- Continental is making strides in the hydraulic hose industry, investing in plant operations and offering unique customer solutions.
- Industry solutions include thermoplastic hydraulic hoses and smart technology that makes crimping a cinch.
- Continental’s Shop in a Box provides customers all they need in a single box.
Fairlawn, OH — Wednesday, April 25, 2023 – Continental is making major investments in their hydraulic hose offering, headlined by new, cutting-edge technologies and products that focus on meeting customer demand for premium hydraulic hoses. It is also making notable monetary investments, most recently announcing a new, $40 million state-of-the-art hydraulic hose manufacturing facility in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
As a leading global manufacturer of hose products, further growth in hydraulics is part of Continental’s strategy. With the additional capacity at San Luis Potosi, Continental will increase the speed to market for new products and shorten lead times for orders to current customers.
Investing in Hydraulic Plant Improvements
Continental has been building hydraulics hoses out of their Norfolk, Nebraska plant since it opened in 1979. The Norfolk facility has produced more than 2.7 billion feet of hose – enough to wrap around the Earth 21 times. In the past five years, Continental has invested over $10 million to improve quality, productivity, and safety of plant operations. Changes include upgrading to a state-of-the-art extrusion process, adding capacity with the installation of new hydraulic hose braiders, and automating the finishing and final inspection of their hydraulic hoses. Continental has their sights set on further weaving in Industry 4.0 connectivity throughout the process.
Your Turnkey Hose Assembly Solution
Continental’s hydraulic product offering that is revolutionizing hose fabrication is Shop in a Box, a complete hose assembly cell that arrives packed in a box. This set up contains a crimper and all the accessories you need to produce premium Continental assemblies. At CONEXPO in March, Shop in a Box was a popular attraction at Continental’s Industrial Fluid Solutions booth.
“Shop in a Box was the most asked about product at our booth,” says Ryan Gocher, Hydraulics Global Business Director. “Customers love its simplicity. They no longer have to place orders with different vendors for a complete hose assembly.”
Shop in a Box includes a 96”x36” work bench, saw, fitting cabinet and bins, hose reel, and CrimpIQ tablet that connects the customer to the CrimpCloud®, Continental’s cloud-based software that is home to product information and crimp specs. Plus, customers can choose from four different options for crimpers depending on the scale of their operations.
New Thermoplastic Hydraulic Hose Program
Continental’s hydraulic product offering is vast and includes 63 different types of hoses and 2,700 fittings. New to the portfolio is the thermoplastic hydraulic hose series, which includes the X-Life™ abrasion resistant covers that take thermoplastics to the next level. The hoses are lightweight, compact, and offer non-conductive and twin-line versions where needed. The X-Life™ XR18 is also designed specifically for forklifts. Product specifications can be found on www.HoseSelect.com.
Coupling Solutions for a Digital Age
Continental knows that the best solutions go beyond the physical product. Newly launched, the
C-IQ™ mobile app is Continental’s brand-new app for hose fabricators. It provides crimp specs right in a customer’s pocket, a huge step in digitizing Continental’s hydraulic solutions. C-IQ™ is a digital toolbox that helps create the perfect assembly – providing crimp specifications, helping identify the fitting threads, and providing information on the hoses and fittings themselves.
Traceability is a key function of the CrimpCloud®. Customers can print scannable labels to retrieve hose assembly details and operations information – such as when the hose was manufactured, the part number, and the phone number to call when it is time to replace the hose. Continental pioneered this solution of allowing users to create labels and track assemblies from their crimpers. With a proper identification system, downtime can be avoided. Assets can be identified quickly, and replacement products can be sourced in a much shorter time at lower cost, leading to repeat sales.
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Continental develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent, and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic, and transportation. In 2022, Continental generated sales of €39.4 billion and currently employs around 200,000 people in 57 countries and markets.
Press Contact
Anthony DiGiacobbe
Communications Manager North America
Continental
703 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road
Fairlawn, OH 44333
Phone: (330) 664-7124
Mobile: (330) 646-3807
Anthony.Digiacobbe@contitech.us
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