Fluid power is anything but a ‘one size fits all’ industry. While the underlying laws of physics might be the same across the board, the way that hydraulic and pneumatic solutions are tailored to the challenges of each sector and application requires a unique approach each time. In this article, we take a look at the way that hydraulic and pneumatic solutions are used in agriculture and industrial packaging, to illustrate the importance of industry-specific expertise during system design and component selection for niche industries.
Why Is Industry-Specific Expertise Important?
Applications in diverse industries may use the same types of components and applications may look superficially similar, but each sector has distinct operational requirements, environmental challenges, and performance expectations that demand careful consideration at the design, prototyping, and implementation stage. Working with an experienced Hatraco, Atos, or Festo distributor and supplier who understands these nuances, such as Hydrastar, will help set you up with the right components from the start, maximising the value of your application for a specific niche.
Agricultural Applications: Power And Reliability In Towns And Conditions
The agricultural, farming sector is one of the biggest users of heavy-duty hydraulic systems and machinery. From tractors and combine harvesters to huge irrigation systems and livestock handling equipment, modern farms rely heavily on robust and dependable fluid power systems that can perform consistently outdoors in all weathers. Agricultural machinery faces niche challenges from extreme temperature variations throughout the year, round-the-clock exposure to mud, dust, debris, moisture infiltration, and variable load conditions. These factors require the careful selection of hydraulic parts and system design considerations that differ from, say, production machinery or even construction plant. Modern farm equipment also uses sophisticated hydraulic systems for steering, implement control, and power ignition functions. These systems have to deliver precise control while handling significant power loads, often operating for extended periods without maintenance opportunities.
And modern agricultural machinery is far from the brute force workhorse of yesteryear. Modern irrigation systems, for instance, often require programmable logic controller integration with their hydraulic cylinders, pumps, and directional control valves, to create a comprehensive and automated solution capable of coordinating actions across an entire farm.
Industrial Packaging Equipment: Precision And Speed In Automated Production
The packaging industry demands exceptional speed, reliability, consistency, and precision from its pneumatic and hydraulic systems. Modern packaging equipment must handle diverse products while maintaining consistent throughput times, with minimal wastage and downtime to meet demanding production targets and cost objectives. The fluid power applications used in the packaging sector therefore have a tough task on their hands. Packaging applications now used sophisticated pneumatic circuits for pick and place operations, for example, as well as labelling devices, product coding systems, and liquid bottling processes. These systems require components that can deliver rapid and exact movements while maintaining precise positioning accuracy across millions of identical operating cycles.
The challenge for engineers is to accommodate different product sizes, weights, and handling requirements within the same production line. Atos hydraulic components, known for their precision and reliability, are frequently specified in critical packaging operations the way that they integrate seamlessly with a range of control systems and connector options.
Custom pneumatic manifold systems are another valuable solution for packaging applications, especially those facing space constraints and complex motion sequences. By consolidating multiple directional control valves, flow controls, and safety functions into an integrated manifold, packaging equipment engineers and designers can achieve more compact designs while simultaneously improving system reliability and assembly time.
What Next?
At HydraStar, we deliver custom fluid power solutions that address the precise requirements of niche industries, helping you to optimise performance, reliability, and efficiency across diverse applications. To find out more, please contact one of our experienced team today by clicking here, or call us directly on 01353 721704.
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