On the Fast Track to Success with Plain Bearings

Technical Magazine Workshop ¡°INA und FAG ¨C Bearing Supports in Buildings and Structures¡± The Schaeffler Group Industrial division invited journalists to a two-day technical magazine workshop on ¡°Bearing Supports in Buildings and Structures¡± held at the INA-Schaeffler plant in Steinhagen. Journalists from Germany, Austria and Eastern Westphalia learned about INA¡¯s and FAG Kugelfischer¡¯s product expertise for unusual applications in a definite growth market. ¡°The business with large plain bearings and rolling bearings is booming,¡± Dirk Nienh¨¹ser, manager of the product group for spherical plain bearings and rod ends, said during his presentation of the plant. 450 employees at INA¡¯s plant in Steinhagen produce automotive products, mainly including maintenance-free plain bearings that are in high demand around the world because of their efficiency and ensure that order books are always full. ¡°Growth for 2004 is expected to be in the two-digit range,¡± said Nienh¨¹ser. Plain bearings are used in a wide range of applications, such as bridge building, modern steel and glass structures, in weir dams and in huge excavators in brown coal surface mining. They are also installed in the rotary propeller adjustment in wind turbines and in multi-functional stadiums. Wherever enormous contact pressure and little rotary or oscillating motion occur, customers rely on plain bearings from Steinhagen. Particularly the environmentally friendly, maintenance-free bearings in combination with the ELGOGLIDE® sliding layer developed in Steinhagen have been setting standards. This is why large spherical plain bearings with an internal bore of 320 millimeters and greater have been added to INA¡¯s and FAG¡¯s X-life class products. The X-life mark of quality consolidates the best industrial products and services offered by INA and FAG. These new high-tech products involved large investments in machines and manufacturing processes. X-life products represent competitive benchmarks. ¡°We have been successful worldwide with our ELGES-brand plain bearings products,¡± Nienh¨¹ser said. It is becoming increasingly evident that the Asian market is a definite growth market. The volume for bearing supports in the 250 Chinese dams planned by 2012 total several hundred million euros. A total of 500 dam projects have been planned through 2012. ¡°We have been able to get some of the most spectacular projects, such as the three gorges project on the Yangtze river, and we will continue to get a piece of the pie in the future,¡° Dr. Arndt Schweigert, manager of application engineering, said confidently. Other growth markets include steel and glass structures (¡°Lehrter train station¡± ¨C Germany¡¯s biggest railway station in Berlin), multi-functional arenas (New Wembley Stadium and Arena auf Schalke) and earthquake-proof highrise buildings. The cooperation with colleagues at FAG Kugelfischer has created additional impulses. Aside from discussing know-how, both companies of the Schaeffler Group Industrial division have benefited from each other¡¯s customer contacts, allowing them to find new markets for wind turbines or mining. Customers also benefit immensely from INA¡¯s and FAG¡¯s cooperation: ¡°In addition to plain bearings, we are now able to provide customers with the entire bearing range. This will save customers time and money,¡± said Dr. Arndt Schweigert. Nienh¨¹ser and Schweigert are optimistic about the future, despite rising costs for energy and raw materials: ¡°We want to experience above-average growth again in 2005.¡±