HOLLAND, Mich. — SAF-Holland has announced that axle production has commenced at its Warrenton, Missouri facility, with initial shipments of both drum and disc braked axles.

The company further states that the plant will continue to ramp up production throughout 2009, to eventually provide axles for all of the company’s current North American trailer suspension offerings and aftermarket requirements.

“The merger of SAF and Holland has provided us with a unique opportunity to serve our customers with suspension systems specifically designed for, and produced, in their individual markets,” said Sam Martin, chief operating officer for SAF-Holland. “By leveraging our global manufacturing experience and our extensive design capabilities, we now have exactly the system offerings – complete with our own axles and brakes – that our North American customers need to stay competitive in today’s challenging business environment.”

Axle manufacturing operations at the revamped Warrenton North Plant have been integrated into a “streamlined” facility that will occupy approximately one-half of an existing 235,000 square foot facility, which also houses stamping and roll forming operations. As designed, the plant is capable of producing 80,000 axles per year, states SAF-Holland.

“The Warrenton Plant’s Lean Manufacturing and One-Piece flow processes will deliver a significantly higher level of efficiency and just-in-time responsiveness to customer needs,” notes Richard Abel, director of industrial and manufacturing engineering for SAF-Holland. “Technologies, such as bar code driven data, will be used to optimize the manufacturing process, and allow continual monitoring throughout the process. Every axle design and process will also be validated by an extensive battery of verification and compliance testing to ensure complete quality control and performance.”