US / North America
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS of MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE: ONE VOICE, ONE FAMILY, ONE COMPANY
 Prestolite Electric (Leece-Neville) is celebrating 100 years of manufacturing in the USA. Founded in 1911 as Electric Autolite, the company produced generators to power early day auto lamps. First OE customers were Studebaker, Packard and Indiana Buggy Works.
From the early 1920's through the 1960's the company had such firsts as: Low Maintenance Batteries, Resistor Spark Plugs, Solid State Ignition Systems and a Fully Submersible Ignition. The product range was expanded to include Starting Motors, Regulators, Wire and Cable Products. Over the years following, a strategy was evolving to position Prestolite Electric (Leece-Neville) into a global manufacturer of starters and alternators. The 80's saw the acquisition of the Leece-Neville Sheller Corp. and Butec Limited, Leyland, England. In 1998 the Company added Lucas, expanding the manufacturing footprint to Argentina and South Africa. That same year the alternator division of Motorola, located in Arcade, New York was acquired. The latest center of excellence was formed in 2000: the joint venture in Beijing, China forming Prestolite Electric Beijing Limited. Prestolite Electric's (Leece-Neville) Arcade facility, located in New York, is the last remaining high-volume manufacturer of starters and alternators located in the USA. "We are here for the long-term, supporting our military and our regional and multi-national customers. We are a key part of the strategies our customers have shared with us." said Tony Wong, Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Quality. "One Voice, One Family, One Company" is our motto. Whether it is our manufacturing locations in the USA, China, Argentina or the UK, Prestolite strives to exceed our customer’s expectations. The silos we operated in are a thing of the past. We are truly a global organization, with the benefits passing through to our customers." added Joe Lefave, President and CEO of Prestolite Electric Inc. |
Prestolite Leece-Neville North America Investing in the Future with It's Realignment Plan
 Prestolite Leece-Neville is undergoing major improvements in it's North American Division which are designed to launch the division to becoming an even stronger OE manufacturing facility. “Due to customer inputs and suggestions, we were able to identify key areas where we could make a much more positive impact,” said Tony Wong, Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Quality.
“We restructured North America into one Team,” says Tony, “with new leadership in our Arcade manufacturing facility.” Prestolite Leece-Neville’s production teams have always had a good reputation with customers for their efforts and experience, and with a new IDEA (Improved Development with Employee Assistance) program their suggestions have led to countless improvements in quality, production flow, safety and cost savings. To optimize sub-assembly process flow the Kanban material system has been implemented, resulting in better process flow and raw material allocations. The entire facility is receiving an internal face-lift, with emphasis on cleaner, safer and more efficient assembly areas. SPC has become the driving force for quality throughout the plant and the Continuous Improvement efforts have kicked into a higher gear. “There has been investment in new gauging and testing technologies” added Tony, “and a considerable amount of new equipment implementation to improve our present capabilities.” There’s even the addition of the Project Room for the disciplined project management teams. “We’re making major strides towards a best in class company that can truly respond to our customer’s growing needs.” |
Leece-Neville Announces Schol Bus Buyer's Guide Catalog
We are pleased to announce the publication of the new 2010 Buyer's Guide focused on the Bus Market in the US and Canada. An abbreviated version of our 2010 Alternator and Starter Motor Buyer's Guide, the catalog focuses on School Bus and Motorcoach applications for the US. With plenty of information specific to bus applications, the guide includes a look at the evolution of our products for this market, a sizing guide recommendation chart for alternators, a guide for starter motor nose housing rotations, along with plenty of product information and a supersedence chart.
Electric Drive-Line Brake Retarders - Charging Circuit Technical Bulletin (TSB-1117)
 Electric drive-line brake retarders (such as those made by Telma) require cyclical high amperage demands from the battery and alternator when in use. Prestolite Electric recommends alternators with a minimum of 200 amp (12 volt) output for these applications, and in some cases outputs of 270 and 320 amp (12 volt) are required.However, some OE vehicles (certain Mack Trucks, for example) come equipped with protective circuit breakers rated at 105 amp (12 volt) in the negative circuit near the battery. This can create severe service issues for these vehicles, and may falsely indicate that the alternator is not functioning correctly. Fortunately, this can be easily remedied in most cases. |
New 220 and 245 Amp (12/14 volt) High Output, High Temperature Alternators Available!
