There is an ongoing battle between engineers and procurement departments to balance cost, performance and availability of components. Purchasing departments are under constant pressure to lower costs and are looking to engineers to find more cost effective alternatives wherever possible. This can often lead to a redesign which in many cases can ultimately be more expensive. 

Availability

As a result, engineers are increasingly turning to specialist suppliers to find suitable components such as bearings, which is why availability will continue to be such an important word in 2016. 

Sourcing products, whether that means supplying, manufacturing or adapting existing designs, is becoming more and more critical – and this will deliver additional benefits for OEMs.  

Manufacturers and suppliers who can guarantee availability – however specialist the requirement – will be the most valuable to their customers. We are also seeing the importance of rapid prototyping to reduce start-up costs and time to market.

Innovation

Another big issue is the continued drive towards innovation in new materials to improve the performance, capabilities and durability of bearings. 

Bearing manufacturers have invested heavily in research and development in recent years and we are really starting to see the benefit as an industry. New alloys have been introduced, along with new techniques for manufacturing, testing and fault analysis. 

This level of innovation will increase long-term performance and help to deliver a cost-effective overall solution– both of which will remain critical for any OEM. Our new BowMet range is an example, manufactured from the special ToughMet alloy developed in the USA.

The BowMet range of plain, rolled bearings is a key advance in plain sliding bearings, offering a higher load capacity and longer life than most comparable bearings, together with outstanding heat, speed and corrosion capabilities. Its static load of 820N/mm2, I believe, is incomparable for plain rolled bearings. 

Rolled bearings can deliver the load capacity required for the heaviest of applications and harshest of conditions, from agricultural machinery, construction plant and large marine vessels, to motorsport vehicles, cranes and many more. 

The copper-nickel-tin ToughMet alloy had previously only been available as thick-walled tubes or rods, but due to the modification of processes and equipment which were actually created to produce tiny springs in smartphone cameras, it is now available in thin sheets, enabling the manufacture of plain, rolled bearings.

Basic bronze materials are often chosen for lower load-bearing applications because they are corrosion resistant, require little lubrication, and tend to be easy to form. However, the development of ToughMet sheet is significant because standard bronze is not strong enough to handle the strain of many high load applications. Manufacturers of heavy plant and equipment generally turn to hardened steel, which requires more lubrication and maintenance. 

Designers used to be faced with the choice between using oversized bronze bearings in order to take the loads, which would add weight and take up more space to get the necessary load and lubricity level, or switch to hardened steel. 

BowMet enables manufacturers to use smaller bearings with higher load ratings to save space and weight, or replace existing bearings and get a much higher load rating and longer life.

Supply chain

Finally, another big shift that will become more evident in 2016 is the way in which suppliers are expanding their service to streamline the supply chain for OEMs. 

It has long been a requirement of the automotive industry that a component manufacturer ensures the highest levels of quality, price and on-time delivery alongside the parts. 

Now we are seeing a growing demand for this level of service from other manufacturing industries including construction equipment, commercial vehicles and marine, amongst others. I believe suppliers that are able to offer that same level of service to all customers will be the most successful in 2016.