Editors Page:
We’ll beat leakage when users demand it.

While grocery shopping, I noticed how plain looking cereal boxes have become. When my kids were little, I remember seeing all kinds of foils, plastics, embossments, and special inks applied to cereal boxes. Now, most, or all them use simple paperboard with colorful printing. Then I remembered reading how consumers began complaining about the money they spent, being wasted on elaborate packaging. The cereal companies responded, and now all of them seem to have adopted the more sensible packaging approach. I’m sure the packaging industry isn’t too wild about it, though.
McDonald’s was also forced to comply with customer’s demands. When Americans became more health conscious, McDonald’s practice of cooking their french fries in beef fat appalled health advocates. McDonald’s now cooks their fries in vegetable oil (Who knows what kind?), and adds beef flavoring to retain that irresistible taste.

Even car manufacturers got in on the act. It wasn’t that long ago that safety was not much of an issue when buying a car. But now, safety seems to be almost as big a selling point as special financing.

Maybe the same will eventually happen with leakage in hydraulic systems. Most users put up with leakage, and many probably think hydraulic systems are supposed to leak. For example, if a warehouse replaces their tired, old forklift with a new one, users wouldn’t be surprised if it started leaking. After all, the old one did.

The challenge is that there is no permanent fix. You might be able to build up a machine that operates free of leakage. But to keep it leak-free, your customers- especially their mechanics- must be educated on what to do and what not to do. That is an on-going process. And once every mechanic has been trained on how to maintain leak-free hydraulic systems, their successors must also be trained. Eventually, we may purge the world of leaky hydraulic systems, but certainly not in my lifetime.

But let’s get back to the success stories from the consumer world. Probably the biggest reason why consumers demanded changes in cereal boxes, french fries, and cars was because the media made them aware of what was going on. Newspapers, magazines, television, and radio bombarded the public with regular reports on the state of these issues. Eventually, companies perceived a threat of losing business if they didn’t cater to consumer demands, so they did what they had to.

Can the same thing happen with hydraulic leakage? I don’t think so. Hydraulic leakage isn’t exactly a topic that speaks to the masses, so don’t look for Jane Pauley to address it on the next Dateline expose’. Until that happens, it looks like I’m the closest thing you’ve got.

By: Alan Hitchcox

Reprinted with the permission of Hydraulics & Pneumatics magazine.

Phone EPCO at 800/879-3726 • 260/747-8888