 Leece-Neville Heavy Duty Systems Division of Prestolite Electric announced today the addition of alternators with outputs of 220 amp and 245 amp (12 volt) to its line of popular high amperage 4000 series alternators. "The new models, available in both J180 and Pad mount design, fill a gap in our current lineup of high output alternators." says Jim Beirne, Executive VP Worldwide Sales and Marketing. "The new models incorporate all of the best design features our customers have come to expect in our alternators, including very high output at idle and the ability to run in high temperature environments. Best of all, we have been able to leverage manufacturing efficiencies utilizing our solid lead frame design to allow us to reduce the price of these units."
|
Batteries for commercial vehicle systems - Selecting and understanding
When selecting a battery for your application it is easy to get confused by the many acronyms and terms that are associated with battery specifications. The goal of this article is to familiarize yourself with these terms, and to better understand the true function of a battery, and what type best fits your needs.
Many factors affect what type of battery you will need for your specific application. There are two ways that batteries can be divided, how they are constructed and the application they are used for. Applications include automotive, marine, and deep cycle. Construction types include flooded (wet), Gelled, and AGM (Absorbic Glass Mat).
Brushless alternator wiring instructions - how to install the new 185 amp alternators (TSB-1057)
 Our new brushless alternators, rated at 160 and 185 amp (12 volt) are universal replacement alternators. These alternators come standard with both remote sense and lamp driver connections, so they will work in almost any application that you'll run across. However, you're going to need to know how to wire them up correctly, so you should download this technical service bulletin and keep it handy!
|
Brushless Alternators , 160 amp and 185 amp, 12 volt, are universal replacements
Leece Neville is pleased to announce the immediate availability of NEW "Universal" Brushless alternators. These alternators have functions such as remote sense and lamp driver terminals that allow them to fully replace any competitive alternators known about today. All come standard with high temperature features to withstand underhood temperatures of up to 110 degrees Celsius. They also have our new solid lead frame technology which will help them withstand vibration in the most severe of applications.
With only 4 part numbers to stock, our distributors and dealers can now offer everything that our competitors offer but without the hundreds of part numbers it takes to do so today. |
185 amp, 12 volt Brushless Units NOW available!
This post has been archived, please see the new post on our complete line of high output brushless alternators here
Leece-Neville Announces New Titan brand gear reduced starter motors
Leece-Neville Heavy Duty Systems Division of Prestolite Electric announced today the release of the Titan™ Series of heavy duty, in-line gear reduced starter motors. "Our complete line of 12 volt gear reduced starter motors will be marketed under the Titan™ brand in North America", says Eric Bippus, Vice President of Worldwide Aftermarket Sales. "The Titan™ series reflects our global commitment to advanced engineering in our core business, producing the highest quality rotating electrical components specifically designed for the heavy duty marketplace."
The initial release of the Titan™ series will include models in the 101, 105 and 125 mm frame size. The three sizes will provide coverage for the most popular heavy duty diesel engines in 12 volt applications ranging from 6 to 16 liter. The flagship of the new line, the Titan™125, is a 125mm starter that was engineered from the ground up for the largest of these engines.
"We recognized in 2005 that there was a need for an in-line, gear reduced starter that would be capable of cranking future big bore diesel engines. We understood, through our relationships with all of the major diesel engine manufacturers, that the EPA mandates of 2007 and 2010 would be placing additional demands on the starting / charging environments in all heavy diesels, and especially in the 15-16 liter range," says Bippus. "We set out to create a 'best of breed' starter that would encompass the most advanced features currently available, and have the power to crank these new diesel engines in the most demanding environments. The Titan™125 has been in fleet tests from Alaska to Australia since early in 2006 with outstanding results, we know that we’ve got a product that is head and shoulders above anything else that is currently available."
To find out more about this story click here or view the documents below.
