With a fifth core technology that centres on manufacturing, the company is underlining the meticulous approach required to produce high-quality bearings that help maximise both precision and efficiency.
NSK´s production capabilities are mostly developed and optimised in-house, which is advantageous because its international network of 64 production plants in 13 countries utilises state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies. Many of these technologies make use of digitalisation strategies to enable highly efficient, flexible and sustainable production. For instance, utilising the IoT, NSK increases the optimisation of its factory network by equipping manufacturing technology with AI. The company also works to realise the creation of smart factories that save on space and energy, and reduce manpower requirements.
Investment in the other four core technologies will of course continue in the future. By way of example, with the latest high-efficiency deep groove ball bearings for electric motors, NSK demonstrates improvements that can be achieved through intelligent tribological development work. For these bearings, the company´s tribologists have developed EA7, a grease that reduces internal friction. In conjunction with optimised grease filling, this innovation not only leads to significantly reduced friction and, subsequently, higher energy efficiency, but doubles the service interval for electric motors.
NSK´s impact in this area has been recognised by an award from the Japanese Society of Tribology (JAST), which recently presented NSK with the Tribology Technology Award 2019. The award was conferred for a research project that, for the first time, enables the very precise simultaneous measurement of lubricant film thickness and rupture rate in grease-lubricated bearings operating at low speeds. The findings from these measurements contribute to the development of low viscosity and friction-reduced lubricants that reduce the required torque and, in turn, cut CO2 emissions to help prevent global warming. Despite their low viscosity, lubricants of this type enable energy-efficient rolling bearings to benefit from long service life.
NSK Europe Ltd. is the European organisation of the Tokyo-based bearing manufacturer NSK, which was founded in Japan in 1916 and today employs nearly 31,000 people in its worldwide operations. The products and solutions provided by the industrial and automotive supplier can be found wherever things move. In addition to nearly all types of rolling bearings, the company’s portfolio includes housed bearings, linear technology, wheel bearing units, transmission and engine bearings and steering systems. The company is oriented to perfection in all of its business activities. Its aim is quality leadership in its industry, which it strives for through a continuous process of improvement, excellent product development, optimised production processes and customer-oriented service processes. In fiscal year 2019, the more than 4,400 employees of NSK Europe Ltd. generated sales of over € 920 million.
www.nskeurope.com
NSK Deutschland GmbH
Harkortstrasse 15
40880 Ratingen
Telefon: +49 (2102) 4810
http://www.nskeurope.de
Telefon: +49 (2102) 4811280
E-Mail: pilath-m@nsk.com
Telefon: +34 (600) 780-385
E-Mail: k.matsuo@mepax.com