On the road to greater efficiency

[kscarbel2]

Scania Press Release / September 10, 2015

Each day, fully loaded trucks ply the roads from Scania’s production units in Södertälje, Sweden, to its assembly plant in Zwolle in the Netherlands. In addition to engines, gearboxes and axles, the trucks are also jam-packed with information. This information is transmitted to Scania’s R&D engineers as the basis for innovation and product improvements.

“Our aim is to continuously strive for even more efficient vehicles,” says Anders Gustavsson, who heads the Scania Transport Laboratory. The operation could be characterised as a laboratory on wheels to evaluate performance in actual transport conditions.

With 40 trucks in operation, including those used for internal transport between production units in Södertälje, loads of information is generated. In order to ensure that data is not exclusively related to the driving patterns of individuals, drivers regularly switch trucks with each other.

Uptime is paramount at Scania Transport Laboratory and the trucks are regularly maintained and serviced according to stipulated intervals. “We expect 20 workshop hours for trucks that operate an average of 400,000 kilometres annually,” Gustavsson reports. “That corresponds to an uptime ratio of 98.7 percent.”

The information gathered en route finds its way to Scania’s development engineers for careful analyses. Results are subsequently utilised to even further enhance efficiency, enabling customers to maximise their investments in vehicles.

“One example is the extended interval between two oil changes. Previously, oil was changed after 40,000 kilometres while we now find it sufficient to change oil after 110,000 kilometres. Another example is adjusted gearchanging that can lower RPMs, which are commonly 1,200–1,300 RPM at 80 km/h, to 1,000 and thereby reduce fuel consumption.”

Anders Gustavsson is constantly in search of new ways of improving efficiency. And the driver is, of course, at the centre. “We have a continuous programme to coach each driver on the basis of the information collected.”

.