Increasing globalisation in the off-highway sector is seeing OEMs' product development programmes adapting to produce vehicles that will meet standards worldwide. This in turn is creating a demand for supplier partnerships that can provide a matching global service.
Southco is one such company and a recent project for construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar saw the specialist provider of access solutions drawing on its resources in Japan, the US, Asia and Europe.
The latest legislation to impact on off-highway vehicle manufacture relates to emissions control. EU Directive 97/68/EC extends to moving off-highway equipment and concerns primarily NOx engine emissions. Stages III and IV of the EU legislation will align with US Tiers 2, 3 and 4. Manufacturers of 0ff-highway equipment in Europe have to comply with Directive 2000/14/EC relating to noise levels and the second stage of this legislation is due to be applied in 2006.
Timing of implementation of new standards may vary between the EU, USA and Japan, and in many ways this increasing globalisation has a significant benefit for OEMs in that they can develop a global, rather than territorial, product range. However, on the other side of the coin, manufacturers are finding that, with relatively rapid introduction of ever more stringent emissions and noise control legislation, product lifecycles are becoming considerably shortened - it is estimated that typical lifecycles are reduced from 10 to 5 years - which places pressure on product development.
Without the luxury of time to play with for product development, manufacturers have to depend much more on suppliers who can support them with similarly reduced timescales for development and production of key components.Such was the situation faced by Caterpillar in the development of a new model of excavator.
Previous models had used a slam-to-close latch on the engine side panels, but even on existing models, these had proved to be a less than perfect solution. The key problem with this was its lack of flexibility in installation in that the pawl was non-interchangeable. This was both costly and inconvenient requiring Caterpillar to replace the entire latch if an individual component, such as the pawl, became worn over time.
Due to the nature of the environment in which these excavators are used, increased gasketing is required to tightly compress the panels closed. For a slam latch this increased gasket requirement caused problems on closure. For this reason Caterpillar needed to seek an alternative solution, a solution with a built in compression feature.
Having determined the need for a compression latch, Caterpillar then sought a supplier partner with the necessary expertise, that partner being Southco. Solutions currently used on other Cat(r) machines and an alternative large stainless steel latch were eliminated and the manufacturer focused on Southco's Folding T-handle Vise Action Compression Latch which offered the basis of a solution.
One key factor in this choice was the large cup that this product features, since, despite designing for a global market place, Caterpillar had one very specific territorial requirement to consider. These excavators are used extensively in the Arctic Circle where operatives' protective gloves have to be three times the size of a normal glove for insulation purposes - so an operative wearing such a glove needs to be able to grasp and actuate the handle.
Apart from this very specific requirement, the selected latch had to also offer a high level of vibration resistance, meeting Caterpillars very stringent testing procedures, be corrosion resistant to over 500 hours salt spray exposure and be suitable for heavy duty panels.
Gerarado Gomez, Industry Marketing Manager of Southco explains: Caterpillar were already using this product in other applications, but in a non-static environment the standard product was not going to be sufficiently robust. However, they also knew that we would be able collaborate to develop the solution required from using its design as the basis. We were also able to match Caterpillar in terms of global resources.
Our sales representatives in Japan, NBK, provided liaison between the Caterpillar Japan-based excavator design centre and our engineering teams in the US and when the design was finalised, we were then able to source manufacturing in Asia, meeting their requirement for sourcing from low cost manufacturing areas. In addition, we were able to integrate closely with Caterpillar's designers by providing in-house translations of our SDRC Ideas CAD drawings into the PRO-E used by CAD which proved to be a great benefit to the customer. The resulting product, a customised solution which combined the design and styling of the Folding T-handle Vise Action Compression Latch, with the popular mechanism of the Lift and Turn Compression Latch, was created. This product met all of the performance criteria established, including both Southco and Caterpillar testing procedures.
Caterpillar carried out their own shake table testing in Japan whilst Southco subjected the design to static load testing the strength of the locking mechanism, step testing to determine how much load the mechanism can take before failing, plus cycle, torque, vibration and corrosion testing.
As well as meeting the need for a compression latch for the new excavators, the Southco solution also offered additional benefits. The mechanism originally used by Caterpillar was costly as it involved a large die-cast stainless steel handle requiring a padlock. The new solution has a lock plug.
The new solution is also much more flexible since it enables pawls to be quickly and easily changed when required. Even product styling benefited from the introduction of the folding T-handle lock which is neatly built into the handle and provides a clear visual indication of both locked and unlocked status.
Gomez explains; The development of the Heavy Duty Compression latch from the base of the Folding T-handle Vise Action Compression Latch exemplifies everything that Southco offers.
It was a project that drew on our global resources, necessitated close integration between our design teams and those of Caterpillar, and resulted in our providing a customised solution that met their exacting requirements. It also challenged us to meet the reduced design timescales brought about by accelerated product development programmes.
The project was originally submitted to us in March 2002 and then initiated in December 2003 with final product delivered in August 2004. The product is currently being used in their 345, 365 and 385 tonne excavators.