Eaton Hydraulics has announced a significant investment in the manufacturing capability at its Havant plant in the UK for its X20 pumps range and will create new jobs at the site. Eaton’s X20 pumps are used in wheel loaders, agricultural vehicles and road sweepers as well as other mobile and marine applications.
Eaton’s £2 million investment will enable the localisation of a regional assembly and test programme, initially for the X20 piston pumps, at its Havant plant that will create 100 additional jobs over the next five years. The ultimate aim is to provide customers with ‘best in class’ delivery lead times for a standard X20 product across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Commenting on the announcement, Mark Foreman, plant manager, said, “We are expecting to see an upsurge in demand for open circuit piston pumps in the next few years as the manufacturers of original equipment increase production to meet their orders. Normally, this would mean that lead times would increase for products such as the X20 pump but this investment in the Havant plant means we can actually reduce lead times to approximately half that which is industry standard now. As well as receiving their products quickly customers need to be confident that the quality of their equipment is of a very high standard and the Havant site, which is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 accredited."
This news coincides with Richard Jacobs appointment as president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Hydraulics Business. He succeeds Astrid Mozes who has been named chief technology officer for Eaton’s Hydraulics Group.
Jacobs has been the vice president and general manager of Filtration since 2008. Prior to that role, he was Eaton’s vice president, Supply Chain Management. Previously, Jacobs held a variety of leadership roles at companies including Knorr Bremse, Honeywell and General Electric.
