Hendrickson, a Boler company, is a leading global manufacturer of and supplier of suspension and heavy-duty springs for truck, tractor, bus and recreational vehicles. The company also manufactures trailer suspensions, controls and nonintegrated axles, truck and trailer lift axles, and bumpers and trim components to the commercial transportation industry. Hendrickson, based in Itasca, Ill., USA, continues to meet the needs of the transportation industry after more than 95 years.In India, Hendrickson established a 50:50 joint venture with Tata AutoComp Systems Ltd. (TACO) in 2006 to produce a full range of truck, trailer and bus suspensions. TACO Hendrickson Suspensions Private Ltd. (THSPL), the Indian joint venture manufactures steer axle, drive axle, and liftable truck suspensions; trailer suspensions, and bus suspensions to the Indian commercial vehicle industry. THSPL started commercial production in 2007.
Mr. NirmalTolani, THSPL Chief Executive Officer, said: “We have developed a bogie suspension for a 26 tonner truck, which is now into series production. We have developed a few more suspension products both for trucks and buses which are under different stages of validation, testing and approvals”.
THSPL is working with all major OEMs including Tata Motors, Mahindra Navistar, Volvo-Eicher and others. Our suspensions are now standard fitment on Tata and Mahindra Navistar trucks, says Mr. Tolani.
One of the first products developed by THSPL is a lift axle for Tata Motors 8X2 3118 truck. This has been a very successful product both for Tata Motors and for THSPL. “We have an exclusivity agreement with Tata Motors for the next 3 years for the lift axles. We will be the sole supplier of this product to Tata Motors”, says Mr. Tolani.
THSPL has developed a tandem bogie suspension system for the Prima Truck range. The product has been developed taking into account all Indian operating parameters like road conditions, overloading and ease of serviceability to ensure better ride handling and control. The suspension systems have been designed to perform up to 15 to 25% overloading consideration.
This world class technology has been made cost effective with 100 per cent localisation of components. The range includes suspension products for all kinds of heavy vehicles under this programme from rigid truck to high end tippers. The 48 ton inverter bogie suspension developed for the tipper is the first of its kind being introduced. Over and above, all the bogies suspensions use rubber bolster to offer better shock absorption.
THSPL is set to carve out a niche in the Indian market through the supply of world class suspension systems for the medium and heavy duty segment. THSPL’s Pune facility aims to be a global supplier of suspension systems and allied components to Hendrickson International’s offshore divisions.
Bus segment
THSPL initially focused on developing products for the truck segment. With truck products getting into series production, the company is now aggressively looking at the bus segment. For the bus segment THSPL has developed a 4-bag rear air suspension. “We have benchmarked all other products and designed an air suspension for buses which offers the best in class ride with robust features to suit the highly demanding conditions in India”, says Mr. Tolani. These suspensions can be suitably adapted for city and inter-city applications as well, Mr. Tolani adds. THSPL will be supplying these air suspension systems to Mahindra Navistar for the 16 tonner bus which is under development.
THSPL currently has capacity to manufacture 3,000 lift axles and around 600 to 700 bogie axles. Capacity is not a constraint, says Mr. Tolani. All products manufactured in India have been localized 100%.
Globally Hendrickson employs over 2,000 people in 18 facilities and 12 manufacturing centers in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Spain, Turkey, India, China and Australia. More than 75 per cent of heavy-duty trucks and trailers roll off assembly lines in the US with Hendrickson suspension systems, springs or bumpers. Around the globe, a third of all heavy-duty vehicles benefit from the rugged reliability of Hendrickson products. In fact, they are the world’s largest independent suspension supplier, having produced over 2,500,000 truck suspensions and innovated many technological breakthroughs.
In India, THSPL is working with most of the OEMs including companies like Daimler who are slated to launch their products by mid 2012.
Retrofit on buses
Another interesting opportunity that THSPL is working on is retrofit of air suspension systems, particularly for buses. “We are working with aftermarket customers for retrofit of air suspension on buses which will offer better ride quality. This is a big opportunity in the bus segment. We are working with some state transport organisations where they want to retrofit these suspensions on some of their buses”, says Mr. Tolani.
Apart from trucks and buses, THSPL is also looking at opportunities in the trailer segment. In Europe and North America more than 95% of the trucks and trailer are fitted with air suspension. In India, the concept of air suspension is more common in the bus segment. The truck and trailer segment still remains untapped.
With its wide of portfolio of products and global connections with OEMs, Hendrickson and more particularly TACO Hendrickson will play a leading role in the Indian market.
