AUMAT Maschinenbau GmbH is a Solingen, Germany-based manufacturer of broaching and special machines. When the Iseo company — a lock system manufacturer — needed a suitable solution for the machining and testing of its newly developed lock cores, they came to AUMAT. After several months of development, AUMAT automated this process with a machining center…
Taking a deep dive into the hydraulic reservoir
Hydraulic reservoir design is critical in power unit performance, so selecting the right style elements will ensure efficient circuit design. If you have a hydraulic system, you have a reservoir. Full stop. Even “reservoir-less” systems still require an expansion tank to hold excess fluid. Aside from such unconventional designs, hydraulic reservoirs offer benefits above and…
Distributor update: Take the leap into the tech stack
Contributed by Andrew Johnson, President, ShelfAware LLC I began my industrial career young, having been born into a family-owned O-ring distributor and grown up with the business. I have watched as the technology boom has changed the landscape of our business and those businesses around us. Leveraging technology to innovate your distribution business is not…
Hydraulics keep their cool through heat exchanger technologies
Heat exchangers help remove heat from hydraulic power units, helping to maintain fluid viscosity and reduce wasted energy. For all its myriad benefits, hydraulics still has a fundamental downside — heat. Adhering to the Laws of Thermodynamics, we must accept that any energy conversion results in increased entropy. In other words, converting mechanical energy from…
How to lead through a crisis
At one of the National Fluid Power Association’s recent Future Leaders workshops, John Stenz, the CEO of FORCE America chatted with nearly 60 of the group’s members via Zoom, talking about the proper way to lead companies through a crisis — certainly a timely topic here in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has…
Custom hydraulics carries the opera to new heights
When New York City’s Metropolitan Opera (The Met) began its initial production development for a new double-bill program of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, its team of engineers and set designers were stumped on how they could bring together a rotating hydraulic design with the power and data needs the show would require. One…
Staying merry and bright – a positive spin on the fluid power market
It’s the holiday season of 2020, which can mean a lot of things. We could stay focused on the negatives, worry about COVID-19, potential lockdowns, missing family, bicker about post-election drama and more. Or, we could look on the bright side of things and see that things are starting to look up. In a recent…
Hydraulics in mining: safe and reliable
Eliminating downtime and ensuring safety in mining — two benefits hydraulics provides consistently. By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor More than almost any other industry appropriating fluid power, mining is where safety sits front and center from design to execution. Surface mining enjoys bragging rights to some of the most massive machines ever manufactured by humans. […]
Pressure gauges: unsung heroes of fluid power
Knowing which style of pressure gauge is right for your fluid power system is critical in ensuring consistent, efficient operation. Contributed by Carl Dyke, LunchBox Sessions Pressure gauges are unsung heroes in many hydraulic systems. They are neither directing flow nor controlling pressure. If the pressure gauge is damaged or goes missing, the machine may…
Robotics poised for more growth, jobs
The knock against robots has always been that they “take away jobs.” The counter argument that’s offered is that robots create new jobs, and those are generally better jobs than the ones that vanish. Interviewing the great Dean Kamen a handful of years ago, I thought he put it better than anyone. He said: “There’s…
Fluid power and the circular economy
Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, manufacturers have tapped abundant natural resources to produce goods that lasted a few years and were then thrown away. Consumers go on to buy new ones and ensure the production cycle, and profits, continued. This “take-make-waste” model worked pretty well, in part because raw materials and energy were…
Hydraulic direct drives ensure efficiency in underground mining conveyor
Contributed by Uno Sundelin, Manager, Mining & Materials Handling Hägglunds Products & Solutions – Bosch Rexroth LKAB Malmberget in Sweden is an impressive iron ore mine in many ways. First, it is a high-tech facility that houses an entire underground community, including roads, mining operations, offices and canteens. Second, the mine has several ore bodies…
The changing global economy in pandemic times
In speaking to a few different fluid power manufacturers recently, one theme seems to run true for many — this COVID-19 pandemic has rattled confidence in the global economy and reliance on far-fetched supply chains may be decreased. Reshoring is a term anyone in the industrial world already knows well. In the past 10 years or…
Hydraulics harnesses offshore wind
A new hydraulic powertrain may pave the way for reliable and economical wind turbines. Offshore wind electricity generation has seen annual growth above 25% in recent years, as global consumers increasingly embrace renewable energy. The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory predicts accelerated market growth in the next decade, with cumulative capacity rising to nearly 200…
Recession? What recession?
