Visits to Kubota's facilities in Japan always confirm the company's commitment to its OEM customers around the world. Each year the production facilities at Sakai, Sakai Rinkai and Tsukuba manage to crank out more engines and more types of engines to meet customer's changing requirements. The company is consistently in a perpetual process of renewal and growth.
In January, we visited with Yoshihiko Tabata, who was just appointed general manager of Kubota's Engine Division last October. He formerly was president of Kubota Engine America, Chicago, Ill., a post he held since its beginning in 1998. He also served as president of Kubota U.K. from 1987 to 1994.
In 2003 the engine division realized an 11% increase in volume, producing over 380,000 compact diesels under 175 hp. In the 75 to 100 hp power band it realized a 50% increase in volume, largely due to the new four-cylinder, 3.8 L V3800 diesel.
"One reason for our strength is the strength of our customers," Tabata said. "Customers like Bobcat and Carrier are the # 1 player in their industry. They are capable of maintaining their position and that is very stabilizing."
Tabata believes the engine division will exceed 2003 shipments this year, assuming the U.S. economy continues to grow and Europe remains strong. "We believe we are seeing improvement in industries linked to the rental market and they have been quiet for nearly three years," he commented.
The main challenges he sees ahead for Kubota are threefold: continuing to meet more stringent emissions regulations worldwide, ever increasing competition among OEMs and suppliers, and further development of support for global OEMs.
The engine division's Japanese sales organization has been modified into three sections: one for global OEMs, one for distributor serviced OEMs, and one for Asia and Oceania OEMs.
"We need to achieve more uniformity in our policies when we are dealing with the same global OEM operating in different countries," said Tabata. "We are working hard to achieve more consistency."
On the emissions front, Kubota's policy is to minimize the cost increases involved in meeting various standards but selecting technologies and devices strategically. "We are investigating the most suitable solution for each horsepower range," said Tabata. "The appropriate countermeasures will be different and keep engineering changes by our customers as low as possible."
A good example of that is the new DF972 dual-fuel engine, which just went into production in December 2003. The engine runs on gasoline or LPG and the change can be made instantly when, say, moving from outdoor to indoor operation on equipment such as an aerial lift.
Importantly, Kubota's engine lineup now permits the OEM to select from this dual-fuel unit, a straight gasoline engine or a diesel model, all with the same footprint. Kubota said that almost all optional parts are interchangeable among the three types of engines.
Derived from Kubota's 902 diesel, the DF972 has a bore and stroke of 74.5 x 73.6 mm and total displacement of the three-cylinder unit is 0.962 L. it has maximum power of 31 hp at 3600 rpm on gasoline and 30 hp at 3600 rpm on LPG.
It joins Kubota's family of duel-fuel engines, which also include the DF752, introduced in 1996, and the DF1005, introduced in 2001. All are three-cylinder units.
The patented dual-furl carburetor has separate gasoline and LPG nozzles from the common single venturi. Respective fuel channels am equipped with furl cutoff solenoid valves. With electrical on/off, furl can be changed instantly by controlling the flow of the desired fuel type.
The LPG channel is equipped with a regulator where fuel pressure is regulated to atmospheric pressure before being supplied to the dual-fuel carburetor.
Like the DF1005, the DF972 employs a digital ignition system from Denso. The older DF752 uses a distributor type ignition system, but is in the process of being upgraded.
With this system, a pickup signal from the flywheel is sent to an igniter that controls the best ignition timing based upon an ignition map. Current from the igniter is boosted to 30 kV in the Denso ignition coil and sent to the spark plug. Stable ignition is realized and durability is enhanced by eliminating the mechanical distributor style ignition system.
Watching the DF972 in operation, it was observed to be extremely smooth, quiet and low vibration. Low noise and high durability are enhanced by the use of an MoS2 coated piston and a floating type head cover. The change from one fuel to the other and back was seamless.
"We're expecting to sell several thousand," said Tabata of the DF972. "And we think it is very important for the future. We must be sure we give our OEM customers every option possible."
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