NSK has inaugurated last January 2020 a second line producing ball screw units for electric-hydraulic brakes, following the first production line started in 2018 at its Saitama Plant, Japan.
Global demand for the ball screw units is rapidly increasing as the automotive industry is set to revolutionize automotive safety over the next few years. Regulators around the world have indeed mandated new vehicles be equipped with automatic emergency brake systems. The requirements are coming into effect around 2021-2022 in Japan, the United States, and the European Union.
Automatic emergency brake systems help prevent accidents by scanning the road ahead of the vehicle and engaging the brakes to avoid potential collisions. The system automatically brakes if approaching another vehicle or obstacle at a speed that could result in an accident.
NSK began mass production of ball screw units for electric-hydraulic brake systems in March 2018. The unit is a compact and lightweight combination of high reliability ball screw and support bearing made possible by NSK’s advanced ball screw technology and over a century of expertise in bearings.
The units are already in consumer vehicles on the road, and automakers are rolling out implementation to other models. The company established the new line to respond to rapidly growing demand. NSK is also considering establishing additional production sites outside Japan, and is aiming to produce 10 million units a year globally by 2026. The company is investing around 10 billion yen to expand ball screw production capacity.