Initial situation

In 2004, an industry expert in agricultural machinery had informed our Italian entity on a mission: a tractor manufacturer had been struggling with costly pump failures in its hydraulic system for several years.

Without hesitation, our local Sales Team had immediately identified the stakeholders of this large company to see how ARGO-HYTOS could solve their pain points. In some preliminary dialogues, our references in the tractor sector and extensive development know-how convinced the stakeholders of our role as a system solution provider. An on-site meeting with the technical manager was arranged.

 

Analysis of the problem

During the first meeting, the customer explained the pain points and elaborated on the current filters and hydraulic circuits implemented in his machine at the time.

It became clear that the customer's current system used over the past decades had only ever been adapted in terms of its flow rate but not to the increased requirements and demands of the hydraulic components used.

With our thinking out of the box approach and know-how, the brand-new customer was convinced by our methodology, which allowed us to propose completely new solutions to his problems.

Within a few weeks, the specialists at ARGO-HYTOS subsequently developed an innovative concept to achieve the most suitable solution. This was presented and discussed together with the same team of experts as in the initial visit.

 

Flexible approach

It quickly became clear that the room for integrating the solution into the installation space of the machine was limited and the originally planned concept had to be revised. The ARGO-HYTOS experts were flexible and developed a second concept within a few weeks. The second version could be integrated into the installation space of the machine without making major changes that would have otherwise been deemed necessary.

This solution impressed the customer. Finally, all the stakeholders could already envision the practical implementation of the concept and there were opportunities to integrate additional functions into the filter solution, cutting upcoming costs in the long-run.

When we were still on site with the customer, a decision was also made to produce a model made of rigid foam to analyze the complexity of the installation as well as to physically check the feasibility of the assembly. This model was produced within a few weeks and installed in a machine during the follow-up visit. This cleared up the last doubts about this innovative filter system.

 

Implementation tailored to the customer

A Co-Design Agreement was signed, and ARGO-HYTOS worked out a detailed plan, including project milestones. The development of the filter solution could finally commence, and the Design Freeze had been achieved in a record time of less than 12 months. This achievement was possible because of several optimization loops in which functional tests were carried out on ever-improved sample filters that had been manufactured using state-of-the-art 3D production processes.

The subsequent production of the tools required to produce the series solution as well as the validation process occurred in the following 12 months through the close cooperation with suppliers that were specifically qualified for this technology.

 

Field testing

The final stage of field testing was underway. There was great excitement to see whether the positive results achieved in advance would prove themselves in the rougher, everyday environment. But thanks to the innovative and detail-oriented development carried out in advance, nothing stood in the way of the filter series production after 9 months of field testing.

 

Revolutionary filtration concept

It took less than 3 years to realize a revolutionary filtration concept from the first point of contact with the customer to the production of the series. A wide-ranging field investigation was started in different climatic zones and applications in order to test the performance of the filtration system over the next few years. The results provided evidence that the desired improvements were even exceeded in some cases. Therefore, the customer decided to implement the solution on five additional platforms in the subsequent years.

 

Conclusion: Innovative solutions often require unconventional approaches. Only the end result counts.