The Dressta dozer range is highly developed and can trace its lineage back to early mechanised machines
Dressta, the Poland-based LiuGong subsidiary, is developing its next generation of dozer crawlers, the first of which will be potentially available to customers sometime in 2016.
Speaking at a recent3420 Dressta press event at the firm’s HQ and factory in Stalowa Wola, southern Poland, David Beatenbough, 269 LiuGong’s vice president, said: “We’ve got major work going on our next generation crawler dozer. It’s a global project. We have a team of Chinese [LiuGong] engineers who are paired off with a Polish [Dressta] engineer, with each paired team working on a different part of the project. That team work involving around 30 engineers working in pairs will continue for around the next three years. The next generation machines will be global - for all Tier emission models.”
Beatenbough said the work on the next generation of dozer crawlers was the first time that LiuGong Chinese and Dressta Polish engineers had worked together on one machine development project.
“It’s really fun to watch it come together,” said Beatenbough. “The strengths and skills of the Polish engineers are very different from the strengths of the Chinese engineers. The Polish engineers have lots of experience and lots of confidence. The Chinese engineers have lots of energy and are willing to try anything.”
Prior to the start of the joint Polish-Chinese engineer development work on the new crawler dozers, LiuGong’s Chinese engineers spent a lot of time visiting and learning from the market. “Had we not done that pre-work, we would not have been able to have a successful China team here [at Stalowa Wola],” said Beatenbough. “We wanted to get people to understand that an idea they come up with might actually be pretty good.”
Citing an example of how the Chinese-Polish engineering teams had progressed, Beatenbough added, “It was really nice the other day. A small issue came up [with the new generation crawler dozers] and there were 10 engineers in one room with a great big whiteboard, standing around discussing the issue from all points of view. It was a really nice detailed discussion. In the end everybody agreed, everybody compromised.”
The latest crawler dozer range consists of 21 models – ranging from the 40tonne TD-40E Extra to the 7tonne TD7R and the TD-7R LT.
Talking about his favourite models of the current Dressta crawler dozer range, Beatenbough said, “The TD-40 really is a star. We’ve got lots of them all over the world. The repurchase percentage on the TD-40 is incredibly high. Customers say the machine feels right.
“The other [favourite machine] is the TD-15. For any really good construction machine it’s not about which components you put in, it’s about how good a job you do integrating those components. Again, the TD-15 feels right.”
Beatenbough said both Dressta and LiuGong’s key focus over the next 12 months will be on meeting the January and October 2014 deadlines for Tier 4 emission standard machines.
He also confirmed that said the 922E and 925E excavators – part of the E Series of LiuGong 10 to 50tonne excavators launched earlier this year – are being made at Stalowa Wola.
Of the development of the LiuGong brand within markets outside China, Beatenbough added, “The brand’s recognition is definitely increasing. When I hand someone in the industry my business card with LiuGong on it they say ‘Oh, I know LiuGong’.”
He also believes that LiuGong’s joint ventures with196 Cummins and ZF have supported growing brand recognition. “On a secondary level, it helps quite a bit. People understand that Cummins and ZF have looked at our company and seen our quality. We’re always interested in JVs, but they’ve got to fit our business Plan.”
Speaking later during a Q&A session with trade press at Dressta’s HQ, Beatenbough also stressed the importance of developing Dressta’s brand recognition. “The first international harvester bulldozers were built in the 1930s, and our [Dressta’s] history goes back to that. The technology that we use in our current [bulldozer] machine also has elements that go all the way back to that. But, in the past years, through many of the changes in HSW, and as LiuGong has acquired the company, many people have forgotten who Dressta is. For me, the most critical thing is to get our heritage, our quality and our machines well-known again so people can remember our strengths.”
Speaking at a recent
Beatenbough said the work on the next generation of dozer crawlers was the first time that LiuGong Chinese and Dressta Polish engineers had worked together on one machine development project.
“It’s really fun to watch it come together,” said Beatenbough. “The strengths and skills of the Polish engineers are very different from the strengths of the Chinese engineers. The Polish engineers have lots of experience and lots of confidence. The Chinese engineers have lots of energy and are willing to try anything.”
Prior to the start of the joint Polish-Chinese engineer development work on the new crawler dozers, LiuGong’s Chinese engineers spent a lot of time visiting and learning from the market. “Had we not done that pre-work, we would not have been able to have a successful China team here [at Stalowa Wola],” said Beatenbough. “We wanted to get people to understand that an idea they come up with might actually be pretty good.”
Citing an example of how the Chinese-Polish engineering teams had progressed, Beatenbough added, “It was really nice the other day. A small issue came up [with the new generation crawler dozers] and there were 10 engineers in one room with a great big whiteboard, standing around discussing the issue from all points of view. It was a really nice detailed discussion. In the end everybody agreed, everybody compromised.”
The latest crawler dozer range consists of 21 models – ranging from the 40tonne TD-40E Extra to the 7tonne TD7R and the TD-7R LT.
Talking about his favourite models of the current Dressta crawler dozer range, Beatenbough said, “The TD-40 really is a star. We’ve got lots of them all over the world. The repurchase percentage on the TD-40 is incredibly high. Customers say the machine feels right.
“The other [favourite machine] is the TD-15. For any really good construction machine it’s not about which components you put in, it’s about how good a job you do integrating those components. Again, the TD-15 feels right.”
Beatenbough said both Dressta and LiuGong’s key focus over the next 12 months will be on meeting the January and October 2014 deadlines for Tier 4 emission standard machines.
He also confirmed that said the 922E and 925E excavators – part of the E Series of LiuGong 10 to 50tonne excavators launched earlier this year – are being made at Stalowa Wola.
Of the development of the LiuGong brand within markets outside China, Beatenbough added, “The brand’s recognition is definitely increasing. When I hand someone in the industry my business card with LiuGong on it they say ‘Oh, I know LiuGong’.”
He also believes that LiuGong’s joint ventures with
Speaking later during a Q&A session with trade press at Dressta’s HQ, Beatenbough also stressed the importance of developing Dressta’s brand recognition. “The first international harvester bulldozers were built in the 1930s, and our [Dressta’s] history goes back to that. The technology that we use in our current [bulldozer] machine also has elements that go all the way back to that. But, in the past years, through many of the changes in HSW, and as LiuGong has acquired the company, many people have forgotten who Dressta is. For me, the most critical thing is to get our heritage, our quality and our machines well-known again so people can remember our strengths.”
