Manufacturer looks to partnership to deliver £3m sales uplift

A BIRMINGHAM manufacturer has joined forces with an electronics firm on a project to help bus and coach operators cut emissions and reduce costs.

Grayson Thermal Systems produces cooling, heating and air conditioning products such as its E-Drive electric fan cooling system.

The Elmdon-based firm has now signed an agreement with Zeta Automotive to market its ‘EconoSpeed Connect’ product, which automatically adjusts driver acceleration for optimum engine performance.

The partnership will also look to explore natural synergies between both product ranges, with trials currently underway with a number of fleet operators to use complementary technologies to minimise environmental impact whilst improving passenger comfort.

Stuart Hateley, managing director of Grayson, said: “It was during the development of E-Drive when we first realised that the two companies had products that could be integrated together to deliver a single solution to the end-user.

“The electric fan we used to replace the power-sapping hydraulic system meant we created added power at the fly wheel and we needed a way to control it, which is where EconoSpeed came into its own.”

When the two companies realised the synergies between a product that delivers reduced operating costs, weight and noise for vehicles, they opted to collaborate.

John Lawrence, of Bicester-based Zeta, said Grayson’s experience in the bus and coach sector made the partnership very appealing.

“We are very excited about our partnership, possible product combinations with EconoSpeed Connect and the extended team of service engineers now available to us,” he said.

Grayson said there was already strong customer interest in the product, which it hopes will act as a stimulus to deliver more than £3m of new sales over the next 12 months.

Both firms will now pool their resources and technical expertise to identify and bring to market other new products.

“In EconoSpeed Connect, we have got a way of controlling driver acceleration and speed and we want to move this to the next level with the possibility of using GPS mapping to adapt vehicle speed when in certain areas,” added Mr Hateley, who runs the business with brothers Ian and James.

“This means we’ll be able to limit the bus or coach to the maximum speed of the road it is travelling on.

“We are also developing a service kit programme aimed at giving fleet engineers greater visibility of potential issues, thus providing increased reliability and reduced downtime for repairs.”