PMP Industries launches new travel and swing drives for excavators

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PMP is the fastest growing group in mobile transmission systems. With more than 1000 employees worldwide, production sites in Italy, Bosnia Herzegovina and China, India, USA, PMP is now a world leader in drive systems for earthmoving machinery, electric industrial vehicles and concrete equipment. In 2010 the group increased its total turnover by more than 40% from pre-crisis 2007 financial results, and an expected further growth of 40% is on its way for 2011. Production volumes for transmission systems will exceed 200.000 units in 2011. Besides its traditional markets of concrete mixers and forklift trucks, PMP is increasing its market shares for wheel drives, track drives and swing drives for construction machinery.

After three years of Research and Development activity including field and laboratory tests, in early 2011, PMP has introduced a full range of integrated motors for track drives (PMCI series), which have been officially presented at the Hannover Messe in May this year. The present range includes motors from 55 cc to 180 cc.

These integrated motors are two position – two displacement motors with integrated counterbalance valves for operation in open circuit, integrated maximum relief valve and displacement change valve. An automatic speed change feature can be supplied on request, which allow the vehicle to automatically decrease speed and increase torque when this is required by tough working conditions, where pressure beyond certain limits is needed.

The above features make the PMCI integrated travel drives the ideal solution for hydraulic excavators from 6 to 50 tons, where they are coupled to gearboxes ranging from 10.000 Nm to 100.000 Nm. The same drives, with higher ratios, can be used for several other applications, like travel drives for mobile crawler crane, crushers, platform boom-lifts, soil compactors, pavers, etc. By using a PMCI integrated motor and gearbox, the use of expensive full variable motors can often be avoided.

The basic rotary group used in the PMCI is derived from heavy duty hydrostatic transmission (i.e., suitable for pressure peaks up to 450 bars). Hence the new PMCI series of integrated motors positions PMP offer at a higher level compared to competitors’ travel drives, which are normally designed to work only at 300-350 bars. This results in higher efficiency of the hydraulic system, longer life of critical components and increased durability of the entire system.

In the highly competitive field of excavators PMP is also launching its new PMTE series for the swing drive of hydraulic excavators from 6 to 50 tons, with several innovative solutions in terms of load capacity and compactness. Gearboxes from 10.000 Nm to 60.000 Nm are already in production and will soon be completed with hydraulic axial piston motors from 55 cc to 180 cc, featuring brake valves and special swing control shock-less valves, in order to deliver to customers a complete solution for excavators.

PMCI and PMTE series will be presented next November in India at the Excon 2011 Exhibition.

PMCI and PMTE drives are already in use by several OEM’s around the world, which are fully satisfied not only by PMP technology but also its flexibility in meeting customer’s requests, short delivery times and overall competitiveness.

Along with technological development PMP continues its continuous process of globalization.

Being a major player in the Chinese market of construction machinery, PMP has decided to increase its investment in China in the next three years. Beside the existing plant in Taicang-Shanghai which is in full production since 2009 and employing more than 250 people, PMP will open a new bigger facility in a neighbouring location with triple production capacity, in order to satisfy the growing demand of PMP products in the Asian region.

Another production site will be opened in India (Pune) in 2011, in order to follow the rapid growth of construction machinery market of India, where PMP is already playing a significant role. Further steps are the opening of a production site in Brasil in the area of San Paolo, which is forecast for the end of 2012.