Tecno Fluid Service’s experience as a manufacturer of HPU Hydraulic Power Units
Tecno Fluid Service for the design and construction of Hydraulic Power Units
What is a Hydraulic Power Unit
The Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU) can be defined as the power element of a hydraulic system, because it supplies hydraulic energy (in the form of pressure and flow) to the actuators.
Hydraulic power pack diagram
The elements of a hydraulic power pack
The main elements that make up a hydraulic power pack are:
Prime mover (electric or diesel)
Pump or pump unit (variable or constant displacement)
Oil tank with accessories (level indicators and/or sensors, temperature, pressure, etc.)
Filtration and cooling unit
Safety (pressure) valves
Pressure and flow control valves, sometimes grouped in steel blocks more commonly called manifolds.
Hydraulics control units therefore allow linear actuators (cylinders) and rotary actuators (motors) to be driven, allowing, depending on the application, the speed (linear or rotary) to be regulated by acting on the flow rate and/or the force (force or torque) to be regulated by acting on the pressure.
The hydraulic power unit contains a large number of components that must be defined, chosen and sized accurately during the design phase, a phase that represents a critical moment for companies in the hydraulics sector.
This is not the case for manifolds, where TFS has decades of experience in design and manufacture, often customised to customer requirements.
The process of designing, building and testing hydraulic power packs by TFS
Tecno Fluid Service, operating in the hydraulic power pack sector since 1997, has implemented a design process for hydraulic power packs based on 9001:2008 quality certification (https://www.tfsoleodinamica.it/azienda/). This process integrates the following phases:
acquisition of system requirements: a request for quotation is collected from customers, in which the aims (mainly, concerning the sector and/or field of use); the objectives to be pursued, in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and cost-effectiveness; and, consequently, the minimum requirements of the system;
TFS presents a preliminary project from which the technical aspects are refined and the economic aspects are negotiated;
At the end of the negotiation phase, TFS produces the detailed design in which, in addition to the bill of materials used, the construction drawings are drawn up;
This starts the construction process in the workshop, which ends with acceptance. To ensure maximum quality and customer satisfaction, TFS invites its customers to attend the testing phase;
Once the testing phase is over, TFS issues the technical file which includes, in addition to the main data and technical drawings, instructions for correct installation and maintenance;
The control unit is transported, according to contract conditions, to the customer, where it is subsequently installed and further tested;
Follow-up based on constant assistance and in accordance with the terms of the Service-Level Agreement (SLA)
TFS’s strategic advantage is based on three pillars.
Leaving aside the perfection of technical drawings, a competence that is quite common and widespread among operators in the sector, the first pillar is based on the use of top-quality components. In this regard, TFS recommends the following components to its customers from the preliminary design phase:
Fixed and variable displacement pumps and motors: Bosch Rexroth
Gear pumps and motors: Casappa
Filters and accumulators: Hydac
Valves and manipulators: Bosch Rexroth and/or Sauer Danfoss
Lubricators: Beka-Max
Perfect technical designs and quality products are the minimum requirements for any company to compete in the hydraulics sector.
Unlike many competing companies, TFS bases its strategic advantage on a second important pillar: its partnership with world-leading companies in the production of hydraulic components. Therefore, being able to boast a partnership, as an authorised reseller and tester, with Bosch Rexroth allows TFS:
to have prior access to innovations that are conducted by Bosch Rexroth;
to be able to interact with additional specialised technical personnel from Bosch Rexroth, both at the design and testing stages;
to consult detailed documentation provided by Bosch Rexroth.
The third and important pillar is the in-depth experience of the technical staff employed in the maintenance, assembly and testing department at TFS. As a strategic partner of Bosch Rexroth, TFS sends its technical staff to at least two annual refresher courses at Rexroth’s Milan headquarters. These training activities are functional to the best use of the Bosch Rexroth test bench that TFS has and that represents a key element to ensure quality in the design of hydraulic power packs.
Service is the key word to describe TFS – Oleodinamica
Nomen omen. It is in the name of TFS, namely in the concept of Service, that the synthesis of the three pillars just presented can be found. TFS is not simply a dealer, nor can its activity be configured as a mere designer of power units or hydraulic systems. Nor is TFS a mere assembler or mechanical workshop for maintenance and repair. TFS is, first and foremost, a company that offers real services to other companies, in a B2B perspective. The mere fact of owning a warehouse with more than 1,000 items for immediate delivery represents an investment in working capital that serves both to guarantee faster intervention times at customers’ premises, but also to support their production cycles, favouring the implementation of Just in Time processes. Being a Service therefore qualifies one for additional responsibilities and necessitates the acquisition of appropriate skills in order to guarantee immediate interventions that do not compromise the continuity of one’s customers’ processes.
The problems and areas of intervention in hydraulics are many, but TFS is able to guarantee an absolutely outstanding collaboration.
