Powertrain industry aims to shift gears

Powertrain suppliers such as Allison Transmission have been beset by the same supply chain issues as other segments of the industry but has worked hard to limit the effect on its customers. (Photo: Allison Transmission)

In its most recent State of the Industry Update, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) reported that 95% of the companies its surveyed are experiencing supply chain issues.

Supply chain problems have been among the most troublesome and long-lasting impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two years, it’s led to delays and bottlenecks that have resulted in shortages of critical components and materials, plant shutdowns, pinched inventories and rising prices.

And it should come as no surprise that those same issues have beset the North American powertrain industry. For the manufacturers of components such as transmissions, axles, gearboxes, driveshafts and clutches, it’s been a difficult period.

“Like many other companies within our industry, Allison has not been immune to the impacts of the global supply chain challenges,” said Branden Harbin, executive director, Global Marketing at Allison Transmission, the worldwide supplier of automatic transmissions and electric drive technology for commercial vehicles and off-highway applications. “Our internal team and authorized channel partners have worked tirelessly to ensure that these constraints have little impact on our customers’ ability to operate their vehicles and equipment.

“Allison has and continues to engage in daily discussions with our supply base to review real-time information about the potential impact and timing. Unlike issues that may have risen in previous years, the extent of the disruptions within the marketplace has our team engaging with not only Tier 1 suppliers, but also extending to Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels to truly understand the root cause of the potential impact.”

Managing through

Harbin said that, “to our knowledge, not one of our OEM partners has missed a customer shipment due to an Allison supply issue as a result of the global supply chain challenges.” He also said that the company has “successfully managed the continuous supply to the aftermarket, as well as the necessary supply of parts to address unit down repairs for our end-users.”

A challenge Allison and other powertrain manufacturers have faced has been meeting both OEM and aftermarket demand. (Photo: Allison Transmission)

Jason Rebucci, president of PT Tech, LLC, an Ohio manufacturer of powertrain products such as clutches, brakes and gearboxes for diesel engine and mining applications, and Torsion Control Products, a Michigan-based supplier of custom engineered spring couplings, torque limiters and torque converter clutches for construction, ag, mining and other heavy-duty applications, said that “without a doubt” supply issues have hit home.

“However, we have a very dynamic – and local – supply chain,” Rebucci said. “That has enabled us to respond fairly well as we have been able to balance loads with our supply chain partners.

“There has been a ton of noise internally to respond to ever-changing lead times, costs and capacities. We still have tightness and some discrete issues, but we made some bold inventory moves very early on in the ‘COVID recovery’ that have turned out to be very good moves. Some say lucky, we say educated bets.”

Short supplies

The poster child in every discussion about supply chain issues has been microchips and it’s no surprise that it’s the same for powertrain component manufacturers.

“Chips have been a problem for the last year and will be a problem for the next year-plus,” Rebucci said. “We are having to dig in multiple tiers deep into our supply chain to come up with workarounds – lots of work, but we can see our way through it.

“Steel and castings are more short-term issues – everybody is stocking up now and building inventories causing lead time extensions and surcharges and price increases.”

Harbin said that “the supply chain challenges we’ve all read about or experienced firsthand aren’t limited to microchips.

“For Allison, we’ve seen exposure in other areas as large as steel, and as small as wiring harnesses and connectors,” he said. “We’ve also noticed that the supply chain challenges aren’t simply limited to parts. The industry is also challenged with labor constraints, particularly our Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers.

Marcelo Marcos, president KTR Corp., the Michigan City, Ind., supplier of flexible couplings, brakes, coolers and hydraulic components for mobile and stationary applications, said that for his company, the issues have involved more basic commodities.

“Raw material shortages – steel, castings, rubber and plastics – continued throughout 2021,” he said. “Bar and flat steel, aluminum and iron castings increased by an average of 35 to 45% in 2021 and prices are still holding.”

Domestic and international logistics hiccups – KTR’s parent company is in Germany – began in early 2021, Marcos said. “Increased lead times became a serious issue,” he said. “Containers arrived at our plant in six weeks from Europe. During the peak delay times, we were experiencing 11 to 12 weeks.”

PT Tech have seen similar logistical bottleneck, Rebucci said. “Logistics and packaging costs are seeing outrageous increases,” he said. “This one caught us by surprise and we are adjusting now.”

Better days ahead?

Harbin said Allison “is beginning to see positive indications that the situation is improving” in the supply chain.”

“However, we’re approaching what appear to be favorable trends with cautious optimism to ensure we continue to meet our customer commitments,” he said. “This is particularly important, as the industry is experiencing unprecedented levels of demand, meeting or exceeding the record levels that were set in 2018 and 2019, prior to the pandemic.

“Many of Allison’s OEM partners are reporting that their order boards are full for 2022, and they are already scheduling orders for new truck builds into the first and second quarter of 2023. The full order boards are also creating additional pressure on continuous supply of parts and components to aftermarket channels, as customers are forced to maintain their vehicles for longer periods than their typical useful life or trade cycles.”

Marcos said that KTR has also seen some signs of improvement. “In the last quarter of 2021 we noticed improvement in the availability of raw materials,” Marcos said. “Mainly steel and castings purchased in the USA. Logistics however has not showed the same level of improvement.”

