symbiotic relationship between the vehicle manufacturer, the brake system manufacturer and the friction material manufacturer has, over the years, created a system of checks and balances, where the vehicle manufacturer has a tight and ever increasing set of technical benchmarks that the brake system provider and the friction material provider have to meet; often times these testing requirements run into several hundreds of tests which can take years just to simply complete—forget iterations needed to fine tune the product; and the brake system provider and the friction material manufacturer together are required to routinely add to their R&D capabilities of testing, reporting and production controls. This system also necessitates the friction material manufacturer to continuously push their supply chain companies to tightly control their production systems and reporting requirements.

An offshoot of this relationship is the consolidation of various segments in the industry over the years, a process that is expected to continue in the coming years and decades. Another interesting outcome is the growth of small and niche companies that have developed unique materials, material solutions, manufacturing equipment and testing equipment to the industry, which have, in retrospect, been accepted by a wide spectrum of the companies in the industry. Such companies command higher profit margins in this industry.

Over the past few years, prices have fluctuated widely for various commodities and this has impacted the industry deeply. Companies have attempted to absorb the increasing prices of materials and labor in a bid to remain cost competitive, but have recently been forced to pass on higher costs to their customers. The trend of moving manufacturing to low cost countries is also an ongoing process in this industry, as is in several other industries.

The friction market worldwide is estimated to be about $10 billion in revenues. There is no worldwide player commanding more than 20% of the market. This is mainly attributed to the lack of globalization in the industry. There is still a significant divide between the western (U.S. and Europe) and eastern (mainly Japanese) companies with no major collaborations. Recently, Nisshinbo has acquired TMD and this is the biggest step in this direction. However, even with the acquisition, their market share is only about 15% globally.

The friction market is largest for the passenger car market, as the vehicle production and vehicles on the road are highest in this segment. Second largest segment is commercial vehicles. Smaller segments are railways, aircraft and industrial. In the passenger car segment, the largest portion is disc brake pads, followed by drum brake linings. In commercial vehicle segment, drum brakes with linings are used more widely—both in North America and Asia, while Europe uses disc pad brakes. Railway segment is largely brake blocks, with a small segment using brake pads. Industrial uses a mix of various product technologies.

Material wise, for passenger car disc pads, there are three main technologies being used. These are NAO / ceramic / hybrid; semi-metallic; and low-metallic. In North America, two thirds of the market is the first type, with semi-metallic being used in most other applications. Low mets are rarely used in North America. In Europe, majority of the products are low mets, with smaller percentages of hybrid and semi-met grades used. Asia pacific uses majority hybrid materials, with the rest split about 50-50 between semi-metallic and low metallic grades.

STUDY GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

This document is a specialty report related to the BCC Research report Global Markets for Friction Products and Materials, Report number AVM028E authored by Andrew McWilliams. The goal of this document is to provide a more in-depth look at the top tier companies in the friction industry and some look at the second tier of companies and any changing and current trends in the friction industry.

The objectives include identifying companies that are considered the leaders and what technologies or management contributions make them leaders. There are certain market drivers and some constraints to both the companies and to the evolving technology they seek to dominate. There is a desire to ascertain if these companies will be able to meet the continuing demand for their products by proprietary technology, strategy alliances, superior marketing or other sought for advantages.

Most of the information presented in this report is based on information available from annual reports, various regulatory filings, the company itself, U.S. patent office and such public sources. Additional information was sourced from industry experts and people with close understanding of the industry dynamics.

INTENDED AUDIENCE

This report is intended especially for customers and suppliers of friction technologies and products, and others with a need to understand the status and dynamics of the market for these products. This report is largely nontechnical in nature and coverage. It is concerned less with theory and jargon than with what works, who the major global players are, what technological trends are seen in the market place and which intellectual properties and regulations are shaping the market.

