In response to rising global demand, TBP Auto's brake drum factory in Vietnam has commissioned a new 2.5-ton casting line with expanded testing equipment.
Inside the New Brake Drum Production Line
The new line is built around a 2.5-ton induction melting furnace and is fully self-contained, from melt through finishing. The furnace melts iron by inducing a current in the charge rather than burning fuel around it.
Sand handling, pouring, shake-out and cleaning, machining, and dynamic balancing each have their own dedicated equipment, sized to match the new throughput rather than borrowed from the existing line.
Our foundry continues to cast in SAE J431 gray iron, and parts produced on the new line go through the same testing protocols as our existing drums: TBP Auto's in-house testing on every melt batch, the Intertek audits behind our ISO certifications, and the FMVSS 121 dynamometer test our 3922X-equivalent drum passed at LINK Engineering.
Running in parallel with our existing operation, the addition doubles our total casting capacity to over 400,000 units per year.
Equipment on the New Line
The new line spans every stage from melt to balanced, machined drum. Both lines run under one quality system, managed by TBP Auto's engineers, technicians, and specialists, to keep the output consistent.
| Production stage | Equipment |
|---|---|
| Melting | 2.5-ton medium-frequency induction furnace 1,800 kW at 500 Hz 3.3-ton maximum charge |
| Melt performance | 2.5 tons in approx. 50 minutes At 535 kWh per ton to a 1,500°C tap |
| Mold making | Coated-sand shell molding line Matched to the new pouring rate |
| Casting cleanup | Six-wheel hanger-type shot blast machine 110–120 kg of shot per minute per wheel 1,000 kg per hanger maximum load capacity |
| Machining line | CNC lathes, drilling, and dynamic balancing Conveyor-linked |
Expansion of our testing lab is part of the investment. A new optical emission spectrometer now verifies melt chemistry, including trace elements, before every pour, running alongside the CMM, hardness and tensile testing, and run-out checks already in place.
| Testing stage | Equipment |
|---|---|
| Chemistry verification | Hitachi High-Tech OE720 optical emission spectrometer 174–766 nm wavelength range Direct-light transmission Multi-element analysis |
| Dimensional inspection | ZEISS coordinate measuring machine (CMM) |
What 30,000 Tons of Annual Capacity Looks Like
At 30,000 metric tons of casting a year, the factory can hold steady production of heavy-duty drum sizes through the year instead of fitting them into short runs.
The practical effect is that we can keep safety stock on the most-requested SKUs and absorb the demand spikes that fleet rebuild cycles and aftermarket buying seasons bring.
The same factory ships to OEM-spec programs, aftermarket distributors, and fleets buying direct, and each of them notices capacity in a different way.
For an OEM-spec program, it is room to add part numbers without stretching lead times on the SKUs already in it. For a distributor, it is deeper inventory across common sizes and fewer split shipments. For a fleet, it is a supplier that can still serve you as the operation grows.
Every drum from either line is made under the same management system. Our ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 certifications cover the whole factory, so the new line did not arrive with a separate set of rules. The procedures already in place extended across it from the first pour.
A Vietnam Investment with North America in Mind
This expansion follows where our customers are going. Demand for heavy-duty brake drums in North America has shifted over the past two years.
Antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Chinese and Turkish drums are final, a circumvention inquiry into Chinese CGI drums is active, and buyers we meet at events like AAPEX 2025, HDAW 2026 and across the U.S. are diversifying their supply sources.
TBP Auto is set up for that. Our new capacity is sized to carry sustained order volumes from North American OEMs, distributors, and commercial vehicle fleets.
Read more → AD & CVD on Brake Drums: How the Duty Math Works
Increased Quantity, Consistent Quality
Capacity is only useful if the quality holds at the top of it. We sized the new line for the increasing demand of our customers, and put the quality gates in place before the volume scaled. — Thomas Heller, Director of TBP Auto
If you are evaluating brake drum supply for the next program cycle, whether an OEM-spec qualification, a distributor stocking plan, or a fleet rebuild schedule, our team can walk you through what the new capacity means for your volumes and lead times.
Send us your part numbers or specs and we'll come back with pricing, lead time, and shipping options, usually within 24 hours. Request a quote or contact our team today.