Eaton
is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of a
comprehensive line of reliable, high-efficiency hydraulic systems and
components. Eaton produces not only some of the world’s best hydraulic
products, but also the best and most complete world-class hydraulic
services, systems and solutions. It provides hydraulics to large on-road and
off-road mobile OEMs in the agriculture, construction, mining, marine and
lawn and garden markets. Equipment like harvesters count on reliable Eaton
hydraulic components to provide critical functions such as smooth steering
functions, precise hydrostatic pumps and motors to move the machine exactly
as needed, and auxiliary pumps and valves to direct fluid power to the many
functions such as header drives, unloading augers, chaff spreaders, and
others. The company’s sales for 2008 were to the tune of USD 15.4 billion.
What about Eaton’s India operations?
Eaton came to India in April 1999
with the global acquisition of Aeroquip Vickers. Eaton had acquired two
manufacturing plants in Mumbai and Pune under the name of Vickers Systems
International Limited (VSIL). The Mumbai plant was integrated into Pune
operations in January 2002. Today, the facility is an Eaton Center of
Excellence (COE) for gear pumps and is being expanded to commence
manufacturing of steering control units and hitch valves. When Eaton
completed its global acquisition of Powerware from Invensys in June 2004,
the New Delhi-based facilities of Powerware were also integrated into Eaton’s
India operations. Subsequently, Eaton invested in a greenfield manufacturing
plant for truck components at Ranjangaon. Last year, Eaton purchased the
engine valve components division of Kirloskar Oil Engines, located in the
cities of Ahmednagar and Nashik. Eaton has also established a professional
services center at Pune. This includes an engineering center designed to do
high-end engineering work for all of Eaton’s business segments.
What is
the status of Eaton’s infrastructure and operations in India?
Eaton is a
diversified, integrated operating company and our sales and revenue come
from five business groups: electrical, hydraulics, aerospace, automotive and
truck components. All of Eaton’s businesses have a presence in India. We
have five manufacturing facilities in India, 11 sales offices and close to
2,000 employees, 750 of whom are in professional services which include the
captive centres for engineering product design, financial support services,
global support services, IT support and global sourcing
Is the HLA system
going to be a new offering from Eaton?
Yes. It will go into full production
in 2009. The HLA system is best suited for vehicles with heavy stop-and-go
operation and helps to improve fuel economy and increase productivity
through the regeneration of braking power. In a series hydraulic hybrid, the
conventional drivetrain is replaced with a hydraulic system that stores
energy by compressing gas in a chamber using hydraulic fluid. This system
utilises regenerative braking and is being initially targeted at refuse
trucks.
How does this work?
During braking, the vehicle’s kinetic energy
drives the pump/motor, transferring hydraulic fluid from the low-pressure
reservoir to a high-pressure accumulator. The fluid compresses nitrogen gas
in the accumulator and pressurises the system. The regenerative braking
captures about 70 per cent of the kinetic energy produced during braking.
During acceleration, fluid in the high-pressure accumulator is metered out
to drive the pump/motor. The system propels the vehicle by transmitting
torque to the driveshaft. The Launch Assist has two different settings, the
economy mode and the performance mode.
How will the hydraulic system help
Indian vehicles?
As the investments in the infrastructure sector continues
to grow we see immense potential in the technology for commercially used ‘stop
and go’ applications such as mass public transportations, waste management
transportations and other similar applications.
Which are the other new
products that have been launched in recent times?
Eaton has launched three
series of Vickers directional proportional valves with on-board electronics
which were upgraded with a new 4-20 mA control command option. This control
command option replaces the voltage command used on these valves. We have
also expanded our Aeroquip Performance Products line with environmentally
sealed switches for automotive and marine racing vehicles. The toggle
switches for ignition/start and accessory-control applications feature an
integrated rubber boot that encases all electrical components, thereby
sealing them from dust, dirt, grime, moisture, and other contaminants that
are common to dirt track and other racing environments.
We have also
announced a new line of silicone hose products for extreme temperature,
high-vibration, and chemically challenging applications. The new silicone
hoses are available in sizes and configurations suitable for use on turbo
and charge air coolers, heater circuits, and coolant system connections at
temperature from -54° C to +260° C. Silicone provides the mechanical
properties and chemical resistance in temperature extremes that traditional
elastomers cannot meet.
Who are Eaton’s primary clients in India?
In
India, for hydraulics business we have a number of clients including JCB,
John Deere and Mahindra Farm Equipments.
How much importance is given to
Eaton’s R&D in India?
R&D plays a vital role in the growth of
Eaton. The India Engineering Center in Pune is an important centre for our
global innovation and design output supporting all the business divisions.
Technologists, engineers and designers work in virtual teams with their
counterparts from Eaton’s various divisions in areas like hydraulics and
aerospace components and systems design, fluid conveyance and connectors,
truck transmissions and clutches design, automotive fuel and mirror systems,
embedded systems and controls design, UPS power management software
development and life cycle management, reliability engineering,
computational fluid dynamics and engineering analysis.
What are Eaton’s
future growth plans for the Indian market?
India is investing in
infrastructure and this kind of investment is very conducive to the types of
products that we manufacture. Our hydraulics business is supporting both our
global customers, using India as a manufacturing base, as well as Indian
customers, supporting the growing agricultural and construction markets. We
are very upbeat about the growth prospect here. India offers a huge market
opportunity in itself. It also serves as a strategic location to enhance
Eaton’s global competitiveness..
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