Many economists say U.S. industry is headed into a recession. GDP growth is going negative, November’s ISM Manufacturing Index registered further contraction, and NFPA’s monthly statistics report continued decline in both fluid power shipments and orders. Flying in the face of all the gloom, demand for fluid power specialists is still robust. Just about everyone…
Know what’s in your customer’s head
At this year’s FPDA/ISD Joint Industry Summit, Joe Ellers spoke on what customers really care about, and he challenged attendees to try and get inside their clients’ heads. Ellers explained that one of his favorite things is to go out and make customer calls with salespeople. “I get to get out and actually talk to…
Thoughts on fluid power’s DNA
Genetic testing has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry because it offers insight into your ancestry and, potentially, your future health. Likewise, it helps to understand fluid power’s DNA. In a recent keynote at the 16th Scandinavian International Conference on Fluid Power, Peter Achten of INNAS offered a thought-provoking presentation, “Fluid power genes and memes.”…
Catching up with LunchBox Sessions
LunchBox Sessions, the Canadian-based online hydraulics training platform, continues to grow, now with 13,000 current users across 97 countries. I recently caught up with Carl Dyke, the longtime Fluid Power World contributor, whose company, CD Industrial Group, created the dynamic sessions. Dyke said that LunchBox Sessions is now being used on a regular basis in more…
Dealing with extreme conditions and distances
This week, I visited longtime Fluid Power World contributor Carl Dyke at his Alberta-based business, CD Industrial Group. The company conducts industrial training programs all across North America, and also has developed the popular Lunchbox Sessions, an extensive series of online fluid power learning modules. One of the things that really impressed me was a large…
Hydraulic accumulator system helps new blow molding facility
There were significant challenges when Roth Hydraulics needed to design and install a large new blow molding plant for plastic products at its production site in Watertown, New York. The project connected the manufacturer’s skills in two fields — hydraulics and plastics processing. The design of the new hydraulic accumulator system now permits high-speed production,…
Can the Amazon effect be overcome?
One of the speakers at this month’s NAHAD Annual Meeting & Convention in Las Vegas was Denise Keating of DATAgility, who spoke about “The Amazon Effect” that many companies, from manufacturers to distributors have been experiencing. Is it possible for a company to keep its sales channels intact without being overcome by the multibillion-dollar behemoth…
Tensioner cylinders’ environment defines “hazardous”
By Eric Bucci, Oil & Gas Segment Manager, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions and Beth Figliulo, Fluid Power Segment Manager, Trelleborg Sealing Solution The tensioner cylinders used to support subsea production risers where they connect to the rig are the size of an 18-wheeler. These components are in motion 24/7, and must accommodate 50-foot strokes during storms.…
Hydraulic motion system tames rough seas through active heave compensation
Active heave compensation uses proven technologies and components for safe positioning during complex offshore activities. Contributed by Parveen Gupta, Director – Sales, Production Machinery, Bosch Rexroth Safely moving heavy loads from ship to sea floor is a basic requirement in the offshore industry. Undersea work of this type is common in the oil and gas…
Mentoring: the power of connections
Engineers and others working in fluid power understand the importance of connecting with their peers. This is especially true for those younger individuals just entering the field. Fluid power is a technology that many (myself included) admit they “just fell into.” Very few actually enter it intentionally (apart from those involved in family businesses, I…
Making that human connection stronger
At the last FPDA Industry Summit, attendees heard Tim David speak about human connections, something that is increasingly overlooked in today’s technology and social media-soaked world. He explained how research has shown that the more real, physical, in-person connections you have in your life, the better. And that means not just at home, but at…