KION Group Is Expanding to Eastern Europe

The KION Group is continuing to expand its footprint in Eastern Europe. As part of this, the KION Group brand Linde Material Handling is acquiring the business of the dealer Liftec in Russia For around 20 years now, Linde has worked successfully with Liftec in Russia. The takeover gives the Linde brand greater direct access to the high-growth potential of the Russian market. 

In Brazil, the KION Group is currently expanding its production capacities in order to better satisfy growing customer demand. In São Paulo, KION is setting up a plant to manufacture IC trucks. Production in São Paulo is scheduled to start in early 2012. The existing Brazilian plant in Rio de Janeiro manufactures warehouse technology for KION's STILL and Linde brands.

In India, the KION Group and Voltas Limited have set up Voltas Material Handling Private Ltd. (VMH). The KION Group holds the majority of shares in this joint venture for the development, manufacture, sale and service of forklift trucks and warehouse technology. In July, Voltas Material Handling commenced operations at a new plant in Pune, with the aim of better exploiting the potential offered by the growing Indian market.

The Linde brand has been active in China for almost two decades. Its nationwide sales and service network makes it the biggest international distributor in what is now the world's second-biggest market after western Europe. The Linde plant in Xiamen has been producing trucks, mainly for the Chinese market, for more than 15 years. It is the third-biggest plant in the KION Group after those in Aschaffenburg and Hamburg. The Chinese brand Baoli focuses on the economy segment in the target growth markets of China, Eastern Europe and Central and South America. In terms of the number of units sold, Jingjiang-based Baoli ranks among the top ten Chinese brands in the industry.

The Company

With its six brands - Linde, STILL, Fenwick, OM, Baoli and Voltas - the KION Group is Europe's market leader for industrial trucks, the global number two in the industry and the leading international supplier in China. The KION Group employed over 20,000 people and generated revenue more than €3.5 billion in the 2010 financial year.

Linde Material Handling GmbH, based in Aschaffenburg, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial trucks machinery and one of the key producers of hydrostatic and electrical drive systems, which are used in its own trucks, as well as in construction, agricultural and forestry machinery.

Sony’s Mobile 3D Headset

TOKYOSpider-Man leaps from the top of a building and swings out towards you, cloak fluttering so close you can almost touch it -- at work, on a train, in a car, or wherever you are.

Sony Corp (6758.T) said on Wednesday its new 3D device offers a movie experience that can be had anywhere, with a head-mounted display that lets users also watch videos and play videogames.

The sleek, futuristic visor-like headset -- not much wider than a pair of sunglasses -- covers the face from the eyes to the ears, where there are earphones attached, and weighs 420 grams

Clear, vivid images are produced with the help of two OLED displays located inside, creating a deep feeling of immersion.

The hardest part for us was to make it as small-sized as possible, while maintaining high definition, but we succeeded," said Shigeru Kato, a Sony vice president.

People can enjoy watching a favourite movie or play a videogame on their own without bothering other family members.

The headset can be used for watching videos, listening to music and playing videogames by plugging it into a Blu-ray disc player or game machine.

Before, watching a movie on a big screen was a pastime for the whole family, but now there is a growing demand from people who want to enjoy videos on large-sized screens alone,

But this pleasure does not come without cost. The HMZ Personal 3D Viewer -- which goes on sale in Japan on November 11.

Source: reuters

The Leading Products From Ashland

A variety of innovative paper-making products and solutions will be exhibited by Ashland Water Technologies.

During the expo, Ashland application experts will present a technical seminar on contaminant control strategies. The strategies being presented will include water quality monitoring and effectively addressing contaminants when found.

Ashland Water Technologies is a leading global producer of papermaking chemicals and a leading specialty chemicals supplier to the pulp, paper, commercial and institutional, food and beverage, chemical, mining and municipal markets Its process, utility and functional chemistries are used to improve operational efficiencies, enhance product quality, protect plant assets and help ensure environmental compliance machinery.

In more than 100 countries, the people of Ashland Inc. provide the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Our chemistry is at work every day in a wide variety of markets and applications, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care, pharmaceutical, tissue and towel, and water treatment. Visit www.ashland.com to see the innovations we offer through our four commercial units - Ashland Specialty Ingredients, Ashland Water Technologies, Ashland Performance Materials and Ashland Consumer Markets.

Source: reuters

Sany Heavy’s Shere Of Offers Go HK Market

HONG KONG, Sept 2TjhTTThe construction machinery company Sany Heavy are slated to start marketing a combined $5.5 billion in share offerings next week. Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd already received approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange's listing committee.

