Power management company Eaton has invested more than €2.4-million, or R42-million, in its manufacturing capability in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to enable the company to meet industry-leading delivery times for its X20 pumps range.
Eaton’s X20 pumps are used in wheel loaders, agricultural vehicles and road sweepers, as well as other mobile and marine applications.
This investment will enable the localisation of a regional assembly and test programme for X20 piston pumps at Eaton’s Havant UK site with the aim of providing customers with a ‘best in class’ delivery lead time across the EMEA region.
Eaton is expecting to see an upsurge in demand for open- circuit piston pumps in the next few years as the manufacturers of original equipment increase production to meet their orders in Africa, Eaton hydraulics sector sub-Saharan Africa GM Emil Berning says.
“Normally, this would mean that lead times would increase for products such as the X20 pump, but this investment means we can actually reduce lead times to about half of that which is currently the industry standard,” he notes, adding that this will offer an advantage to Eaton’s customers in EMEA.
Therefore, Eaton will play a significant role in helping manufacturers fulfil their order books.
“Our ability to provide a global after-sales support network gives companies across EMEA a superb choice,” Berning says.
The Eaton X20 portfolio of open-circuit piston pumps meets the demands of mobile equipment engineers and operators looking for greater power density, while the “reliability and productivity of these small, lightweight pumps make them the ideal solution for a wide range of medium-pressure mobile applications”, according to the company’s website.
Features of the pumps include inverse proportional pressure control or fan drive control, which is used in the fan drive systems in the mining, construction, agriculture, and on-highway market segments.
“Performance benefits include great control stability, higher maximum pressure setting, and the wider pressure setting range,” the company states.
Another feature includes remote pressure control, which is ideal for applications where frequent system pressure adjustment is required, owing to workload requirements, for example, on construction equipment or mobile drill rigs, the company says.
In light of this, two parallel relief valves set at different pressures are used in combination with a two-way valve to make adjustments, based on the work conditions, the company states, adding that all displacements in the portfolio have a rear port option to fit the needs of any system configuration.