To learn more, contact:Holly Brunell Eaton Corporation Hydraulics Operations 14615 Lone Oak Road Eden Prairie, Minnesota (952) 937-7218 hollybbrunell@eaton.com

EatOn CORPORatiOn CUSTOMER FOCUS

Eaton Cylinders Fit the Mold at THT Presses

"The Eaton 'Power of One' is truly beingexercised with THT’s vertical presses. Eaton®

Cylinders are the most recent addition to this platform, already rich with Eaton's power units, pumps, valves, and manifolds"

Customer

THT Presses, Inc.

Markets Served Casting industry

Background When a leading manufacturer of electric motor casting ma-chines was looking for a new source for large-bore cylin-ders, Eaton Hydro-Line® cylin-ders fit the mold perfectly.

THT Presses of Dayton, Ohio, is relying on Eaton's large-bore cylinders for use on itsinnovative vertical casting machines. The 24-inch bore cylinders provide clamping pressure on the innovative machines that overcome many of the headaches associated with traditional, horizontal-casting equipment.

THT vertical machines, which inject molten metal vertically, eliminate trapped gases and turbulence, resulting in parts with lower porosity and higher density. Instead of meander-ing through multiple 90-de-

gree turns, the molten metal has direct passageway to the die, producing more uniform parts.

ChallengeEaton recognized the opportu-nity to improve THT’s vertical presses with high quality, Eaton® cylinders. However, because of its satisfaction with competitive cylinders, THT didn’t see a need to change cylinder suppliers.

Meanwhile, Eaton teamed up with SunSource, a local Eaton products distributor that has been doing business with THT for some 30 years, to entice THT from a hydraulics stand-point. They acquainted THT with Eaton’s "Power of One" strength in supplying multiple product requirements and system solutions, and THT en-gineering and purchasing folks

took notice. As a result, Eaton won nearly 100 percent of THT’s vertical press hydraulic requirements, including power units, pumps, valves, and manifolds.

The customer’s satisfaction with Eaton products, and the local service and support of SunSource played a key role when THT began to rethink its cylinder supplier. Skyrocketing competitive cylinder pricing triggered THT to open up its cylinder business to Eaton for bidding.

"SunSource’s work on thehydraulics side gave us an inroad to THT," says Terry Newsome, Eaton area sales manager.

"Tackling THT from a non-cyl-inder standpoint enabled us to gain its attention when the

Eaton Corporation is a diversified industrial manufacturer with 2006 sales of $12.4 billion. Eaton is a global leader in electrical systems and components for power quality, distribution and control; fluid power systems and services for industrial, mobile and aircraft equipment; intelligent truck drivetrain systems for safety and fuel economy; and automotive engine air management systems, powertrain solutions and specialty controls for performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton has 61,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 125 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com Doc. no. H-CYCM-MS002-E

Eaton Hydro-Line cylinders provide 2500 psi clamping pressure on tHt’s 500-ton Shuttle die cast machines.

competitive cylinder source became a concern.” The Eaton and distribu-tor team knew much work needed to be done in order to walk away with the cylinder business in hand. Besides meeting THT’s aggressive pricing structure, the team needed to meet highly cus-tomized design requirements and critical delivery schedules.

SolutionNewsome and Gene Rous-culp, SunSource salesman, enlisted the design assistance of the Eaton cylinder engi-neering team. The team drew up plans for a customized Hydro-Line cylinder that met THT requirements — 48-inch stroke, 18-inch diameter rod, and 2,500 psi operating pres-sure using water glycol fluid.

With design plans and pricing in place, the build project was just in time for Eaton’s Decatur, Alabama, facility to promote its new strength in large-bore custom cylinder production. The first set of cylinders were produced and shipped to THT in June 2006, for follow-up testing andinstallation on a vertical press.

ResultsPleased with its initial cylinder order and with the ease of doing business with Eaton, THT also placed an additional cylinder order.

THT expects to build vertical presses for two more orders this year, and they will likely feature Eaton cylinders, says Rick Kamm, THT engineer.

"Eaton certainly is a quality supplier," Kamm says.

"THT has been pleased with Eaton's cylinder products, responsiveness, and capabili-ties."

"Eaton Hydro-Linecylinders provide...2500 psi clampingpressure on THT’s 500-ton Shuttle die cast machines."

"THT has been pleased with Eaton's cylinder products, responsive-ness and capabilities."