Much technological advancement has taken place since Dana Corporation started. How have these technological changes been assimilated in Dana’s drive systems?
As a leading international source for off - highway products, systems, and technologies – including axles, driveshafts, transmissions, and electronic controls—Dana is committed to ongoing innovation and the integration of added value into all product and system designs. From variable-reach rough-terrain lift trucks and agricultural tractors to riding mowers and golf cars, Dana’s off- Highway Systems group provides a single source for the cuttingedge technology and unsurpassed service that the world has come to expect.
The company’s years long research and development experience has resulted in the creation of complete drivetrain solutions, including innovations in torque converters, power shift transmissions , driveshafts, single reduction and planetaryreduction axles. Employing VA/VE principles, technological advancements have been realized across all Dana components, resulting in the most design-efficient and manufacturable products to meet customer requirements.
For OEMs, Dana offers onestop shopping, and can meet all drivetrain needs through a single source – meaning one account manager, one logistics system and one set of commercial terms. An ability to offer a complete range of drivetrain solutions translates to enhanced efficiency for Dana’s customers. As an added benefit, Dana is able to optimize transmission, axle and driveshaft specifications in an integrated manner, allowing for the best performance and highest value solutions for OEMs.
Please tell us about Dana Corporation’s operations, manufacturing facilities, and technical centers that serve the company.
Dana’s Off-Highway Systems group includes worldwide research/ development and manufacturing operations in Belgium, Brazil, China, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Dana’s Off- Highway System serves more than 1,000 vehicle assembly and manufacturing facilities in 30 countries. It has also two global distribution centers and more than 50 authorized service center locations serving in excess of 100 countries.
The company’s experience in automotive axle engineering has also successfully translated into the development of products and systems specifically for offhighway vehicle applications.
Other worldwide production capabilities include:
- Pune, India – compact planetary axle production to address region-specific OEM needs
- Wuxi, China – production of integrated mechanical transaxles for lawn tractors, and planetary gear axles for small agriculture front-drive applications.
How do Dana's drive systems relate to the requirements of construction and infrastructure sectors and their important technical features in terms of ease of operation, ergonomical design, durability, emissions, and fuel efficiency as benchmarked on world-wide standards?
The off-highway applications addressed by Dana’s products and systems have very specific requirements regarding tractive effort and speed, as well as installation parameters. Dana provides modular solutions that result in platforms being adaptable to a variety of vehicle applications, such as 3-, 4-, 6- and 8-speed power shift transmission requirements, and differing torque converter options across vehicle applications. With respect to fuel economy, the number of speeds and torque converter match are becoming ever-increasing considerations in new vehicle applications.
Dana also provides lock-up and free-wheel features on its torque converters, which lead to increased efficiency. The company’s transmission designs typically provide two-system pump drives within the converter assembly, which provide a convenient location to mount OEM hydraulic pumps for vehicle system functions. To deliver optimum tractive effort, vehicle speed and drive efficiency for vehicles, planetary axles with overall ratios of 12:1 through 33:1 are offered. Dana also provides an industry-leading range of flangeto- flange axle widths to accommodate varying vehicle tread width requirements. The company delivers world-leading brake technology for pressure-applied or spring-applied applications. Lastly, Dana offers a variety of torquebiasing differentials to provide traction in adverse ground conditions.
Commitment to quality standards and focus on R & D for innovation in advanced drive systems are the hallmarks of Dana’s operation. What is being done to meet the changing needs of global customers and what are your recent important initiatives?
Backed by global research and development centers, Dana’s state of- the-art design techniques and on- and off-road test tracks ensure robust designs for final products relative to their applications. Whether increasing the life of bearings, sealing products, gears, and shafts, or designing and delivering a completely balanced drivetrain system, Dana is committed to ongoing improvement of processes, products, and systems.
Dana has a formal product planning and new product development process with defined project reviews and stage gate requirements, which ensures that products will meet customer and market needs. Internal lab and field testing are also employed to assure production success. Virtually all of Dana’s manufacturing facilities are ISO 9000 certified with preproduction component inspection and sign-off, as well as production SPC statistical process control. These ensure all quality requirements are being met at Dana facilities around the globe.
Of late, India is emerging fast as a growing market for innovative drivetrain systems. With exciting opportunities in this region, what are Dana Corporation’s plans to participate in the growing Indian market? Furthermore, how is Dana meeting the continued growing needs of China?
Dana’s India Technology Center in Pune, is a shared resource with the company’s Commercial Vehicle Systems group. However, to address this growing segment of the international marketplace, the Off-Highway Systems group is in the final construction phases of a stand-alone facility to meet increasing Indian off-highway OEM needs. These facilities will primarily address product demand indigenous to the country of India. In China, Dana is responding to similarly escalating manufacturing needs from large, global OEMs in this region. With more OEMs moving vehicle manufacturing to China, Dana is correspondingly shifting production location to address their in-country component needs.
