Our hydraulic motors are simple to install
Poclain Hydraulics is a worldwide leader in the cam lobe motor market segment. Massimo Boscarino, Northern Europe and India Sales Manager, Poclain Hydraulics, explains more on the company's outlook on the industry and product offerings.

How important are hydraulic motors in a hydraulically operated equipment?
In one machine with hydrostatic transmission, you have typically a diesel engine connected with a hydraulic pump which creates the oil flow that reaches the hydraulic motors that normally are located in the machine's wheels. The motors will generate then a torque to allow the machine to move in all planned conditions. Normally, hydraulic motors are used for machines requiring high torque and working
in difficult environment. Hydraulic motors are also fitted on other applications where it is required a significant torque, for example a winch, a drilling machine, a
shredder, etc.     

How do motors influence productivity of an equipment?
Thanks to the higher efficiency of our products, it is possible to downsize for example the machine engine. In this case, it is then possible to improve the fuel saving or to increase the performance of the machine. On some emission norms like Tier IV, the possibility to downsize the engine can be a very interesting factor to reduce the level of filtration (which is directly linked with the engine cost).    

Could you elaborate on the range of products and solutions you offer in motors? What are the distinguished features of these products?
Our hydraulic motors are simple to install. The motor is directly connected to the machine without any gearbox (so our motors don't need any separate oil to work), require minimum maintenance (which reduces the machine downtime), and can work at high pressure (450 bars) which helps improve several factors (performance, efficiency, etc). We have a complete range of motors from 200 cc up to 30 litres displacement that allow us to cover a big diversity of applications. On the top of it, each of our products is very modular, and you can add or remove special options and features, to customise each part number exactly for the application required (which allows our customers to reduce their development costs). For example, our motors which are also very compact can be fixed in different ways on the machine. You can add a speed sensor to measure the speed of the machine, include special valves to protect the motor and the circuit, and also add a brake for the machine. In short, each application can have the product they need with large possibility of customisation to optimise also the efficiency of the complete machine.  

What are the key features of hydraulic motors that improve equipment productivity/efficiency?
For some agriculture machines (for example, sprayers) Poclain Hydraulics can provide the full system (motors, pumps, electronic to control the complete transmission equipped with a special software that can optimise the machine's engine RPM and reduce the fuel consumption and to keep the same performances). There are other advantages in using a hydrostatic transmission with hydraulic wheel motors: there is no need to have an axle since each motor is independent, which gives a lot more freedom in the machine design. For example, with the possibility to have more room inside the machine to place the diesel engine (that is becoming bigger due to the latest emission norms). The diesel engine can also be lowered (thanks to the missing axle), making the machine more stable.

How do the motors vary according to applications?
In our range, we have what we call standard motors that is a modular system that can fit for different applications, but at the same time, we have developed several specific motors for some selected applications like compactors, skid steer loaders, excavators, and industrial applications. 

What are the new developments and trends in hydraulic motors to comply with the current and future emission norms?
In Poclain, around six per cent of our sales turnover is invested in research and development (R&D). So for us, innovation is a key factor that will allow us to remain at the top level in the hydraulic industry. In the last few years, we have developed several new products, it is difficult to mention all of them in this article: for example a new range of high-efficiency motors, pumps and valves that can now work at very high pressure (500 bars), a hydraulic stop and start system that has been implemented on some telehandlers and on some buses to reduce the fuel consumption and increase the residual value of the machine after some years of use. 

What is the total market for hydraulic motors? What is the growth trend?
We consider that Poclain is a worldwide leader in the cam lobe motor market segment. On an average, our company has been growing almost 10 per cent per year in the last 20 years. We have today 10 plants worldwide (France, Italy, Slovenia, US, China and India which will become our biggest plant in the future). The main reasons of this growth are the product itself that perfectly fit a large variety of applications like construction, agriculture, maintenance, mining, industrial applications, etc. 
 
What is the demand from OEMs and aftermarket for your range of motors?
We work in a very demanding market. Our customers wish to have efficient, reliable product with excellent delivery service (for the first mount). Poclain Hydraulics is able to support our customers on the complete machine lifecycle: during the development of the machine, assuring the machine commissioning. In case it is necessary to supply a spare part or repairing a product, our customers can rely on the Poclain certified repaire centre worldwide. Finally, in order to be able to deliver some products quickly, Poclain Hydraulics has created a special program named PHast where it is possible to have in a very short time (two weeks) some specific products for special reasons like
quick prototypes.        

Where do you see the market by 2020?
We are very optimistic on our future. The years 2017 and 2018 have been excellent and we think that the growth will continue at least till 2019. Since 2017, we have launched several significant investments in our factories to be able to follow this growth. 

What are the emerging technology trends in this space?
In this period, we can read a lot of articles regarding future electric transmissions. For sure electric transmissions are developing but we think that hydrostatic transmissions will keep growing and remain mandatory for a large range of machines due to the higher power density that only hydraulics can provide. In Europe also we see more and more of our customers are launching hybrid (electric and hydraulics) machines in order to take the best of each technology. For all that, we are confident that hydraulic solutions will have still many good years ahead, and we think that Poclain Hydraulics can be a preferred partner to design and produce hydrostatic systems.

"In order to be able to deliver some products quickly, Poclain Hydraulics has created a special program named PHast where it is possible to have in a very short time (two weeks) some specific products for special reasons like
quick prototypes."