Racine Hydraulics is a hydraulic systems distributing company that specializes in various hydraulics components and services. It was acquired by the German based company called the Bosch Group in 1997.

Rise And The Evolution Of Racine Hydraulics

This company was launched in Detroit, Michigan in 1958. At the time of its establishment, Racine Hydraulics was known as Racine Seco Sales Corporation.

In 1973, Racine Hydraulics of Michigan became one of the first companies of its time to be registered and listed in the Employee Stock Ownership Plan. RHM was mainly concerned with selling hydraulic components like pistons, cylinders, pipes, etc.

Uses Of The Products Of Racine Hydraulics

The hydraulic systems and their components supplied by Racine Hydraulics are used in many areas.Most of the hydraulic equipment is used in large industries.

Some of these components are even used as laboratory equipment and also in cell phones. The following is the list where Racine Hydraulics systems are most commonly put to use:

•  The fluid powered systems are used in car washes to activate the brushing equipments.

•  The hydraulics components find their way even into glass manufacturing industries. The equipments are used glass moulding and glass blowing.

•  Racine Hydraulics supplies their products to industries that are involved in metal forming and metal cutting.

•  They supply hydraulic presses to car crushers and scrap yards to crush old cars and other wastes for the process of recycling. The presses are also used in car and aircraft brakes and clutches.

In short, Racine Hydraulics designs the hydraulics systems that can be used for both, industrial and commercial purposes.

The Corporate Acquisition

In 1997, the German- based corporation known as The Bosch Group acquired Racine Hydraulics along with Surftran Industrial Controls and Weldun Automation Products, thus forming The Bosch Rexroth AG.

The Products And Services Offered By Racine Hydraulics

There are many products and services that Racine Hydraulics provides. Some of them are as follows:

Racine Products:

•  Racine Bosch Hydraulic Valve: The hydraulic valves are used for various purposes. They are further categorized into directional control valves that are used to control the flow of the fluids; there are the most common pressure relief valves that are used in almost all hydraulic systems, i.e. in the hydraulic cylinders. There are many more valves such as sequence valves, shuttle valves, etc.

•  Racine Hydraulic Piston pumps: Hydraulic pistons are of two types. They are axial piston pumps and radial piston pumps. The axial pump has many pistons forming a spherical design that is capable of controlling the pressure automatically. Whereas the radial pump is one that uses small pipes to generate a large pressure.

•  Racine Vane Pumps: The hydraulics vane pumps are used in power steering, automatic transmissions for cars, etc.

•  Other tools that Racine Hydraulics deals with would include hydraulics compressors and maintenance kits, lubricating fluids and coolants, the various piping systems, hoses and their reels, line reactors, etc.

Racine Services:

•  Repairing products: These services are a part of the productivity improvement program of Racine Hydraulics that replaces or repairs products of any of the following companies- Racine, Bosch, Parker, Vickers, Eaton, Rexroth, Hydura and Denison.

•  Training services for the customers: Racine Hydraulics allows its clients of training services with the help of the training CDs, nine VHS tapes, important books, certified professional trainers, online presentations, etc.

•  Some other technical courses offered by them include specialization in lubricating techniques, the various filtering techniques, DIY hydraulic systems, etc.

Ethics And Values Of Racine Hydraulics

Racine Hydraulics is defined by the following ethics and guidelines brought about by the premier president, Jack Bennet and his successor Bill Tulloch :

•  Fairness and honesty.

•  Supplying the best quality products and services without any compromise.

•  Partnerships with the leading supplier companies.

•  Providing excellent training to the employees to become aces in their expertise services such as marketing, mechanical engineering, etc.

•  Employee friendly working environment to motivate them to excel in their work.

•  Utilizing the best equipments and software technologies with a view to increase the output.

•  Taking all the precautionary measures for the safety and well being of the employees.

•  Making business deals with Racine Hydraulics a hassle free and pleasant experience. •  To develop a good relationship with the customer and to develop a feeling that they are a part of their team.

These ethics and qualities can only be developed only through the philosophies of trust and loyalty to the customers/clients.

Feather On The Cap For Racine Hydraulics

Eleven years ago, on the 10 th of June, Racine Hydraulics got its ISO 9002 Certificate of Registration. The registration statement read out the various components that Racine Hydraulics dealt with, i.e., Hydraulic power units, lubricating equipments and repair services. In 2004, Racine Hydraulics upgraded itself by registering as ISO 9001:2000, holding this certificate presently and after so many years of maintaining its standards, Racine Hydraulics has widened its scope. Due to this, the registration certificate has an additional statement that includes designing, manufacturing and distributing hydraulic systems and providing repair services.

Racine Hydraulics was also honored with the 'Top Twenty Four Distributor' award for two years in a row, from 2003 to 2004 by the Eaton Fluid Power. Thereon, Racine Hydraulics was the official distributing partner of Eaton Fluid Power. This award was a very important achievement of Racine Hydraulics as it is awarded only to the top 8 distributing companies that deal in hydraulics systems and their components.

The award depends on fulfilling certain criteria like the sales figures and the internal working of the company in which employee satisfaction plays a huge role. Racine Hydraulics is also a proud member of a number of organizations like National Fluid Power Association and Fluid Power Distributors Association. The membership of these organizations has a number of benefits such as:

•  Opportunities to develop partnerships with other members of the organization that can help in providing efficient services and result in the company's growth.

•  Free marketing of the company during special events and seminars and an opportunity of availing discounts during exhibitions.

•  Using the organization's logo to let the customers know that your company is associated with other major leagues of the industry.

•  Using the conferences and other special events to develop business relations with other members of the organization and utilize it as a marketing tool for the company's promotion.