As such, the report's main audience is executive management personnel and marketing and financial analysts. It is not written specifically for scientists and technologists, although its findings concern the market for their work and include the availability of government and corporate research funding for different technologies and applications, which should interest them. Since this is a field with very limited university R&D, most of the technology is corporate owned in terms of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and so forth.

SCOPE

The scope of this report is focused on a select 10 companies in the friction industry. This is in many ways a selected due diligence of the key companies and drivers in the friction industry marketplace.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION 1

STUDY GOAL AND OBJECTIVES 2

INTENDED AUDIENCE 2

SCOPE 3

RELATED BCC REPORTS 3

BCC ON-LINE SERVICES 3

DISCLAIMER 3

CHAPTER 2 OVERVIEW OF MARKET TECHNOLOGIES AND TRENDS 5

CHAPTER 3 THE TOP 10 COMPANIES IN THE FRICTION INDUSTRY 8

TABLE 1 TOP TEN COMPANIES IN FRICTION 8

TABLE 2 MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE BRAKE SYSTEM AND COMPONENT INDUSTRY 8

TABLE 3 OTHER COMPANIES IN FRICTION WORTH ADDITIONAL MENTION 9

TABLE 4 SELECTED FRICTION INDUSTRY PLAYERS IN INDIA 11

TABLE 5 SELECTED FRICTION INDUSTRY PLAYERS IN CHINA 11

TABLE 6 SELECTED OTHER FRICTION RELATED COMPANIES IN JAPAN AND KOREA 12

ADVICS 13

COMPANY INFORMATION 13

COMPANY HISTORY 13

MANAGEMENT 14

FINANCIALS 15

TABLE 7 ADVICS' CURRENT FINANCIALS, 2009-2013 15

TABLE 8 ADVICS' INTERNATIONAL SUBSIDIARIES AND FINANCIALS (FY JAN 1 TO DEC 31

2011) 15

TABLE 9 ADVICS' JAPANESE UNITS 16

TABLE 10 U.S. PATENTS ASSIGNED TO ADVICS SINCE 1976 16

AKEBONO BRAKE INDUSTRY CO., LTD 20

COMPANY INFORMATION 20

MANAGEMENT 22

FINANCIALS 22

TABLE 11 AKEBONO'S CURRENT FINANCIALS, 2010-2015 (DATA IN BILLION YEN) 23

TABLE 12 AKEBONO'S BUSINESS DETAILS, 2010-2014 (DATA IN BILLION YEN) 23

TABLE 13 AKEBONO'S BUSINESS DETAILS, 2010-2012 (DATA IN PERCENTAGES OF TOTAL

REVENUES) 23

TABLE 14 U.S. PATENTS ASSIGNED TO AKEBONO SINCE 1976 24

BREMBO S P A 33

COMPANY INFORMATION 33

MANAGEMENT 34

FINANCIALS 34

TABLE 15 BREMBO'S FINANCIALS, 2007-2011 (DATA IN MILLION EUROS) 35

TABLE 16 BREMBO'S SALES BY REGION/COUNTRY, 2008-2011 (DATA IN PERCENTAGES) 35

TABLE 17 BREMBO'S SALES BY SEGMENT, 2008-2011 (DATA IN PERCENTAGES) 36

TABLE 18 U.S. PATENTS ASSIGNED TO BREMBO SINCE 1976 36

CARLISLE BRAKE & FRICTION 37

COMPANY INFORMATION 37

SUBSEGMENTS WITHIN CBF 39

Mining 39

Construction 39

Agriculture 39

Aerospace 39

Military 40

