CLAAS with shorter maintenance and development times - thanks to lubrication-free plain bearings at record speed

Profile:

• What was needed: Plain bearing in special shape
• Requirements: Fast delivery
• Industry: Agricultural engineering
• Success for the customer: Customised injection moulded plain bearing within 7 days with the FastLine service, self-lubricating bearing points, minimal maintenance, high service life and reliability

Company profile:

Founded in 1913, the family-owned company CLAAS is one of the world's leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery. Headquartered in Harsewinkel, Westphalia, the company is the world market leader in forage harvesters. CLAAS is also the European market leader in another core segment, combine harvesters.

In a project for CLAAS combine harvesters, suitable iglidur® plain bearings were sought for a new bearing position. The sophisticated design of the assembly required a shape that could not be reproduced with the extensive catalogue range of igus®. The special shape could therefore only be achieved using injection moulding with a special injection mould. It usually takes several weeks to design, manufacture and approve such an injection mould for series production.

With the igus® FastLine service, however, this injection mould could be produced in a very short time. Through consistent optimisation and automation of the design, production and sampling processes and the use of state-of-the-art machines, injection moulded parts from customer-specific injection moulds can be ready for series production in just a few days. It only took 7 days for CLAAS to receive the first customised component for testing after the order was approved. This significantly accelerated the development time of the assembly and further reduced maintenance costs.