By Eric Lanke
NFPA has been producing a series of Technology Roadmaps for the Fluid Power Industry since 2009. These documents – describing technology strategies being deployed in fluid power’s end markets and ways for fluid power to increase its inclusion in those strategies – have been heavily weighted towards the mobile side of the fluid power industry. As a result, a recent decision by the NFPA Board of Directors will focus us on the creation of a new Technology Roadmap focused exclusively on the industrial applications of fluid power.
A project plan is already in development, which will engage the NFPA Industrial Technology Task Force in the development and publication of this new Roadmap. All NFPA members – suppliers, manufacturers, controls and data companies, and distributors – with interest and exposure to the industrial side of the fluid power industry are welcome and encouraged to appoint a representative to this Task Force. Ideally, it should be an engineer or other technical professional who understands the needs of your company’s customers and the ways in which your products help meet those needs.
We are also looking for any referrals you are willing to offer into your industrial customer markets and/or technology partners. Previous roadmapping efforts have been greatly augmented by the robust participation OEMs in the mobile hydraulics space, and we would like to replicate that engagement this time around with OEMs and other machine builders from markets served by industrial hydraulics and pneumatics.
The new Roadmap’s production process will occur between December 2024 and November 2025, and will include several market surveys followed by several virtual meetings to discuss the survey results and prioritize customer technology strategies and fluid power capability improvements for the inclusion in the Roadmap. Given the size and make-up of the Technology Task Force, these events are not just sessions to work on the Roadmap, but also to network and connect with partners and potential customers across the fluid power supply chain. Past roadmapping participants have cited how informative and rewarding their participation has been, connecting them to cutting-edge information about technological developments in their marketplace and creating contacts to better improve their company’s position.
To volunteer, refer a colleague, or learn more, please contact me at elanke@nfpa.com.