Production of new commercial-vehicle exhaust aftertreatment systems is scheduled to begin later this year at Eberspaecher North America’s manufacturing facilities in Brighton, Mich.
The company recently completed a multi-million-dollar renovation of its Brighton facility, retooling 80 percent of the 120,000-square-foot plant floor space with automated welding equipment for the final assembly of new aftertreatment systems.
Eberspaecher also has installed state-of-the-art manufacturing technology at a new facility recently opened in Wixom, Michigan. The 100,000-square-foot plant houses roll-forming and new patented sizing equipment for the production of canning used in the company’s aftertreatment systems.
“The substantial investments we’ve made in our Brighton and Wixom facilities will position the company as a market leader in the production of exhaust aftertreatment systems for heavy-duty trucks from 2010 onward,” said Dennis Berry, the president and CEO of Eberspaecher North America.
“Eberspaecher’s increasingly important role as a supplier of next-generation commercial-vehicle exhaust systems represents good news for Michigan’s economy and for the company’s future in North America.”
Designed to meet stringent new Environmental Protection Agency commercial-vehicle emissions standards for 2010, Eberspaecher’s selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology has the ability to significantly reduce critical heavy-truck emissions. The company’s SCR systems convert NOx into harmless nitrogen and water using an ammonia-based solution injected into the exhaust system.
“Our new SCR technology has the ability to reduce nitrogen-oxide emissions by up to 95 percent compared to reductions of only about 50 percent for more conventional NOx-trap systems,” said Martin Romzek, Eberspaecher’s North American vice president – Development. “SCR also offers substantial improvements in fuel economy compared to alternative aftertreatment systems.”
Stringent EPA NOx emissions requirements for heavy-duty trucks will be applied to off-highway vehicles in 2014.
“The work we’ve done to develop SCR technology for heavy-truck applications puts Eberspaecher in a perfect position to help our customers meet Tier 4 regulations for off-road agricultural and construction equipment in 2014,” noted Jack Pogorzelski, the company’s customer service director – Off Highway.
Pogorzelski noted that Eberspaecher is focusing on the development of modular designs to meet the more complex packaging and serviceability needs of the off-road market. Unique design tools developed by Eberspaecher and refined in the company’s commercial-vehicle development work will be applied to new 2014 Tier 4 products.
“Today we’re primarily an automotive supplier, but within the next three years we expect our commercial-vehicle operations to account for 50 percent or more of our North American business and contribute to a substantial growth in total sales,” Berry concluded. “Off-highway sales during the next decade will have a significant impact on future growth as well.”
Eberspaecher annually invests an average of six percent of its net sales in the global development of exhaust-system technologies. Its expertise is based on more than 35 years of experience developing sophisticated automotive and commercial-vehicle systems designed to meet stringent emissions and fuel economy requirements throughout the world.
Today, Eberspaecher is one of the world’s leading suppliers of aftertreatment technology for commercial vehicles and passenger cars. The company’s own heavy-truck programs were enhanced by the acquisition of Daimler’s PUREM subsidiary in 2007 and the formation of a Commercial Vehicle Business Unit.
“Headquartered in Esslingen, Germany, the Eberspaecher Group’s two operating divisions – Exhaust Technology and Vehicle Heating – have 5,500 employees working in 19 countries.
The company also continues to develop new technologies to further grow its automotive business. Passenger-car developments recently announced by Eberspaecher include ActiveSilence noise-canceling technology and lightweight exhaust systems for hybrid, as well as conventional vehicles.
