NSK - Experts & Thought Leaders

NSK Europe is pleased to announce the registering of a new branch in Ploiesti, Romania. The new office, which is being established as part of NSK Europe’s EIBU geographic expansion plan, will be fully functional by the end of September 2024. Plans for this move have been in place for the last two years, with NSK keen to establish a presence in a dynamic country with a rapidly developing marketplace. Ploiesti itself is one of the largest industrial centres in Romania, is located close to Bucharest Airport and will offer NSK additional opportunities to develop its business across Southeastern Europe. Romania’s industrial sector Valentin Blanaru will head up the new office, having taken the role of Territory Manager Romania The new office will provide sales functions, customer services and broader technical support throughout Romania. It will offer the full range of NSK products across the new territory, though given the shape of Romania’s industrial sector, roller bearings and heavier, larger size bearings for sectors including steel, cement and quarrying and mining are expected to be in high demand. Valentin Blanaru will head up the new office, having accepted the position of Territory Manager Romania. He has spent the past 15 years at NSK and will take responsibility for sales and customer support activities within his new territory. AIP Added Value Programme "I am delighted to have been presented with this opportunity," Mr. Blanaru commented, "and am looking forward to building up a strong local team capable of providing the sales, engineering and customer service support our customers deserve. We have an ambitious vision for Romania, and I look forward to adapting the strengths of NSK Europe to the local market in order to provide the best possible support to our customers." "We will be offering a complete range of services, including technical consultancy where we will make full use of our strong R&D resources and Sector Manager’s expertise. We will also be relaunching our AIP Added Value Programme which will see us working with our distributors to create new opportunities to improve sales growth." Industrial landscape in Romania Mr. Blanaru will report to Maciej Piatkowski, OEM Director for NSK’s European Industrial Business Unit. Mr. Piatkowski said, "NSK already has more than 20 years of experience operating in the Eastern European through our presence in Poland and we’re confident that the industrial landscape in Romania will align perfectly with our Sector-driven approach. We identified Romania as a fast-evolving and attractive market for us, as well as the perfect base from which to develop our presence throughout Southeastern Europe." Speaking about Mr. Blanaru he added, "Valentin has proved over his 15 years with NSK that he has the market and customer knowledge to make a success of this new challenge. He has the perfect skills needed to develop our sales, engineering and CSR organisation in the new territory."

A number of key improvements to the online engineering tools provided by NSK, a pioneer in motion control solutions, serve to boost the work efficiency of customers. For instance, easy-to-use tools such as NSK Online Catalogue, Technical Calculations and 2D/3D CAD Data (all previously independent) are now linked. Design engineers can therefore select bearings, confirm specifications and download CAD data as part of a one-stop solution. In another improvement, a new function in Technical Calculations allows the one-time calculation and display of multiple factors that include bearing life, bearing fits/clearances and bearing frequencies, again helping NSK customers to reduce their work time. Basic dynamic load ratings New estimates derive from using NSK’s highly accurate (patent-pending) bearing life prediction method A notable underlying change is the application of NSK’s revised basic dynamic load ratings, a parameter used to calculate the estimated life of rolling bearings. The revision, which extends the basic rating life for the company’s main types of rolling bearings, including deep groove ball bearings, angular contact ball bearings, self-aligning ball bearings, cylindrical roller bearings and tapered roller bearings, now features in the NSK Online Catalogue. The new estimates derive from applying NSK’s highly accurate (patent-pending) bearing life prediction method based on ultrasonic testing, a world-first process announced by the company in March 2023. NSK developed a quantitative evaluation method that can determine which factors influence the process of crack propagation in a bearing material, and to what extent. Ultrasonic inspection technique With this revision, the estimated life of radial roller bearings, for example, is up to twice that of previously By combining the new method with an ultrasonic inspection technique that scans the non-metallic inclusions in a large volume of steel, the company is able to predict bearing life with far higher accuracy. NSK has therefore revised the basic dynamic load rating of many bearings with no change in design or materials, while still applying the appropriate safety margin to any uprated values. With this revision, the estimated life of radial roller bearings, for example, is up to twice that of previously. As the basic dynamic load ratings of bearings improve, they are suitable for use in higher load conditions, facilitating the selection of smaller bearings that perform the same function. Benefits include machine downsizing and weight reduction.  CO2 emissions savings By way of example, machines that used NSK’s HR32306J tapered roller bearings can now adopt the smaller HR33206J. This change delivers a 14% reduction in bearing outside diameter, a 13% reduction in width and approximately 38% less weight. Those seeking carbon neutrality also gain. Smaller bearings require fewer resources to manufacture. They also yield lower torque, resulting in less power consumption and fewer CO2 emissions during use. With the same aforementioned change of bearing, users will see a reduction in bearing torque and power consumption of approximately 18% (around 48 kWh per annum). According to NSK calculations, this converts to approximately 22 kg of CO2 emissions savings.

