Cummins Plans New Product Rollout for 2017
During the first press event of the Mid-America Trucking Show here, Cummins executives said the new ISX15 will be joined by the EcoFit Single Module, an aftertreatment system for heavy- and medium-duty trucks that combines selective catalytic reduction and a diesel particulate filter in one system.
Dave Crompton, president of the engine business, said the Columbus, Indiana-based manufacturer will keep advancing aggressively to offer new products.
“We have every intention of investing to maintain our leadership,” Crompton said at the March 24 event. With changes in federal environmental policy since 2010, Crompton said he welcomed the opportunity to develop the most efficient engines possible, a process that would save fleets on their fuel bills and reduce carbon dioxide emissions for the world.
“This plays to our advantage,” Crompton said.
Dave Crompton opens @CumminsEngines press event at #mats2015. @TransportTopics pic.twitter.com/zY3oYzbJml
— Neil Abt_TT (@NeilAbt) March 24, 2015
Through 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency focused its truck-related efforts on reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide compounds and particulate matter.
The new ISX15 will be available in a broad range of horsepower from 400 to 605 hp. It will come in two packages: one for fleets particularly interested in mileage and another for truck operators with high-performance needs, said Jim Fier, vice president of engineering for truck engines.
Single Module is a product from the company’s emission solutions division. Compared to the current setup for SCR and DPF, Frier said the module will be 60% smaller and 40% lighter, yet it also will be more efficient.
This would return weight and chassis space to truck makers, two commodities that are highly desired.
Amy Boerger, the new VP of the North American engine business, reminded reporters that Cummins has a Customer Care program to use its chain of 3,500 dealerships in the United States and Canada to fix engine problems quickly. She used the word “uptime,” which has been a key mantra among truck makers lately.
With its Connected Diagnostics program, as soon as a Cummins engine throws a default code, the event is transmitted to Cummins, as well as the fleet’s office, via the carrier’s standard choice in in-cab communications.
There is an immediate evaluation, Boerger said, of whether the problem is so severe it will incapacitate the engine quickly or something that can wait a day or more.
“We’re managing uptime for our customers,” she said.
Crompton said the company is, perhaps, changing over time because of heavy investment in engine making by truck makers. It used to be the case people could look simply at heavy-duty engine sales and judge based on that.
“But now we’re also in SCR, components, filtration and midrange engines,” Crompton said. “There’s overall growth, and we’re still adding a lot of value . . . but we may not look exactly the same as in the past.”
