With HydraForce's recent acquisition of Hydraulic Designers Ltda.—its current distributor and global systems integrator in Brazil—the manufacturer continues to expand its global presence. Already, it has two manufacturing sites and innovation center in the US, a manufacturing center in China, and another global systems integrator (GSI) in India. As an independent manufacturer of hydraulic cartridge valves, manifolds, and electro-hydraulic controls, the acquisition will enable HydraForce to better serve the growing off-highway equipment market in South America.
“This acquisition is the natural progression of our successful business relationship,” says Jim Brizzolara, President of HydraForce. “For 15 years, Hydraulic Designers has been providing advanced technical solutions to equipment builders in Brazil, and HydraForce is very fortunate to be able to expand upon that partnership,” he adds. “We’ll be leveraging the talents of both companies to bring greater value and capability to customers not only in Brazil but throughout South America.”
The Hydraulic Designers plant employs more than 100 people in Taboão da Serra, State of São Paulo. Services include designing and building custom hydraulic manifolds OEMs for the agricultural and construction industries.
In the acquisition, Hydraulic Designers will continue to use all HydraForce design tools, including i-Design hydraulic schematic software, Automation Studios simulation software, ANSYS FEA for finite element analysis, and Pro-E for drafting. The application engineering team will maintain its local field work in prototype design, and manufacturing capabilities will continue to include machining, assembly and testing, automated quality inspection, a wash-down lab for cleanliness testing, and local sourcing of extrusions.
“This will be a seamless transition,” says Aldo Bisson, General Manager of the acquired company. “Our operation will continue to directly support all sales, engineering and manufacturing activities in Brazil. Having local capabilities and engineering support can streamline the sourcing process for the HydraForce global customers who are building equipment here in Brazil and throughout South America.”
