Building on success in the construction market
The construction sector remains a key market for Perkins and an area where our innovative developments in engine technology provide real value to customers and end users. With Perkins engines providing a common core platform for their machines, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can develop appropriate solutions for numerous markets in the most efficient way, supported by Perkins throughout their product lifecycle.
Construction has always been an important market for Perkins, and with the sector currently enjoying a period of sustained growth in key areas, the advantages of working with a world-class engine manufacturer have never been clearer.
OEMs recognise the Perkins brand as a guarantee of quality, performance, reliability and value across a wide spectrum of applications, while the global reach of our manufacturing, sales and support networks gives us a presence in their key markets.
“Construction is a critical market for us,” said Jaz Gill, Vice President global sales, marketing, service and parts. “We power key applications including hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, skidsteer loaders, dumpers, telehandlers, dozers, rock crushers, pavers and more.
“Our customers appreciate and value the deep expertise we bring to their projects – thanks to our rich heritage over more than 85 years – on how to install and integrate our engines into their machines to maximise performance.”
Local manufacturing footprint
The construction sector is growing in several key areas including Western Europe, North America and China, and Perkins is very much part of that story. As well as our local manufacturing footprint, the Perkins representatives serving those regions live there and understand first-hand the specific challenges faced by OEMs.
Perkins is investing significantly in its global distribution channel capabilities through the Distributor Excellence programme. This initiative, launched about 18 months ago, is raising and maintaining performance all over the world. “It’s all about providing a consistently high standard of service to our end users,” said Jaz. “It just makes their lives easier.”
OEMs typically want to sell one machine with one engine into a variety of markets, said Jaz. With Perkins engines providing a common core platform, they can develop solutions and apply different emission technologies depending on the region they’re targeting.
Perkins industry-leading solutions for EU Stage V emissions standards are helping grow our presence with existing and new customers, he said.
Increased efficiency
Customers want increased efficiency out of their machines, and that applies equally to the engines that power them. The broad scope of Perkins engines, from the ultra-compact lightweight 400 Series through to the 2800 Series, are all engineered from real-world data to meet the real-world demands of the most challenging operating environments.
Our innovative Perkins® Syncro engines, featuring the new 2.8 and 3.6 litre platforms, have emerged as a key value proposition for customers in the construction market. Their superior power density enables OEMs to downsize from the traditional ‘1 litre per cylinder’ engines while maintaining – and improving – their machines’ performance in terms of noise, fuel consumption and transient response.
In designing our engines to meet Stage V standards, Perkins takes into account the ongoing challenge for customers of incorporating the necessary aftertreatment technology. “Our engines allow the packaging to be more straightforward,” said Jaz.
Interest in hybrid machines
Over the years Perkins has significantly invested in hybrid engine research and development projects to ensure it adds real value to OEMs as they design the next generation of off-highway machines.
“For the construction sector, it’s not sufficient to simply carry over hybrid or electric technologies from other sectors such as truck, automobiles or marine,” said Jaz. “The duty cycles, operating conditions and packaging constraints for off-highway machines drive the need for specific configurations that are highly customised to the individual application.”
Through close technical collaboration with our OEMs, and using a huge amount of real field data, Perkins is developing solutions which are truly relevant to the construction sector. This close collaboration enables Perkins to save its OEMs time and money and accelerate their research and development programmes.
“We believe diesel technology will remain the key power source for the majority of machines we look to power for the next generation or two,” said Jaz. “By collaborating with us, OEMs can select the right solution for each application, whether that’s pure diesel or a hybrid. Our priority is to ensure we provide OEMs and their customers with construction machines that are more productive, quieter and have lower fuel consumption, whatever power solution they select.”
“It’s all about providing a consistently high standard of service to our end users. It just makes their lives easier.” – Jaz Gill, Vice President Perkins sales, marketing, service and parts.