Efficiency, performance drive new products
Staff -- Purchasing, 2/3/2005 2:00:00 AM
One new industry product is an electronic IQAN controller, which is a machine controller for mobile equipment from Parker Hannifin in Cleveland, which manufactures products in the areas of hydraulics, pneumatics, electromechanical, and other technologies, such as seals and connectors.
The controller also has what Marwan M. Kashkoush, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, calls "another major breakthrough" on the hydraulics side of business with its DF-Plus valve, a high-response proportional valve that closes the performance gap between proportional and servo technology at less cost.
While most manufacturers have new products, the trend is to focus not just on new products in general, but specifically on products that provide advancements in efficiency and productivity.
"In pneumatics, there is a trend among customers to seek efficient equipment," explains Mike Marino, manager of global marketing for Ingersoll-Rand in Annandale, N.J. "As such, all of our new products are addressing productivity improvements." IR is focusing its new product development in the areas of pneumatic pumps, pneumatic impact tools, and pneumatic industrial grinders, all of which focus on doing more with less—less consumption, higher flow rates, and more power.
Steve Zarembski, vice president of business development for Haldex Hydraulics in Rockford, Ill., agrees with the emphasis on efficiency. "In the mobile equipment market, there is a push for more efficiency, reduced fuel consumption, and reduced emissions," he says. To meet those needs, Haldex developed a new hydraulic fan drive system, which can control fan speed and provide fan-on-demand when it is needed."
Norgren, in Littleton, Colo., now offers a directional-control valve, which is the "heart and soul" of a pneumatic circuit, according to company spokesman Terry Weeber. The company is offering the valves in smaller sizes (more flow in the smaller sizes), which customers are demanding.
"They are also very clean applications, which the medical and electronic industries especially need," he continues. The product line is so popular that it has already exceeded sales goals, and distributors are ordering them for stock, not just immediate sale.
Ross Controls in Troy, Mich., specializes in pneumatic safety products and is responding to recent demands. Recent changes in the ANSI standard related to fluid power systems require the systems to have redundancy requirements in certain applications, similar to what is required for electric systems.
"For example, if a pneumatic circuit has a safety risk, we provide a redundant product and a monitored product, called a 'control reliable safety valve,'" reports Steve Demster, the president and CEO of Ross Controls, who is also chairman of the National Fluid Power Assn. "In the past, control-reliable electric devices provided redundancy for safety purposes. However, the requirement ended when the pneumatic device received the signal from the control-reliable electric device." Now, according to the new ANSI standard, the pneumatic device must also be control-reliable, which requires redundancy and monitoring.
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