New Eaton hydraulic product to create Spencer expansion
By Russ Oechslin, Journal correspondent | Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2008
SPENCER, Iowa -- Eaton Corporation, Spencer's largest employer, has announced plans for a $10 million expansion of its local facility -- retaining 71 jobs and adding as many as 126.
SPENCER, Iowa -- Eaton Corporation, Spencer's largest employer, has announced plans for a $10 million expansion of its local facility -- retaining 71 jobs and adding as many as 126.
The company currently has approximately 350 full-time employees and approximately 50 listed as temporary employees in Spencer.
The expansion comes to the hydraulics manufacturing facility as the result of a new product -- a hydraulic launch assist -- that is designed to make refuse trucks more efficient. Company officials say the device is being made for an existing customer.
Eaton's Spencer Engineering Manager Jerry Carlson says his company's trademarked Hydraulic Launch Assist uses utilizes regenerative braking and is being initially targeted at refuse trucks.
"It is a parallel hybrid hydraulic system, that supplements the conventional vehicle powertrain with the addition of a hydraulic system that stores pressure in an accumulator as a vehicle is decelerating, then releases the energy to assist acceleration."
The system, he adds, is best suited for vehicles that operate in stop-and-go duty cycles, including refuse trucks, city buses, and delivery vehicles, where fuel economy improvements between 20 and 30 percent are typical.
Eaton plans to commercialize its parallel hybrid hydraulic system in refuse trucks in 2008. Other applications will soon follow.
Carlson said he expects production will be phased in beginning as soon as possible.
The Spencer City Council approved the expenditure of $55,000 to the Jobs Trust for the Eaton Project, at its Monday night meeting.
Eaton is also expected to apply for a Community Economic Betterment Account funds of $500,000, and a $195 tax credit from the High Quality Job Creation Act.
Eaton built its Spencer plant on 62 acres in 1974, and has increased the size of that 149,000-square-foot. facility to 337,000 square feet in several additions in the intervening years.
Based in Cleveland, Ohio, with manufacturing facilities in 30 nations, Eaton lists 79,000 employees worldwide. The company reported sales of $13 billion in its last fiscal year.
SPENCER, Iowa -- Eaton Corporation, Spencer's largest employer, has announced plans for a $10 million expansion of its local facility -- retaining 71 jobs and adding as many as 126.
The company currently has approximately 350 full-time employees and approximately 50 listed as temporary employees in Spencer.
The expansion comes to the hydraulics manufacturing facility as the result of a new product -- a hydraulic launch assist -- that is designed to make refuse trucks more efficient. Company officials say the device is being made for an existing customer.
Eaton's Spencer Engineering Manager Jerry Carlson says his company's trademarked Hydraulic Launch Assist uses utilizes regenerative braking and is being initially targeted at refuse trucks.
"It is a parallel hybrid hydraulic system, that supplements the conventional vehicle powertrain with the addition of a hydraulic system that stores pressure in an accumulator as a vehicle is decelerating, then releases the energy to assist acceleration."
The system, he adds, is best suited for vehicles that operate in stop-and-go duty cycles, including refuse trucks, city buses, and delivery vehicles, where fuel economy improvements between 20 and 30 percent are typical.
Eaton plans to commercialize its parallel hybrid hydraulic system in refuse trucks in 2008. Other applications will soon follow.
Carlson said he expects production will be phased in beginning as soon as possible.
The Spencer City Council approved the expenditure of $55,000 to the Jobs Trust for the Eaton Project, at its Monday night meeting.
Eaton is also expected to apply for a Community Economic Betterment Account funds of $500,000, and a $195 tax credit from the High Quality Job Creation Act.
Eaton built its Spencer plant on 62 acres in 1974, and has increased the size of that 149,000-square-foot. facility to 337,000 square feet in several additions in the intervening years.
Based in Cleveland, Ohio, with manufacturing facilities in 30 nations, Eaton lists 79,000 employees worldwide. The company reported sales of $13 billion in its last fiscal year.
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