Motorsports 40

Industrial 40

Renewable Energy 40

MANAGEMENT 40

FINANCIALS 41

TABLE 19 CARLISLE BRAKE AND FRICTION FINANCIALS, 2008-2011 ($ MILLIONS) 41

TABLE 20 CARLISLE'S CORPORATE SALES BY REGION/COUNTRY, 2008-2011 (PERCENTAGES) 41

TABLE 21 CARLISLE'S BRAKE AND FRICTION SALES BY REGION/COUNTRY, 2011

(PERCENTAGES) 42

TABLE 22 CARLISLE'S BRAKE AND FRICTION SALES BY SEGMENT, 2011 (PERCENTAGES) 42

TABLE 23 U.S. PATENTS ASSIGNED TO CARLISLE SINCE 1976 43

FEDERAL MOGUL CORPORATION. 43

COMPANY INFORMATION 43

MANAGEMENT 44

FINANCIALS 44

TABLE 24 FEDERAL MOGUL VSP DIVISION'S FINANCIALS, 2009-2011 ($ MILLIONS) 44

TABLE 25 U.S. PATENTS ASSIGNED TO FEDERAL MOGUL (FRICTION) SINCE 1976 45

FRAS-LE S A 49

COMPANY INFORMATION 49

COMPANY TIMELINE 50

COMPANY HISTORY 50

RECENT ACQUISITIONS AND NEW VENTURES 51

PRODUCTS AND MARKETS 52

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 52

MANAGEMENT 52

FINANCIALS 53

TABLE 26 FRAS-LE'S FINANCIALS, 2009-2011 (IN BRAZILIAN REALS) 53

TABLE 27 FRAS-LE'S FINANCIALS, 2009-2011 (IN MILLION BRAZILIAN REALS) 53

TABLE 28 FRAS-LE'S SALES BY SEGMENT, 2009-2011 (IN MILLION BRAZILIAN REALS) 53

TABLE 29 FRAS-LE'S SALES BY MARKET, 2009-2011 (IN PERCENTAGES) 54

TABLE 30 FRAS-LE'S EMPLOYEES BY REGION, 2009-2011 (NUMBER) 54

HONEYWELL CORPORATION 55

COMPANY INFORMATION 55

Asbestos Related Contingencies and Insurance Recoveries 56

PRODUCTS AND DESCRIPTIONS 56

Automotive: Brake Pads for Passenger Cars 56

Automotive: Brake Pads for Commercial Vehicles 56

Non-Automotive 56

Rail 56

Industrial Applications 56

MANAGEMENT 57

FINANCIALS 57

TABLE 31 HONEYWELL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS DIVISION'S FINANCIALS, 2009-2011 ($

MILLIONS) 57

TABLE 32 U.S. PATENTS ASSIGNED TO HONEYWELL SINCE 1976 57

ITT 61

COMPANY INFORMATION 61

FRICTION TECHNOLOGIES 61

ASBESTOS PROCEEDINGS 62

MANAGEMENT 63

FINANCIALS 63

TABLE 33 ITT MOTION TECHNOLOGIES' FINANCIALS, 2009-2011 ($ MILLIONS) 63

TABLE 34 U.S. PATENTS ASSIGNED TO ITT SINCE 1976 63

JAPAN BRAKE INDUSTRIAL CO. LTD 75

COMPANY INFORMATION 75

COMPANY TIMELINE 76

MANAGEMENT 78

FINANCIALS 78

TABLE 35 HITACHI CHEMICALS' FINANCIALS (MILLION YEN) 78

TABLE 36 HITACHI CHEMICALS' GEOGRAPHICAL SALES (MILLION YEN) 78

TABLE 37 JBI'S GLOBAL RELATIONSHIPS 79

TABLE 38 U.S. PATENTS ASSIGNED TO HITACHI CHEMICAL SINCE 1976 79

NISSHINBO BRAKES 80

COMPANY INFORMATION 80

TMD FRICTION-PROFILE 81

MANAGEMENT-NISSHINBO 81

MANAGEMENT-TMD 81

FINANCIALS 82

TABLE 39 NISSHINBO HOLDINGS' FINANCIALS, 2009-2013 (MILLION YEN) 82

TABLE 40 U.S. PATENTS ASSIGNED TO NISSHINBO AND TMD SINCE 1976 82

LIST OF TABLES