Case study
UST product engineering helped Liebherr accelerate new product development cycles by 30%
OUR CLIENT
Founded in 1949 after Hans Liebherr served in World War II, Liebherr Mining Equipment has grown steadily to become one of the largest heavy equipment manufacturers in the world. Today, the company comprises more than 130 companies and generates over €11 billion in revenue annually.
THE CHALLENGE
Resource constraints impacted product development
Liebherr wanted to add off-highway mining trucks with D98 engines to its product line to meet market demands for high-horsepower vehicles. However, as product development started, the company realized that the in-house engineering team lacked the resources to design the new engine. The lengthy process of searching for talent and training them would have significantly delayed the product launch. Liebherr, therefore, decided to partner with technology experts who offered the highly skilled resources they needed.
THE TRANSFORMATION
Expert engineers augmented Liebherr’s in-house D98 engine design team
Liebherr engaged with UST’s product engineering team to expand the capabilities of its internal product development team. Following our product process roadmap, UST designed and managed the functional testing for these required engine components:
- Power module – It's the framing structure that holds the engine’s mechanical fan drive, radiator, flywheel housing (FWH), and alternator. The design team had to balance the moment of inertia at the FWH and perform static and fatigue analysis to achieve 72,000 hours of reliability.
- Air Intake and exhaust systems - Since these systems align with the engine’s turbochargers, UST had to perform analytical calculations to meet the engine’s flow rate and back-pressure requirements.
- Engine and fuel piping - The UST team had to define the placement on the engine structure of pre-cleaning and working filters and develop the hydraulic lines that interface with the fuel tank, filters, engine, and coolers.
- Rollout package - This included designing and developing the engine lifting fixture to install the D98 engine in the vehicle frame.
- Truck frame - UST had to modify the existing truck frame to accommodate the new engine design without changing the frame’s overall size and mounting positions.
- Superstructure - This involved the design of the mining truck’s outer body to house the new D98 engine auxiliary systems.
From a field support perspective, UST reviewed the installation procedures for the truck’s component-part sub-assemblies. Before production, UST also executed and validated performance testing of the vehicle. The testing provided insights into the pressure drop on the air intake and coolant pipes, mass flow rate vs. exhaust back pressure, and filtration life of the fleet guard system on the engine piping.
THE IMPACT
Liebherr trims 30% off lead time for product launches
By collaborating with UST, Liebherr accelerated its new product development cycles by 30%. UST designs and CAD models, along with the form, fit, and functional assessment reports for the new mining truck's engine, form the baseline for Liebherr's future products using a D98 engine.