Michael Ference Fluid Power Marketing

In June, we at Fluid Power World    will publish our annual Fluid Power Handbook .  This year, for the first time, it will be an FPW publication, our regular June issue. The issue kicks off with an overview of the industry.  Our audience of fluid power design engineers, maintenance experts, and supply chain professionals are interested to know the state of the industry.  Our Editor, Paul Heney, an industry expert, will a review or where we are and where we are going. Also featured in our Fluid Power Handbook will be reviews of all major fluid power product categories.  No matter where an engineer is in their profession, it is always good to have a refresher on the basics of fluid power.  Our June issue will provide that. If you are a reader, I am confident that this issue will be a great asset to you in terms of providing a reference guide that can be used all year long.  If you are a component manufacturer, please consider making...

Have you heard of the Fluid Power Challenge ?  It is a program associated with the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) Education Foundation.  It involves middle school students in a design and build project involving very simple fluid power systems. The most recent event took place this week at Macomb Community College in Warren, MI and it included 168 sixth grade students from Macomb County schools. The participants are organized into groups of 4 and asked to build a machine from a kit.  Then, successful projects were judged and trophies awarded.  However, the most rewarding part of it was the participation.  I was fortunate to have some time to walk around and witness the fun and learning taking place at Macomb Community College at the competition.   I compliment Dave Hone of Master Pneumatic and his team for organizing and conducting a very successful Fluid Power Challenge.  If you are interested in getting one g...

Our website PneumaticTips  has become a wealth of information about pneumatic components and systems.  I invite you to visit to find the components you need for your current design or repair. If your company is a provider of pneumatic components, please send us your press releases, product reviews, and case studies to post on our PneumaticTips website.  Designers need current product information from a variety of sources to make the best design choice. Whether it is energy efficiency, environmentally friendly, or safe systems, pneumatic systems deliver and our audience needs to know.  That is why we offer PneumaticTips as a source of Everything Pneumatic.

If I were to ask you, where is THE place for hydraulic and pneumatic hose, fittings, couplings, and assemblies, meaning where lots of great product infomation can be found, you might answer NAHAD.  You would be correct. That is why Fluid Power World  @Fluid Power World will be participating at this years NAHAD Annual Convention in Miami Beach  on April 23-27.  It is the place to be for hose, fittings, couplings, and assemblies.  For more information about the convention, visit the NAHAD website. This annual four-day event features products from hose manufactures as they relate to the supply chain represented by hose and accessory distributors.  A huge segment of sales goes through distribution.  At the Convention, ideas will be exchanged and presentations given on how to increase sales, improve distribution, and lift the industry in general. If you answered the same question above with "Hose Assembly Tips"  you would also be right.  Our...

After the official NFPA business meeting where financials were reported and the Board of Directors elected for the next year, the General Session on Day 1 featured 3 interesting speakers.  The speakers at NFPA meetings are usually quite good as the bar has been set high.  For more details about the schedule, visit the NFPA website. Jack Uldrich, author of Jump the Curve, presented a talk titled "The Big AHA; Business as Usual."  The letters in AHA stand for Awareness, Humility, and Action.  In a futurist sense, Uldrich went on to present ideas about opportunities, if we can only recognize them.  He discussed 12 trends in technology and to learn more, visit the NFPA website . 3D Printing also known as Additive Manufacturing was reviewed by Alex Chausovsky in a presentation titled "The Impact of Additive Manufacturing on Fuid Power.  He reviewed his forecast for the future of the technology including some explanations on how and why it will be a big ...

I am proud to serve on the Board of Directors of the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) where many important topics are considered on a regular basis.  Last week, a regular meeting of the BOD was held at the 2015 NFPA Annual Conference in San Diego. There are three main areas of consideration that have been divided into Task Forces.  One topic is Technology where the present and further state of fluid power technology and how it continues to develop is discussed. Next, we have the Inclusiveness Task Force that works on making sure that all constituencies of the Association are engaged and represented.  The three main areas of membership for NFPA are Manufacturers, Suppliers, and Distributors.  I am pleased to currently serve as Chairman of the Supplier Council. The third Task Force reviews and considers Workforce to examine how we can best perpetuate a creative and talented workforce for our industry.  The board has accomplished a lot in the ...

We post new information on Mobile Hydraulic Tips , Pneumatic Tips , and Hose Assembly Tips every day.  We receive press releases, product reviews, and case studies from fluid power manufacturers and we are able to get the information posted right away. For example, we have a very informative post on Mobile Hydraulic Tips titled A primer on hydraulic hose.   If this technology is of interest to you, then take a look. If your company uses hose and hose assemblies, go to Fluid Power World  and sign up for our Hose Assembly Webinar for free.  You can watch it at your own pace and leisure. Also, listed above is our Hose Assembly Tips where you can find lots of great hose tips.  We also publish a monthly Hose Assembly Tips e-newsletter.  You can access a free registration page for that on our Fluid Power World website.

The On-Highway Mobile Equipment market is a significant one for the fluid power industry.  Think about all of working crane trucks, snow plows, tow trucks, and more out there that need hydraulics in order to function. That is what the Work Truck Show is all about.  This year's event was held at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis, March 4-6.  For fluid power professionals, this show had many exhibits showing components and systems that move loads, clear roads, and perform may other essential functions. I even had some fun pretending like I was operating a snow plow.  There was a lot to see at the 2015 Work Truck Show.

Continuous innovation is essential for a thriving fluid power industry.  One place where innovation is of paramount importance is the Center for Compact & Efficient Fluid Power or CCEFP.  In our new February issue of Fluid Power World , Senior Editor, Mary Gannon   https://twitter.com/DW_MaryGannon presents an article contributed by Erik Hemstad, a Master's student and Nebiyu Fikru, PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota, titled CCEFP Update:  MEMS Technology Helping to Create Micro-Pneumatic Valves. One of our many goals for our new publication, Fluid Power World, is to provide our audience with a report of what is happening in the R&D world for fluid power.  We offer a regular column in every issue on Research & Development.   This particular article  reports on a medical development in the area of orthoses.  With the assistance of a miniature pneumatic valve, MEMS technology were inspired to fit the valves on an an...

Our February issue features pneumatics, mobile hydraulics, industrial hydraulics, and hose construction.  It all coincides with our Tips websites where even more information on each of these topics can be found. Here is a link to our February 2015 issue .  Take a look and while you are there consider signing up for a free subscription to our magazine and Tips e-newsletters. Our next Fluid Power World will be published in April and it may take you that long to read and discuss all of our February content with your colleagues.  I invite them to sign up for a subscription to our magazine and e-newsletters as well.