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Stanley Black & Decker To Purchase Cub Cadet Maker and Excel
Stanley Black & Decker has announced plans to buy the remaining 80% of MTD Holdings Inc.’s stock for $1.6 billion in cash after previously buying a 20% stake in 2019.
In addition to lawn tractors such as the Cub Cadet, MTD also makes push lawn mowers, snow blowers, robotic lawn mowers, outdoor power equipment and garden tools.
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Briggs & Stratton Acquires SimpliPhi Power
Briggs & Stratton has acquired SimpliPhi Power, a battery manufacturer whose technology can be found in many microgrids. Briggs & Stratton plans to speed its growth into the energy storage market through the acquisition.
SimpliPhi manufactures ferrous phosphate batteries, management technology systems and plug-and-play power packs for residential, commercial and industrial customers.
SimpliPhi Power started in the movie business, making battery packs and lights. The company…
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DATAPOINT: 2021 Outboard Motors
Today Joe Delmont presents the 2021 forecast for global Outboard motor production in North Ameria, Japan, Brazil, China and Thailand. This forecast has been developed by Carol Turner, senior analyst of global operations, at Power Systems Research. Carol provides annual production forecasts for important equipment applications.
Transcript
Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.
00:06
From Power Systems Research I’m Joe Delmont, editor of PSR PowerTALK.
Today we’ll discuss a data point covering 2021 global production of outboard motors. We’ll be looking at motors production in Brazil, China, Japan, Thailand and the United States.
This forecast has been developed by Carol Turner, a senior analyst of global operations at Power Systems Research. Carol provides annual production forecasts for important equipment applications.
00:38
Only 12% of global production of outboards is produced in the US. It’s done primarily by Mercury Marine and Bombardier Recreational Products.
Japan is the leading producer of outboards. Building more than 71% of the units. And Yamaha Marine produces 43.5% of the units built in Japan.
Thailand is expected to produce about 9% of total global production of outboards.
China is 4th at about 7.5%.
01:13
Yamaha builds more outboard motors than anyone. It has 48.5% of the market and is expected to build almost 251,000 units in Japan this year and another 28,600 units in Thailand. In second position is Tohatsu with 15%, and 3rd is Mercury Marine with combined plant totals also of about 15%.
01:35
Outboard motors are generally defined as detachable boating engines mounted on the stern of a boat on outboard motor brackets and are typically either 2 stroke or 4 stroke engines.
The first outboard was produced by Ole Evinrude in 1909.
Outboard motors can be very powerful units with output ranging as high as 425 horsepower.
02:03
In 2021, we estimate that global outboard motor production will reach about 618,800 units. That’s up about 43,000 units, or seven and a half percent, from the 575,800 units produced last year.
In 2019, though, global production was 680,400 units; so, production this year will still be down about 9% from 2 years ago.
02:38
Despite COVID related factors, boat sales soared when stay-at-home consumers began looking for recreation.
However, manufacturing dropped mostly due to BRP canceling production of Evinrude Motors in May of 2020.
Yamaha reported unit sales of 279,000 in 2020; a 10% cut from the 310,000 it did in 2019.
Mercury Marine discontinued a variety of unpopular Marine and Mercury models, especially its two stroke models.
Outboard motor production peaked in 2018 and that was mostly attributed to the demand for new models, along with the soaring economy.
Outboard motors tend to last decades before owners purchased a new model.
In recent years, new motors are more powerful, but lighter in weight and more fuel efficient, and this certainly attracts consumers.
03:41
Boating is an extremely popular recreational activity worldwide; and enthusiasts want a motor that is powerful but also versatile. The growth in recreational boating over the past several years has been driven in large part by advances in outboard motor power.
Expect production of outboard engines to gain up to 15% by 2025.
04:06
This data is pulled from two of the major Power Systems Research databases: OE Link — which is the database of OEM production and forecast data, and EnginLink — which provides engine production, forecasts, and specification data.
Look for DataPoint reports every month in the PSR PowerTALK news report and on this podcast.
Contact us for more information on other off-road products and on-highway vehicles.
04:36
To read a transcript of this podcast, visit the website at powersys.com and click on the podcast archive.
Thank you for joining the PSR PowerTALK podcast. This podcast will be available on demand. Search for “PSR PowerTALK” in your podcast app or Google “Power Systems Research” to sign up today.
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Edge Computing: Powering Greenhouses
John Krzesicki talks with Thomas Bourgeois from Pace Energy and Climate Center in his continuing series “Living on the Edge”. In today’s episode John discusses powering greenhouses and local food production.
Transcript
Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.
00:06 John Krzesicki
Hello, my name is John Krzesicki.
