Lead times for large bearings reduced by 400% claims Revolvo
Bearings specialist, Revolvo has invested almost £1million in two new GER CNC grinding machines and claims to have improved its throughput of large solid bearings (over 500mm) by over 400%.
According to Revolvo, this cuts the lead times currently offered by bearing majors - which average 18 to 24 months - to around 24 weeks.
The company says the two new GER vertical grinding machines enable it to increase its throughput of large bearings up to 1500mm OD. As a result, the UK company plans to expand into new markets, such as wind energy, mining, steel, renewable energy, oil and gas, where larger bearings are increasingly required.
"We have made this significant investment, in what are exceptionally accurate grinding machines to achieve shorter lead times for our customers," said Adrian Menzies, Revolvo's sales and marketing director. "Previously we didn't have the space to accommodate new machine stock, but with our new factory we now have space in abundance to expand."
"Our original requirement was for just one GER machine, the RTV1500, but the capacity of this machine was fully booked for six months by the time it arrived. With such a growth in business, we had no hesitation in placing an immediate order for the RTV1000 to take on the extra workload. Both machines are now booked to capacity until December 2010, so we are expecting to make further investments at the end of the year. One thing's not in doubt: we are going to achieve very fast pay back on these machines!"
The GER machines incorporate electro-dynamic wheel balancing, in-process gauging & measurement systems, and are focused on achieving reduced set up and cycle times.
"Previously, we used a manual machine for grinding bearings up to 1400mm," continued Menzies. "However, this required highly skilled operators, which simply do not exist in the UK anymore. The GER machines integrate this skill, eliminating the problem of manual skill shortages."
Although purchased primarily for use on larger solid bearings, such as cylindrical roller bearings, ball bearings and tapered roller bearing with pin type cages, the flexibility of the new machines means that they are also being used on Revolvo's SRB range as well.
