Why are Boudouin gaining market share in the diesel generator segment?

by Charlie F. Fast Growth MD

Baudouin are a Diesel Engine manufacturer based in Cassis situated on the south coast of France.  They started building engines for the marine industry in 1919.  The early engines built were small built to order petrol engines sold locally around the port of Marseilles.  Prior to building engines the Baudouin family, father Eugene and his two sons Richard and Charles, worked in Marseilles.   Eugene owned a foundry, Richard was the owner of a shipyard and Charles followed his interest in Mechanical Engineering.  It was this interest in Mechanical Engineering that laid the foundations of the company that became the company we know today.

 

In 1904 Charles built a small petrol engine, he attached this to a canoe and managed to navigate his way from the south coast of France to Algeria.  It was this engine that was the first built by the family that has lead to over 100 years of manufacturing.

 

In 1922 Baudouin developed their first range of engines.  The O, T, Y and Z were a range of Petrol Engines, starting at 3hp going up to 60hp.  These were followed in 1929 by their first Diesel Engine.  All of these early engines were built with two words in mind, “Simple” and “Robust”.  These have continued to be the philosophy of the company into the modern day.  Just a few years later Baudouin were recognised as being in the top three marine engine manufacturers in the world.

 

 In the early years Baudouin were very forward thinking in their approach to development of new products with new ideas.  Their products were distinguishable due to the fact that they were built with individual cylinder heads.  This was in keeping with the philosophy of the company, trying to build a simple product.  This was an incredible benefit to their customers as they were able to work on one cylinder without having to dismantle the whole engine.  Their early Diesel Engines were also operated at speeds of 750rpm, this was almost double the other early Marine Diesel Engines.  These early Diesel Engines gained such a good reputation they were built for 27 years and sold over 13,000 units worldwide.

 

Baudouin enjoyed growth and success for many years.  The 1970’s brought new challenges, a recession that hit large parts of the planet forced Baudouin to look at new ideas.  It was decided that the company would begin building Engines for the Power Generation industry, working with some of Europe’s largest Original Equipment Manufacturers, OEMS.

                          

In 2009 Baudouin were purchased by Chinese Diesel Engine manufacturer Weichai Power.  Since acquiring the company Weichai has invested over 100 million euros.  This investment saw numerous changes, there were large increases in work force and production capacity as well as increasing the network of distributors around the world.  A Research and Development centre was also built in Cassis.

 

In 2017 Baudouin relaunched their Engines built for Diesel Generators.  With a range of Engines wide enough to power Generators supplying 17 to 2000 kVA, Baudouin have one of the broadest ranges of Engines in the Power Generation market.  This range of Engines has evolved from Baudouin’s tried and tested Marine product.  With some of the designs being adapted and numerous parts and components being used, the Power Generation offering from Baudouin is built with the same mantra as the Marine Engines; Simple and Robust.

 

Baudouin have 2 factories, the original base of Cassis in France and Weifang in China.  Having 2 factories based on different continents means they can manufacture and sell their products to a wider consumer base.  Both of these factories and all of the products manufactured there are covered by the highest of standards, including ISO9001, 14001 and 18001.  Marine units are available with certification from all of the major marine agencies. Partnering with OEMs in the UK and around the world heps to ensure global acceptance.

 

Baudouin’s Powerkit Engines have been designed and built using all of their 100 years of experience in manufacturing Engines.  Any customer can be sure that the product they are buying from Baudouin is of the highest quality.  If the products were unreliable and caused users problems, the company would not have grown to the position they are today.  Baudouin offer their Powerkit range of Engines with a very attractive warranty package.  For Prime Power applications a 2 year, unlimited hours warranty is standard.  For Standby Power applications, the offering is 4 years, 800hours.  This is one of the best Warranty packages available on the market.  Baudouin are only able to offer this as they have every confidence that their products are up to the challenge.

 

Baudouin have developed a Global Application Engineering support network.  This ensures that any OEMs using Baudouin product have a team of engineers based locally, speaking the same language, to offer engineering support.  This may be offering 3D CAD models or data sheets and technical advice.  This can be crucial to a manufacturer using their products, it will help to prevent any problems and also make sure that the products being used are used correctly and making the most of the available technology.

 

Baudouin have dealers of Engines and Spares as well as Service centres in over 100 countries.  This extensive support network means that a customer will never be far away from the backup they require.  Whether this is an oil filter for their existing Diesel Generator or installation and commissioning of new Generator Baudouin have ensured that the customer will always have the relevant support available to them.

 

While Baudouin may not be the most common name in the Diesel Generator market, they are one of the fastest growing.  Their knowledge and experience make sure that the company is delivering a high quality, reliable and robust engine that will be more than capable of withstanding all of the rigours that the Power Generation market will throw at their products.  With the backup and support of the Service Network and the industry leading warranty Baudouin have ensured they have all of the correct tools in place to provide any support that OEMs, dealers and end users with anything they may need.This may mean that Perkins powered and cummins powered products tart to lose market share.

 

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Created on Aug 13th 2019 09:41. Viewed 333 times.

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