At the same time, it’s clear that conditions are still far from normal, and Rebucci said his companies are “planning on tightness in supply for the half of the year.”

“My belief is most of this is due to a lot of OEs and distributors stocking up,” he said. “What makes me more nervous is how long logistics/freight will continue to be tight and high cost. That I’m not too optimistic on and am leaning more towards that being a problem for all of ’22.”

Powertrain Digest

A brief review of recent product developments and news.

Hilliard’s New CV Transmission

The Hilliard Corp. announced it has designed and begun manufacturing of a continuously variably transmission (CVT) that the company said is more efficient and advanced than any other unit currently available. The new CVT is tuned for many platforms including to UTVs, ATVs, side-by-sides and other vehicles.

Hilliard’s new CVT. (Photo: Hilliard Corp.)

The CVT incorporates a patented centrifugal system that delivers constant belt tension, belt protection at startup and during overload situations, all of which helps provide vastly extended belt life and smoother power delivery, the company said.

Another significant feature Hilliard cited is that the CVT can incorporate a one-way overrunning clutch in its primary assembly that provides consistent, seamless and reliable engine braking.

The CVT is designed to maintain consistent torque despite extreme temperature variations and terrains and can be used in a wide range of gasoline or diesel engines. The unit can also be custom engineered to fit a wide variety of clutch envelopes, eliminating expensive modifications for OEM or in-field replacement applications.

www.hilliardcorp.com

Allison’s new transmission controls

Allison Transmission’s next generation controls. (Photo: Allison Transmission)

Allison Transmission has begun production of its next generation electronic controls platform. Built on four decades of evolution and experience and combined with advanced microprocessor and software operating system technology, the controls platform is designed to deliver advanced communications, functional safety, cybersecurity and over-the-air programming.

Daimler Europe built the first trucks with Allison’s next generation platform of electronic controls and plans to enter full production in mid-2022. Allison also collaborated with Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. (FCCC) to build walk-in vans equipped with the new control platform with full production also to begin in March 2022. Allison said it expects all of its OEM partners to transition to this controls platform by the conclusion of January 2023.

The new controls platform incorporates numerous hardware and software enhancements, Allison said. They include a new Control Module and Push Button Shift Selector; a new software operating system; new control and calibration software; and cyber security infrastructure. The next generation platform will support Allison’s entire product portfolio including transmissions and eGen Power electrified propulsion solutions, the company said.

www.allisontransmission.com

New couplings from KTR

KTR’s new Sinulastic coupling. (Photo: KTR Corp.)

Now available from KTR Corp. are a new range of Sinulastic flexible flange couplings for engine-driven equipment. The Sinulastic couplings are based on a disk-shaped coupling body, with four basic versions covering a torque range of zero to 18,382 lb.ft. (zero to 25,000 Nm).

The couplings are engineered to reduce torsional vibrations from excitations of the I. C.-engine during standard operation and misfire operation as well as protecting the drive from overload.

The elastomer element, which is available in a range of types, is available in natural rubber compounds or synthetic EPDM material. The couplings are available with hub connections covering a range of shaft configurations, the company said.

www.ktrcorp.com

Dana’s new planetary drives

Dana Inc. has developed three new planetary drives designed to provide wide ratio ranges, better power density and modular designs for tracked and wheeled vehicles, as well as winch applications.

Dana’s new planetary drives. (Photo: Dana Corp.)

The new Spicer Torque-Hub wheel and track drives and Brevini winch drives offer output torque ratings from 59,000 to 95,883 lb. ft. (80 to 130 kNm) and can be configured with Brevini hydraulic motors or Dana TM4 electric motors for a wide range of conventional and next-generation electrified machines, such as crawler cranes, tracked tool carriers and tracked undercarriages. They can also be packaged with hydraulic or electric motors for winches used in a variety of lifting applications, including construction cranes and rotary drilling machines.

Dana’s Mobile drives can accommodate input speeds up to 5000 rpm and provide heavy-duty bearing load capacities as well as cartridge motor mounts with integrated parking brakes. Winch drives accommodate electric and hydraulic motor inputs and are designed to deliver radial load capacities and torque capacities established by the European Federation of Materials Handling (FEM).

https://www.dana.com/off-highway/LargeDriv

Meritor, Paccar extend e-axle deal

Meritor, Inc. announced an extension to its current Paccar agreement to supply 14Xe ePowertrains and battery electric vehicle integration kits for the Class 8 Kenworth T680E and Peterbilt 579EV tractors and 520EV refuse trucks.

Meritor’s 14Xe axle. (Photo: Meritor)

The integrated, modular design of the 14Xe ePowertrain, Power Controls and Accessories (PCAS) and Energy Storage System (ESS) helps enable PACCAR to meet the needs of its customers with high efficiency, performance and range depending on duty cycle and application requirements.

“This extension affirms the strength of the PACCAR and Meritor partnership and illustrates that our technology continues to prove itself in real-world applications,” said Tim Bowes, senior vice president and president, Electrification, Industrial and North America Aftermarket for Meritor.

As part of Meritor’s Blue Horizon advanced technology portfolio, the 14Xe ePowertrain is a fully integrated, all-electric drive system and is the only integrated electric powertrain in production for Class 8 trucks in North America, Meritor said.