Today it’s my pleasure to host the Power Systems “Living on the Edge” series. The show revealed conversations with industry experts and their insight into the future with intelligent technology. With over 30 years of experience supporting the manufacturing industry, I’ve seen an unbelievable change in technology.
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Edge Computing: Microgrids
In part 3 of “Living on the Edge” John Krzesicki examines microgrids with his guest Thomas Bourgeois, Deputy Director of the Pace Energy and Climate Center.
Transcript
Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.
00:06 John Krzesicki
Hello, my name is John Krzesicki. Today it’s my pleasure to host the Power Systems “Living on the Edge” series. The show we have conversation with industry experts on their insight into the future of intelligent technology.
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DataPoint: US Crawlers, 2021 Production: 4,100 Units
Today Joe Delmont presents the 2021 forecast for Crawler production in North America. This forecast has been developed by Carol Turner, senior analyst of global operations, at Power Systems Research. Carol provides annual production forecasts for important equipment applications.
4,100 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of crawlers to be produced in North America in 2021.
This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.
Market Share: With combined plant totals of 55% Caterpillar leads in production of crawlers in North America. In second position is Deere with 31.5%; third, is Case with 10%.
Exports: Collectively, up to 30% worldwide.
Trends: During 2020, production of Crawlers in North America (US) decreased nearly 18%, but production is expected to rebound 19% in 2021, compared to 2020. Most of the decline in 2020 was due to COVID-19-related factors such as plant shutdowns, parts availability and lack of workforce. The market significantly dropped in the Spring of 2020 due to the combination of low oil prices and a lull in mining and construction projects.
A few years ago, construction spending in the United States was above annual levels, according to a new analysis of federal data released by the Associated General Contractors of America. Construction and mining activities increased resulting in gains for 2018.
Decreases in production are also attributed to divergent trends however, as public sector construction activity has continued to decline while private sector demand for new construction strengthened. Even though sales dropped considerably in 2020, production is expected to gain up to 15% by 2025 primarily influenced by the positive outlook for construction (infrastructure) and mining related activities. PSR
Carol Turner is Senior Analyst, Global Operations
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Edge Computing in Smart Cities and Communities
John Krzesicki
Business Development Manager
In part 2 of his “Living on the Edge” series, John Krzesicki continues his discussion about edge computing with Carrie Goetz. In this podcast they delve deeper into smart cities/communities.
Transcript
Welcome to the PSR PowerTALK podcast produced by Power Systems Research.
00:05 John Krzesicki
My name is John Krzesicki.
Today it’s my pleasure to host this Power Systems’ “Living on the Edge” series smart city discussion. The show where we have conversations with industry experts on their insights into the mobility’s future and impact on cities and industries.
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PM Launches Vehicle Scrappage Policy
Aditya Kondejkar Vehicles will not just be scrapped by their age, but also if they are found to be unfit in automated testing. The vehicle scrappage policy will bring in investments of around INR 10,000 crore to set up 450-500 Automated Testing Stations (ATS) and 60-70 Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSF) across the country.
PSR Analysis: Under the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization program (VVMP), the government plans to set up between 450-500 automated vehicle fitness testing stations across India on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis involving private firms and state governments. A total of 60-70 vehicle scrapping centers will also be built; these stations will be situated no further than 150-200 kilometers away from any location in India. A total of seven agencies – including Tata Motors – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government today for this project. Tata Motors’ vehicle scrapping center will be set up in Gujarat, will scrap both passenger and commercial vehicles and will have the capacity to recycle up to 36,000 vehicles a year.
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COVID-19 Variant Disrupts Supply Chain
Akihiro Komuro In Southeast Asia, where the delta variant of the COVID-19 is spreading rapidly, business activities are becoming stagnant. In response to government regulations and the rapid increase in the number of infected people, major Japanese companies such as Toyota and Panasonic have suspended production at some of their plants. In addition to the decline in local sales, the disruption of the supply chain has also affected production in Japan.
Toyota has sequentially shut down all three of its plants in Thailand since July 20. The company has not yet decided when to resume operations because it has been unable to procure parts due to an outbreak of infection at one of its customers’ plants. Honda also shut down one of its plants in Thailand from August 3 to 5.
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Honda Staff Seek Early Retirement Amid EV Shift
Over 2,000 employees at Honda Motor have applied for early retirement, as the Japanese automaker restructures its workforce to gear up to make more electric vehicles.
Honda’s move is the latest in the trend among automakers to move away from the production and sales of internal combustion engines. Those employees account for around 5% of Honda’s full-time staff in Japan. Although Honda had not set a target, the number of applications has far exceeded its initial estimate of 1,000.
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