Euromac, a global company in the design and manufacture of punching and bending machines, is benefitting from NSK ball screws, linear guides, and bearings in two high-profile recent projects. In fact, Euromac has been taking advantage of NSK motion control technology since 1995 as part of a long-standing and highly successful partnership. Produces advanced and competitive products From its headquarters in Italy, Euromac tailors’ machines to meet demanding customer requirements; the combination of state-of-the-art technologies and unique concepts assures users of advanced, productive, and competitive products at all times. Continuous improvement and innovation is a core company ethos and represents the reason why Euromac has been able to expand its worldwide presence and achieve impressive growth since its formation in 1986. Major Supplier Among the latest Euromac machines to benefit from NSK motion control technologies is the FX Bend 2550 new-generation electric press brake with 50 or 60-tonne press force, 2550 mm bend length, and six-axis back-gauge; and the new-generation XT punching machine (hydraulic, hybrid, or electric) with 1500 x 3000 mm capacity and a newly reinforced frame. In both applications, NSK is the main supplier of ball screws, linear guides, and bearings. Euromac XT Euromac XT sets the bar in the punching machine arena by being available in hydraulic, hybrid, and electric variants The Euromac XT sets the bar for innovation in the punching machine arena by being available in hydraulic, hybrid, and electric variants. In each type, Euromac uses a different way of moving the main punching axis. In the electric version, for example, the technology holds its own patent. Here, acceleration of 90 m/s2 and stroke of sometimes less than 10 mm, means that impact load is a constant issue. High-performance and robust products With this thought in mind, there is a clear need for high-performance, robust, and reliable linear motion products.    For the main punching axis on the electric Euromac XT, NSK, therefore, proposed its HTF SRD series ball screw with S1 ball spacers featuring grease-retaining attributes. These ball screws also make use of a special material named Tough Steel. Providing the perfect complement to the HTF SRD ball screw is the RA series linear guide with high acceleration capability. Ensures high productivity HTF SRD ball screws take advantage of an innovative end deflector recirculation system to achieve ultra-high speeds of up to 3 m/s, offering shorter cycle times and higher productivity to end-users. Importantly, this high-load ball screw ensures good rotational balance, with no run-out of recirculation components, while the optimised (smooth) ball circulation methodology reduces noise by half compared with conventional systems. Accuracy and uniformity The carefully matched spacing and restraint technology of the roller bodies produce a very high uniformity  NSK’s RA series of low-friction, high-load capacity roller guides provide high rigidity to deliver the traverse and repeat accuracy necessary in machine tools such as the Euromac XT. This capability results from, among other things, special restraining and deflecting components, as well as the use of rollers with the largest possible diameter and a slightly crowned surface to minimise vibration during rotation. The carefully matched spacing and restraint technology of the roller bodies also produce a very high uniformity of the displacement forces that occur. After a year of comprehensive and successful testing, Euromac recently commenced volume production of its XT punching machines, exemplifying how the performance and quality of NSK linear motion products, together with proven technical support, can benefit innovative machine tool builders. Products The new Euromac XT punching machine uses high-performance, robust, and reliable linear motion solutions from The Euromac FX Bend 2550 new-generation electric press brake also benefits from NSK motion control NSK HTF SRD ball screws take advantage of an innovative end deflector recirculation system to achieve ultra-high NSK’s RA series of low-friction, high-load capacity roller guides provide the high rigidity necessary in machine tools such as the Euromac