Parker pneumatic solution helps keeps freight wagon firm competitive

CSR Yangtze Co Ltd, a China-based manufacturer of freight wagons, has again invested in the technology and expertise of Parker Hannifin to remain competitive in a fiercely contested market.

Based in Wuhan, around 500 km in the west of Shanghai, the core business at CSR Yangtze includes manufacturing, maintaining and servicing of railway freight cars and urban rail vehicles. The company also sells and exports mechanical and electronic railway wagon products.

In order to secure a lucrative contract for the supply of manual and automatic pneumatic controls systems on railcars systems, CSR sought to significantly improve the overall quality and performance of the components they utilized on their bid. This latest project order involved 240 carriages, specifically; sulphur hopper freight wagons. The entire pneumatic system for the railcars required both electric and manual control for the hopper door. In addition to the specification of the project, the cylinder and control valve also had to comply with ISO/VDMA and EN61373 standards, while the hoses and tubes had to comply with ASTMD2565.

Due to CSR’s previous positive experiences of working in partnership with Parker Hannifin, the company once more enlisted the services of the global leader in motion and control technologies. Overriding factors in the decision to appoint Parker included the extensive understanding and knowledge of transportation applications, the offer of a fully integrated solution, proven quick response times and the availability of global support.

Parker set to work engineering an innovative solution that included the design and supply (via local distributor Wuhan Aotai) of the entire pneumatic circuit, along with a compact control cabinet to protect the components. In a solution that was designed to save time and money in assembly, the circuit comprised SP-PN type cylinders (with locking), air control valves, manual valves, filters/regulators, silencers, ball valves, solenoid valves, shuttle valves, time delay valves, check valves, strainers, fittings, nylon tubing and rubber hoses.

Aside from the obvious labour savings during installation, other benefits for CSR included; sourcing from a single supplier with resulting procurement and inventory management cost benefits, improved pneumatic system specification and performance, plus by using a dedicated self-contained control cabinet, the risk of leakages is now reduced.

With annual sales of $13 billion in fiscal year 2013, Parker Hannifin is the world’s leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems, providing precision-engineered solutions for a wide variety of mobile, industrial and aerospace markets. The company employs approximately 58,000 people in 49 countries around the world. Parker has increased its annual dividends paid to shareholders for 57 consecutive fiscal years, among the top five longest-running dividend-increase records in the S&P 500 index. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.parker.com or its investor information website at www.phstock.com.