Briggs & Stratton continues to expand the number of fluid power companies in its Vanguard Battery Technology Partner Program. Most recently the company has added AFP Industries Inc., a distributor of fluid power and automation products, as well as Groupe Magnéto which specializes in the design, manufacture, installation and automation of hydraulic systems.
The Battery Technology Partner program was established to help OEM customers with their electrification efforts. From concept to machine launch, Briggs & Stratton and its program partners will work with OEMs to develop full system solutions optimized to meet their specific design requirements.
This helps to reduce the time and money an OEM would otherwise need to invest in the development of an electrified machine. Many equipment manufacturers, especially small- and mid-sized ones, do not have the expertise in-house to develop electric-powered machines. By working with a supplier like Briggs & Stratton, an OEM can focus on what it does best — designing off-highway machinery — and rely on a partner to provide an electric power system that enables it to meet customer requests for electrified equipment.
New Program Partners Bring Range of Fluid Power Expertise
The addition of AFP Industries and Groupe Magnéto to the Vanguard Battery Technology Partner program will bring opportunities to help more OEMs in North America with their electrification efforts while also expanding the fluid power expertise available to them — critical to the development of an optimized electric power system.
AFP Industries provides technologies for equipment utilizing hydraulics, pneumatics and electrical controls. It serves industrial processing and manufacturing customers, mobile equipment operators and mobile and industrial OEMs. According to Briggs & Stratton, AFP specializes in helping customers transition traditionally engine-driven hydraulic systems to battery power.
The company is based in Richmond, VA, and has offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and East Tennessee. This enables it to serve a large customer base. Briggs & Stratton said the addition of AFP will help complement its own experience as well as aid innovation in compact equipment electrification which is its area of expertise.
Groupe Magnéto is based in Montreal, Canada, and specializes in hydraulic solutions integration. It also distributes hydraulic, pneumatic and electronic components which further adds to the expertise it can provide customers.
Industries the company serves include mobile machinery, public works equipment, forestry machinery, industrial machinery, mining, and military, among many others. Groupe Magnéto sees being part of the partner program as being particularly beneficial to its work with OEMs in the public works and aerial lift markets who want to electrify their equipment.
Pierre-Yves Garceau, President of Groupe Magnéto, said the company liked the ease of integration as well as robust design associated with the Vanguard branded batteries. “The battery management system is incredibly straightforward, allowing us to easily tap into its capabilities and scale the system according to our customers' specific needs. This modularity and ease of integration were key factors in our decision to work with Vanguard,” he said.
The Benefits of Working with Hydraulics and Pneumatics Suppliers
According to Briggs & Stratton, it has added 15 companies to its Battery Technology Partner program over the past 3 years — this includes the recent additions of AFP Industries and Groupe Magnéto.
Most of these partner companies are those who work with hydraulic and pneumatic technologies which will remain important components in mobile equipment applications even as they move toward greater electrification. This is due in large part to the power density they provide, hydraulics in particular. Although some smaller machine applications have been able to move away from fluid power technologies, for larger machines it is not yet feasible, and many do not see it being so in the near term, if at all.
As the battery and fluid power systems in a machine will need to work together, just as they do in an engine-driven machine, it is important to ensure they are able to do so in an optimized and efficient manner. This is why Briggs & Stratton has added so many companies with fluid power expertise to its Battery Technology Partner program.
In an interview with Power & Motion, Brett Engelland, Director of Sales for Electrification, and Nick Moore, Director of Product Management for Electrification at Vanguard, said that similar to electrified solutions, fluid power systems are complex and so working with a partner with engineering expertise in these systems helps to ensure the best solution is achieved.
They also noted that because the fluid power and electric power systems are being worked on simultaneously, improved efficiency and emissions, as well as other benefits can be achieved.
Per Briggs & Stratton, working with solutions providers like those in its Battery Technology Partner program enables it to help more OEMs in niche applications bring their electric options to market.
