Brembo's daily grind; Here's proof that sticking with one thing and doing it best pays off in the long run.(News)(Company Profile)

Byline: MATT DAVIS

High up in Italy's Orobian Alps, in the thin air at 10,000 feet, the River Brembo has its source. It cascades from there down the Brembo Valley until it intersects with the A4 autostrada west of Bergamo. Driving east from Milan on the A4 you're lucky if you see anything river-like, much less a tree, choked as this stretch of highway is with industry.

But those who look closely will spot the temple of disc brakes known as Brembo, which has been headquartered at number 25 Via Brembo in the western Bergamo suburb of Curno since 1991, after being established in 1961 in the nearby town of Paladina. Tight real estate in the area forced Brembo to get clever in order to pursue its manifest destiny. As new products arise, Curno departments are rearranged and personnel shifted around to maximize space on the home front.

Then, more importantly, there's an extensive system of domestic and foreign alliances, including Brembo North America sites in Detroit, Costa Mesa, California, and Charlotte, North Carolina. The first location markets spare discs and racing brake sets, while the second acts as technical brain trust for North America and consults with the Big Three. Charlotte houses Brembo's latest performance braking facility that searches for more ways of partnering with the lucrative NASCAR network.

Besides passenger car and racing disc brake sets, Brembo forges more than 200,000 scooter wheels per year as well as specialized disc brake sets for motorcycles and light- and heavy-duty industrial vehicles. But still, you leave the Brembo facility ...