sions Certification for Navistar’s En- gine Group, noted that the technical issues are not always the most diffi- cult ones. “Interfacing with the cus- tomer is often as hard to deal with as the problems that crop up during test- ing,” Kramer said. “It helps if you already have a good working relation- ship with them.” While the on-road, heavy-duty diesel engine manufacturers are well along in the in-use testing process, manufacturers of other engine types are just getting started. The engines now becoming subject to in-use test- ing are in EPA’s “large spark-ignited” (LSI) category. Several manufacturers of LSI engines have already received letters from EPA’s Compliance and Innovative Strategies Division requir- ing them to test in-use engines. Josh Pietak, president of ECO Inc., a consulting firm that helps manufac- turers achieve and maintain engine certification, said some of these en- gine manufacturers were surprised by
the specifics of the letter. “We have several new clients because they were not adequately prepared for the letter and needed im- mediate help,” he said. Man- ufacturers of other engine categories, such as the non- road compression-ignition (NRCI), will become subject to these requirements in coming years. So, what should manu- facturers be doing to pre- pare for the in-use test requirements? Both EPA and CARB have issued some guidance to help in this area, but it is largely up to the manufacturers to understand the regulations and work with EPA and CARB to ensure they are faithfully following the intent. At an Ann Arbor, Mich., workshop in March 2009, EPA suggested that manu- facturers of off-road diesel equipment get familiar with the PEMS technology and get involved in the development of the in-use test- ing rules for engines in that category. Rob Wilson, vice president of mar- keting and sales at Sensors Inc., a Saline, Mich.-based PEMS manufac- turer that also provides testing servic- es, offered advice as to how manufac- turers might proceed. He suggested getting advice from manufacturers already involved and developing a firm understanding of the regulations and PEMS technology. Finally, he noted that it’s important to develop relationships with customers that will promote and encourage them to be of assistance when the time comes to test in-use engines. As Wilson sees it, coordinating with the engine customer is probably going to always be done by the man- ufacturer. “Sensors does not locate engines or pre-qualify test locations,” he said. “Our testing services cus- tomers locate the engines to be test- ed and we meet them at the site.”
dp
The on-highway heavy-duty diesel engine manufacturers have been doing in-use testing for more than two years. Most of them have assigned technical staff to the tasks of tracking developments, finding fleet owners willing to participate, arranging the logistics of testing the equip- ment in actual use, performing the in-use tests and proc- essing and reporting the results.
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