Technology transfer and responsiveness to economic and social needs are the way forward for the evolution of professional cleaning according to the experience of MAE.
With the baggage of a long industrial history, MAE, a brand of AMETEK, located in Peschiera Borromeo (MI), aims to consolidate and develop its business of designing and manufacturing advanced motion solutions for a diverse range of applications. Professional cleaning market has acquired a strategic centrality in the production landscape over the years. In recent years, brushless technology for both, blowers and motors, has joined the original product range of cleaning devices based on universal motors. Thus, applications including carpet vacuuming and centralized vacuum systems, polishers, robotic cleaners, floor scrubbers, dry and wet/dry vacuums and vacuum water filtration systems can now be enhanced by leveraging the new technology.
Today the MAE portfolio includes brushless DC motors, stepper, permanent magnet and universal motors, brushless and universal blowers, as well as palletizing, sorting and stacking systems. What unifies all these technologies is the integration of technological innovation with efficiency reducing energy consumption while maintaining the durability and high performances of the products.
Regarding the constant evolution of the market, there are new needs to be considered. Alessandro Vaghi, MAE Business Manager and Country Manager for Italy and Spain explains the market.
«Our industrial reality began in the Cleaning sector in the early 1960s.Today, we are operating not only in this segment but expanded our market experience. Thanks to the integration into the AMETEK Group in the early 1990s, MAE has been able to benefit from the technology developed in the United States for the high-end, professional and industrial market segments, adapting them to the needs of the European market within a logic of synergy. Today, in the Italian site, close to Milan, we have a Research and Development department that operates in close collaboration with the engineering facilities of Dunkermotoren in Germany, a company of the AMETEK Group that has a strong and consolidated presence in industrial markets with a wide range of brushless and brushed motors».
Reliability and durability tailored to PRO
MAE’s flagship products aimed at the cleaning sector target the professional world. «For more than a decade we have focused our attention on the professional and industrial segment where product reliability and durability are key competitive requirements. High-speed DC motors provide efficiencies that maximize battery life and are attracting great interest in the industry today because of the prospects for development».
How important is it investing into the research and development of new products in the today´s cleaning market? «We are facing a momentous transformation here. We are working with great intensity on preparing our technology platforms for the new challenges that will require increasingly energy-efficient products built with manufacturing process and materials aligned with the new Green Economy standards. The solutions we propose to the cleaning market are not only aimed at suction but cover all ‘motion’ requirements of the application, with great attention to the evolving customer needs. This makes us determined to invest in research and development: ten years from now we will be in front of a very different world and the change is underway. Those who do not catch it cannot keep up with the transition. This is particularly true if we keep in mind that the cleaning sector has to respond to new market requirements such as an increased focus on hygiene and sanitation. Let’s just think to the healthy work environment that is now an important part in the cultural and technological model proposed by the perspective vision of Industry 5.0».
Technological and product performance evolution, shaped by the needs of – and together with – OEMs is the benchmark for developing new research trends. «We need to look at the product as an increasingly integrated solution. The request for greater energy efficiency, and thus the ability to maximize performance with the lowest energy consumption, is critical today. If pursued in strong collaboration with the OEM, this approach can achieve outstanding results. The digital transition is a further impulse for the development of robotic solutions for which we are preparing by leveraging R&D synergies within the entire Business Unit including MAE, Dunkermotoren, EGS Automation and nexofox. Thus, thanks to engineering departments that have acquired strong competencies working on very diverse market segments, we can keep up with transition».
By leveraging knowledge from different market sectors and regions, technology transfer offers a great chance for developing new solutions. «Dunkermotoren’s strong expertise in traction platforms, including those with brushless technology, now enables us to expand our range of solutions for the Cleaning sector. The advantage of cross-industry and multi-sector technological knowledge will be the real critical success factor in the future. It will most certainly enable us to respond with greater speed and flexibility to further transitions in the different markets. But cross-sector collaboration is not only limited to new product development. It also includes e. g. the supply chain where we have leveraged each other’s expertise to accelerate the implementation of a European supplier base to offer products with shorter lead times, while protecting our customers from geopolitical risks».
