Mechanical power transmission: Value chain
Gearbox giants and a ropeway market close to a duopoly
What this tab covers Who does what, from equipment makers to builders, owners, operators, traders and users, with the leading companies at each step.The chain runs from component makers (gears, belts, hydraulic pumps, compressors, ropeway systems) through machine builders and installers to the factories, mines, ski areas and cities that use them. A few large manufacturers lead each segment.
The chain
Gearbox makers Belt and power transmission makers Hydraulics makers Ropeway makers Operators and users Efficiency programmes and standards| Stage | What happens | Leading companies |
|---|---|---|
| Gearbox makers | Make industrial and wind turbine gearboxes. Winergy, now Flender's wind brand, had supplied about 100 GW of wind gearboxes by 2014, nearly 30% of world capacity; Carlyle agreed in June 2026 to sell Flender to Triton, with completion expected in late 2026. | Flender, including Winergy (Germany)132122 |
| Belt and power transmission makers | Make belts, chains, pulleys and hoses; Gates reported 2025 net sales of US$3.44 billion, of which power transmission was US$2.15 billion. | Gates Industrial (UK/US)12 |
| Hydraulics makers | Make pumps, valves, cylinders and controls. A 2025 industry evaluation ranks these three as leaders; Danfoss became one by buying Eaton's hydraulics business (2020 sales US$1.8 billion) for US$3.3 billion in 2021, and Bosch Rexroth's 2025 sales were about EUR 6.45 billion. | Bosch Rexroth (Germany) Danfoss Power Solutions (Denmark) Parker Hannifin (US)11181920 |
| Ropeway makers | Design, build and maintain cable cars, gondolas and material ropeways. | Doppelmayr (Austria) HTI Group: Leitner and Poma (Italy, France)101516 |
| Operators and users | Factories, mines and builders run hydraulic and air systems; cities and ski areas run ropeways. | Metrocable, Medellín (Colombia) Industrial plants (many)724 |
| Efficiency programmes and standards | Publish best practice and estimate savings. | US Department of Energy (US) Compressed Air Challenge (US) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)123 |
The ropeway market is close to a duopoly: Doppelmayr, which calls itself the global market leader, had revenue of EUR 1.197 billion in 2024/25 and about EUR 1.3 billion in 2025/26, and the HTI Group (Leitner and Poma, plus snow-groomer and wind businesses) reported EUR 1.622 billion in 2025.
Historic city networks were owned by private utilities such as the London Hydraulic Power Company; Mercury Communications bought it in 1985 and its pipes now carry telecom cables.
Sources
- Replace V-belts with notched or synchronous belt drives (Motor Systems Tip Sheet #5) US Department of Energy, Advanced Manufacturing Office, 2012
- Estimating the Impact (Energy, Emissions and Economics) of the U.S. Fluid Power Industry (ORNL/TM-2011/14), Love, Lanke and Alles Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2012
- Compressed Air System Leaks (Improving Compressed Air System Performance, Fact Sheet #7, Rev. 1) Compressed Air Challenge, 2026
- Innovation in the air: using cable cars for urban transport World Bank (Transport blog), 2017
- New record year for the HTI Group (2023 results) Leitner, 2024
- Hydraulics: Company Evaluation Report 2025 (press release for a market research report) ResearchAndMarkets.com via GlobeNewswire, 2025
- Gates Industrial Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results Gates Industrial Corporation plc (press release via Seeking Alpha), 2026
- Winergy gearboxes reach 100 gigawatts of wind turbine capacity delivered Windpower Engineering and Development, 2014
- Doppelmayr Group Annual Report 2024/25 (press release) Doppelmayr Group, 2025
- HTI Group: a year of results and investments Leitwind (HTI Group), 2026
- Bosch Rexroth keeps sales stable in 2025 and sees growth prospects in 2026 Bosch Rexroth, 2026
- Parker Reports Fiscal 2025 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results (Exhibit 99.1) Parker Hannifin (US SEC filing), 2025
- Eaton Completes Sale of Its Hydraulics Business for $3.3 Billion Eaton (Business Wire), 2021
- Triton Partners to acquire Flender from Carlyle Windtech International, 2026
- Winergy in new line-up as system supplier Windtech International, 2022
- Project 3224: Cable Cars Metro Medellín, Colombia UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism, 2026