The New Power Behind Control Devices And Systems

Penny + Giles Joystick ControlsCommenting for Curtiss-Wright Controls Industrial (CWCI), Senior Vice President Kevin Rayment says: "The acquisition and merger significantly strengthens and expands Curtiss-Wright's existing industrial controls business, providing growth in new markets and a strong presence in the on- and off-highway sectors and rapidly growing electric vehicle market.

“PG Drives Technology (PGDT) complements Curtiss-Wright’s unmatched expertise, experience and long-standing customer relationships while the acquisition enhances the group’s market diversification with further penetration into existing industrial and medical markets. It also simultaneously increases our presence and product offerings in the specialty vehicle market.”

He goes onto say that by combining Williams Controls' global leadership in electronic throttle controls with CWCI, the business can more quickly achieve a strategic vision to expand its range of pedal systems, sensors and joysticks to become a preferred solutions supplier to its customers in the commercial truck and off-road markets.

With its headquarters in Christchurch, UK, the three Curtiss-Wright Controls Industrial brands – backed by design, manufacturing, sales and support facilities in the USA, UK, Germany, China, Taiwan and India – create a business group with a turnover in excess of $160 million.

As Kevin Rayment explains, with the recent acquisition and merger comes an increased resource of dedicated engineers. “CWCI engineers have extensive knowledge across a wide range of industries and applications so, by working closely and directly with OEMs to achieve a better understanding of their requirements, we are able to respond quickly to a specific brief by customising existing products or creating new products and concepts to better suit their applications and specifications.”

To complement its sales and support facilities, CWCI also boasts a dedicated conceptual development centre at its Portland, Oregon facility, which can produce samples in as a little as 48 hours and thereby reduce the development cycle time to market. In fact, in 2012 alone, this state-of-the-art facility was credited with completing and fully testing 1,300 sample assemblies, 600 custom lab fixtures and 150 assembly line fixtures. And at one stage, over 5,400 parts were produced in a 20-day period.

All products from each of CWCI’s seven global manufacturing facilities, are fully EMC and environmentally tested – from temperature, pressure and static load, to highly-accelerated life testing and stress screening (HALT/HASS); and compliance to specific truck, bus and MPV vehicles standards. CWCI also follows APQP, PFMEA, DFMEA and PPAP quality assurance procedures and in addition holds key certifications for the ISO 9001:2008 quality management system, ISO 14001:2004 environmental management system and TS16949 automotive quality system.

Penny + Giles Controls
Established in 1956, Penny + Giles Controls is recognised as a leader in the design and manufacture of joystick controllers, sensors and industrial solenoids and has extensive experience in providing solutions for the monitoring and control of mobility, materials handling, off-highway and motorsport applications. The brand now offers a range of products including linear and rotary position sensors using both potentiometer and Hall effect technology; inductive, LVDT and LVIT linear transducers; fingertip, chest-pack and rugged joystick controllers; and linear, flapper, hydraulic, latching solenoid valves and actuators.

PG Drives Technology
With almost four decades as a leading supplier of high-end and reliable electric vehicle control systems, PG Drives Technology control systems serve the industrial and medical markets and are used in electric equipment such as materials handling vehicles, floor-cleaning machines, powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters. The company's products deliver precise variable power right through from batteries to the electric drive motors; and are fully-programmable to suit various motor types, voltages and power levels. All products incorporate proprietary advanced motor control algorithms and available accessories include joystick controls, displays for battery state-of-charge and vehicle status, and field programming units.

Williams Controls
Just a month after the PGDT acquisition, US electronic sensors and throttle controls manufacturer Williams Controls announced a merger with Curtiss-Wright Corporation’s Controls Industrial (formerly Motion Control) business. Williams Controls, which was established in 1937, is a leading designer and manufacturer of highly-engineered electronic sensors and electronic throttle controls for off-highway equipment, heavy trucks, military vehicles and materials handling applications.

Summarising the significant strengthening and expansion of Curtiss-Wright's existing industrial controls business, Kevin Rayment says it is another step towards the group’s vision to be the supplier of choice for driver control subsystems in specialty vehicles.

CWCI has taken the opportunity to launch its own website (www.cwc-ind.com), which features details on the group’s product range, capabilities and manufacturing resources while also including an aggregated newsroom for the group’s media updates. Additionally there have been major updates to the websites for its three industrial brands.

Williams Controls (http://www.wmco.com) benefits from a completely new site featuring its latest products, shortform brochures, manuals, technical datasheets and reports of recent installations. PG Drives Technology (http://www.pgdt.com) also benefits from similar features for the company’s electronic control systems. Having recently undergone an extensive refresh, the Penny + Giles Controls website (http://www.pennyandgiles.com) has been significantly updated to reflect the group’s new corporate identity.

Products from all three CWCI brands will be shown together for the first time during 2013 at shows including Beijing International Construction Equipment (BICES), CeMAT Asia and Agritechnica. The range includes position sensors, joystick and throttle controllers, solenoid actuators and electric control systems suitable for a wide range of specialty vehicle applications including agricultural vehicles, heavy trucks and buses, powered access platforms, backhoe excavators and airport fire and rescue vehicles.