Engines: Manufacturers Take Innovations to Newer Highs

With OEMs placing a premium on engines that deliver higher productivity and ensure lesser downtime of equipment with scheduled maintenance and upkeep, engine manufacturers are designing and developing robust engines that meet their requirements. P.P. Basistha reports.

Driven by the requirements of OEMs, engine manufacturers are developing solutions that enable fuel efficiency, installation flexibility, ease of maintenance, and above all, enhanced ability to withstand dynamic forces while working at sites. They are focusing on complete equipment integration, especially with the auxiliary systems such as radiators, transmission, air intake and exhaust. ANew designs and features close alliance with the OEMs is helping them make the necessary changes and upgrades from the design stage itself, followed by performance tests conducted jointly.

Says Miron Thoms, Vice President & Head of Volvo Penta India, “With our vast experience in industrial applications, our engines are designed and customized to suit rigorous and heavy-duty operations. We collaborate with OEMs on field-testing, installation and application in the most abusive field conditions for several thousand hours during the design phase itself. This helps us to develop robust, heavy-duty engines, and even do customization for specific requirements. For example, Volvo Penta offers as standard, heavy-duty cable harnesses, with optional heavy-duty cooling and air filtration systems. Volvo Penta also assists OEMs on application engineering that includes a review of the design requirements, discussions on optional equipment, packaging, prototype installation, testing and validation.” Volvo Penta will be launching its Bharat (CEV) Stage IV engine range this year at bauma.

According to Jasmeet Singh, Head - Corporate Communications and Corporate Relations, JCB India Limited, since the Indian terrain has varied working conditions, JCB undertakes prototype performance and assessment in order to offer the best products to customers. “Our engineering expertise enables us to develop a power packed engine as per OEMs standards and installation requirements. Our application and product teams work with the OEMs early on in the process to ensure that full consideration is given to the installation parameters and design that can affect engine performance. We then undertake testing as per the type of equipment and the duty cycles the engine would be expected to perform. We gauge its ability to withstand varied site conditions by testing them in the highest mountains to the lowest plains covering arctic to desert operations.”

New designs and features

Volvo Penta diesel engines have a compact design, a high power-to-weight ratio, electronically controlled waste-gate turbocharger for increased block load acceptance, excellent performance with peak torque even at low engine speed, reliability, low fuel consumption, low exhaust emission, and a long service life. Says Thoms, “Volvo Penta engines enable more productivity by the operator and give the best total cost of ownership with optimum uptime. Together with our engineering team, the air filtration and cooling systems are validated by the OEMs. Furthermore, we support the driveline development to optimize the transmission set up, if applicable. We provide modified engine designs and technical assistance – including field tests – to ensure that our customers’ work at site runs at full capacity.”

Volvo Penta’s range includes 5 base engines from 5 L, 8 L, 11 L, 13 L to 16 L displacement. The 5-liter and 8-liter engines ranging from 105 kW to 235 kW are made in Pithampur. The 11-liter, 13-liter, and 16-liter are available from 235 kW to 565 kW. The company provides complete power solutions for marine and industrial applications,power generation, mining and construction, material handling, agriculture, and for special vehicles. Says Thoms, “Our engines with their compact size and options of remote oil and fuel filter, help reduce maintenance time and improve uptime. They have long service intervals of 8000 hours due to special cooling liquids and a life expectancy of over 10,000 hours.”

JCB India offers engines from 56 kW to 97 kW for its BS-3 emission compliant backhoe loaders, wheeled loaders and compactors, and from 63 kW to 129 kW for the BS-2 market of excavators. Genset engines of 60 kVA to 125 kVA are also manufactured at the company’s facility in Ballabgarh for both exports and domestic use. Currently, over 2,00,000 JCB engines are working in India. Its ecoMAX engines are used by other OEMs for equipment used in road sweeping, in concrete mixers, pumps, screening, crushers and tow trucks.

Says Jasmeet, “Installation flexibility comes from first having a great core product as the base. We can then build on this by creating specific OEM factory options and ancillaries to cater to different OEM installation requirements. One of JCB engine’s outstanding feature is the relatively low level of complexity. JCB’s ecoMax engine is regarded as the most fuel efficient in the industry due to its optimized sub systems like fuel, exhaust intake and combustion. Its in-built features like optimized air fuel, advanced filtration system, water separator and special FIE system not only protect the engine but also extend its life.”

Product Support

Volvo Penta provides global aftermarket support in 130 countries to support OEMs to trade in both the domestic and export markets. Says Thoms, “Over the last 20 years, Volvo Penta has been developing its aftermarket network and is now present in 61 locations with over 85 touchpoints across the country. We have a regional warehouse and parts distribution center in Bangalore, and a 24x7 Volvo Penta Action Service for giving timely support to our customers.”

He informs that Volvo Penta customers also benefit from the optional Volvo Penta Service Agreement, which is tailored to meet their operating needs and budget, with a choice of regular inspections or a comprehensive service and maintenance program, including preventive repairs. “In India, more than 25% of our end-users have opted for a service agreement. Volvo Penta will soon be setting up an exclusive training centre in Bangalore.”


JCB’s Premier Line product support program gives the option of bespoke support packages for customers. The company has various customer connect and service campaigns wherein trained service engineers visit customer sites and offer service and parts support. Its equipment is backed by JCB’s advanced Telematics technology, JCB Livelink. Says Jasmeet, “Since these machines work in far-flung areas, it is imperative that a well-connected product support is offered to customers to minimize the downtime and maximize productivity. To support the growing population of our equipment powered by JCB engines, our dealers have made sizeable investments in setting a support network with over 6,000 professionals trained in the operation and maintenance of the equipment, besides which we have a warehouse in Pune, Chennai, Faridabad, Guwahati and Kolkata for spares.”


While the newer engines variants, made through increasing levels of co engineering alliance between the manufacturers and OEM, claims to offer total lifecycle costs and higher levels of performance, it will be vital for manufacturers to ensure commensurate levels of service availability for the engines.