Citic Securities Co Ltd , China's largest publicly traded brokerage, had also received the go-ahead from the exchange and would start marketing its $2 billion Hong Kong offering early next week; Companies have unveiled plans to sell nearly $15 billion of shares this month in Hong Kong, the world's top destination for IPOs for two years running.

Sany Heavy makes construction machinery such as concrete pumps and truck cranes, has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch , Citigroup Inc and Citic Securities to manage its offering.

The team of nine firms to handle its stock sale, including unit Citic Securities International, CCB International, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Agricole's CLSA unit.

Can Hitachi Double Revenues In India

Hitachi expects to increase revenues In India to around $2.6 billion) as compared to $1.2 billion in the last fisca

India contributed just 1% of its global revenue in FY11, has been re-positioned as an independent management area for the firm; It has joined China which contributed 13 %of its global in FY11 .

The company's staff will be increased, mainly in the corporate division in order to support the smooth rollout of business at Hitachi Group companies, It plans to open a new research and development center for information and telecommunication systems business in Bangalore by March 2012.

Since it began Indian business operations in the 1930s, Hitachi has been involved in a variety of business activities, including the manufacture and sales of air conditioning equipment and construction machinery.

In 2010, it had established two joint venture companies with Indian power equipment maker BGR Energy to make thermal power plant equipment.

Better Fuel Economy Through Better Transmissions

Arguably, the most complicated piece of machinery in the automotive world is a transmission. Transmissions transmit the power from the motor to the wheels in a way that prevents the engine from damaging itself while maximizing the power of the engine. Some battery electric vehicles may be able to skip the transmission all together using just two or three simplified set of gears. However, in internal combustion engines (ICE), the transmissions provide the gears to best capitalize on the power curve of the engine (as well as provide the reverse function).

In the quest to snatch every last joule of energy from each drop of fuel, ICE vehicles have been undergoing a lot of interesting developments recently, including turbo charging, lighter weight materials, and revising pistons and fuel injectors. All of these contribute to better fuel Economics do not have the same impact as an improved transmission.

Transmissions have evolved over the years. When I first started to drive, manual transmissions were considered much more fuel efficient than automatic transmissions. That difference has diminished significantly and now we are seeing automatics that beat or match manual transmissions for fuel economy. In the mid 2000's, the continuously variable transmission (CVT) emerged as the leader for fuel economy. These transmissions do not have the mechanical gears of a traditional transmission, instead using a chain on two v-shaped pulleys that move in and out making the chain rotate on a larger or smaller "gear." This allows the transmission to operate at an infinite number of gear ratios, which keeps the engine running at its optimum speed.

Meanwhile, transmission manufacturers like ZF Friedrichshafen have been adding additional gears to their transmissions while reducing the lag between shifting. This summer, ZF launched the first nine-speed automatic transmission for passenger cars with transverse mounted engines (typically used in front and all wheel drive cars). ZF's nine-speed transmissions have very fast shifts with only two open clutch events, all but eliminating the fuel wasting time between shifts. The new transmission is expected to improve fuel economy 15% or more compared to a six-speed transmission and do so with fewer parts.

Dual clutch transmissions (popular in Europe) typically improve fuel economy 4% to 12% over comparable traditional automatics with torque converters according to transmission-builder, Getrag Corporate Group. Getrag explains dual clutch transmissions on their website as "one gear is engaged, the system has already preselected the next. Once the relevant rpm has been reached, one clutch is opened while the second is closed simultaneously, precluding any interruption in tractive force." In addition, new torque converters and transmissions are being optimized to provide start/stop capabilities to automatic transmissions, all in the name of increased fuel economy.

  Source:reuter

HSBC China PMI Rises

The HSBC PMI  previews business conditions in a range of industries before official monthly output data releases, China’s rose to 49.9 in August from 49.3 in July.

Factory inflation quickened in August, with the sub-index for input prices rising to 55.9.

Both output and employment rebounded to above the 50 line for the first time in three months.

Indeed, HSBC believes a PMI reading of as low as 48 in China still points to annual growth of 12-13 % in industrial output and a 9% expansion in GDP

Factory output rose during August, but the output sub-index was at a level indicative of only a marginal rate of expansion. Firms also reported shortages of raw materials, as well as machinerymaintenance.

The new orders sub-index fell below 50 for the first time since July 2010, while the sub-index for new export orders showed a slight improvement in August but still signalled contraction for four months in a row due to weak global demand.

Average input prices continued to rise. Firms that reported a rise in input prices generally commented on higher raw material costs.

The sub-index for Stock of purchases inched up in August but stayed below 50, signalling a further decline in stocks of raw materials and semi-manufactured goods.

The employment sub-index increased above 50 in August, signalling a rise in manufacturing jobs for the first time in three months.