What ADVICS North America makes

ADVICS North America is the North American arm of ADVICS CO., LTD., a Japanese brake specialist that develops and builds complete automotive braking systems rather than isolated parts. The North American operation designs, manufactures, and sells the full brake stack: disc brake calipers, brake discs and drums, brake pads, boosters and master cylinders, drum-in-hat parking brakes, and electronic parking brakes on the foundation-brake side, and ABS modulators, electronic stability control (ESC) modulators, hydraulic boosters, and electronically controlled brake systems on the control side. The company also supplies regenerative braking systems that recover kinetic energy during hydraulic braking, and brake systems for motorcycles.

ADVICS frames its advantage as system integration: it develops all components of a brake system in-house, including the friction material, which lets it tune how the OEM program performs as a whole rather than sourcing pads, calipers, and electronics from separate vendors. Its North American engineering group in Plymouth, Michigan runs system design and analysis, brake squeal and vibration (NVH) testing, dynamometer and chassis-dyno performance work, durability assessment, and in-vehicle validation and calibration, with summer and winter test tracks for road-condition testing.

Production is split across specialized US plants, a structure that matters to a buyer weighing supplier tiers and program continuity. ADVICS Manufacturing Ohio in Lebanon builds ABS, ESC, and disc brake caliper assemblies and serves as the North American headquarters. ADVICS Manufacturing Georgia in La Grange makes brake pads. ADVICS Manufacturing Indiana in Terre Haute makes drum brakes, parking brakes, brake pedals, and brake boosters. A Mexican plant, ADVICS Manufacturing Mexico, extends the footprint into lower-cost production relevant to nearshoring decisions.

Ownership and history

ADVICS North America, Inc. was established in January 2002, a few months after the parent ADVICS CO., LTD. was founded in July 2001. The parent was created to consolidate the brake operations of its owners, and ADVICS is jointly held by Toyota, AISIN, DENSO, and Sumitomo (Sumitomo Electric Industries), a Toyota-group structure that ties the company directly into Toyota's supply base while serving other automakers.

The North American plants were assembled from existing brake operations rather than built from scratch. In April 2003, ADVICS acquired two US production bases from Sumitomo Electric Industries, including ADVICS Manufacturing Ohio and the aftermarket entity SAFA LLC. The Ohio plant in Lebanon has been producing braking components since 1989, starting with the front brake disc caliper for the Ford Escort. In July 2010, AISIN transferred a US production facility to the group that became ADVICS Manufacturing Indiana. The company reported North American net sales of roughly USD 1 billion for fiscal 2017, and its Lebanon operation committed to a $100 million expansion in 2014, its single largest investment in Warren County at the time.

Certifications and quality

As a Toyota-group brake supplier, ADVICS operates to the automotive quality-management norms expected on OEM safety programs. The parent group obtained ISO 9001 and ISO/TS 16949 certification in 2012, the predecessor standard to today's IATF 16949, and holds ISO 14001 environmental certification obtained in 2005. The company's North American supplier manual is built around APQP and the production part approval process, with documented requirements for part inspection standards, high-volume production trials, deviation control, and sub-supplier quality assurance. Buyers should confirm current site-level certificate scope and dates directly, as the public site does not post individual plant certificates.

Known customers

ADVICS supplies braking components to most major automakers, consistent with a Toyota-group brake maker that also sells outside the group. Documented relationships:

The customer list reflects a supplier embedded in Toyota's brake supply chain that has expanded to serve Ford, Stellantis brands, and Japanese and European OEMs.

Sourcing evidence

ADVICS North America's US import record reads like an integrated brake maker importing from its own group and specialist friction sources: 2,846 sea shipments since January 2015 across roughly 41 foreign suppliers, aggregated under the Ohio consignee entity. The mix leads with automotive parts, precision instruments, and friction-related materials rather than finished vehicles. Bills of lading name these most-active suppliers:

Eight shown of about 41 recorded suppliers. By origin, Japan dominates (roughly 2,130 shipments), followed by Vietnam (347), Italy (171), Thailand (80), and China (61). The heavy Japanese share reflects intercompany supply from ADVICS group plants; the Italian shipments (Federal-Mogul, ITT Italia) are friction-material sourcing. Customs-derived estimates put cumulative ocean shipping spend at roughly $7.2 million since 2015, an order-of-magnitude figure rather than an audited one. Trailing-twelve-month shipment volume runs about 160, close to the prior year's 168, a stable pattern with the most recent recorded shipment on September 21, 2026.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements, including most cross-border flows with the Mexico plant, do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers; and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does ADVICS North America make?

ADVICS North America designs and manufactures complete automotive brake systems and components: disc brake calipers, discs, drums, brake pads, boosters and master cylinders, parking brakes, and electronic control products including ABS modulators, electronic stability control, and regenerative braking systems. It builds these across plants in Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, and Mexico.

Who owns ADVICS North America?

ADVICS North America, Inc. is a subsidiary of ADVICS CO., LTD. of Japan. The ADVICS group is jointly owned by Toyota, AISIN, DENSO, and Sumitomo (Sumitomo Electric Industries), making it a Toyota-group brake supplier. The North American entity was established in January 2002.

Where is ADVICS North America located?

ADVICS North America is headquartered at 1650 Kingsview Drive, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, which is also its caliper and control-products plant. It operates additional US plants in La Grange, Georgia (brake pads) and Terre Haute, Indiana (drum brakes, parking brakes, pedals, boosters), an engineering and sales office in Plymouth, Michigan, and a plant in Mexico.

Who are ADVICS North America's customers?

ADVICS supplies most major automakers. Documented relationships include Toyota, Ford, and Daimler AG, and trade coverage names Chrysler, Mazda, and Nissan among customers of its Ohio plant. As a Toyota-group brake maker it is tied into Toyota's supply base while selling to other OEMs.

How many employees does ADVICS North America have?

ADVICS North America employs roughly 1,700 people across its US operations, with LinkedIn placing it in the 1,001 to 5,000 band. The Lebanon, Ohio plant alone reported about 943 employees in 2019. Headcount has grown modestly, about 6 percent over the past two years by public estimates.

What certifications does ADVICS North America hold?

As a Toyota-group automotive brake supplier, ADVICS operates to IATF 16949 quality-management standards; the parent group obtained ISO 9001 and ISO/TS 16949 certification in 2012 and ISO 14001 environmental certification in 2005. Its supplier manual is built around APQP and PPAP. Buyers should confirm current site-level certificate scope and dates directly.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.