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Automation Technologies 3/2015

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Automation Technologies 3/2015

COMPONENTS AND SOFTWARE

COMPONENTS AND SOFTWARE previous page social rooms reflect this - Per Samuelsson is certain: “The performance of the Igus plain bearings gives us top products in the range. With them, we offer our customers best service and high satisfaction.” Then it‘s time – though a little belatedly: the little orange car turns the corner into Raseborgsgatan. So those are the Iglidur on tour boys: Karl, Sandor and Nils. I‘d heard, read and seen a lot about them in the web videos. Now I could greet them in person – an exciting moment. Then everything goes very quickly. The many customers who have arrived by now gather around the vehicle and want to know more about the technical details of the plain bearings from Karl. “Retrofitting of the car by a team of the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne was the prerequisite for the ambitious practice test. The leading principle was to replace everything that was technically possible to and in accordance with the TÜV provisions with Igus plastics,” the young engineer explains to his attentive audience. Ralf Kabus, managing director of Igus Sweden and Denmark and head of the company‘s office in Helsingborg continues: “The metal bearings at the brake pedal, the windshield wiper, the window lifter, the shifting module, the seat console, the handbrake, the start generator, the throttle flap and the cover were replaced by pure polymer bearings. Igus highperformance plastics were installed in 56 bearings points in total. Even visual correspondence was observed, e.g. for the seat latch.” From King to Abba One objective of the tour around the world is to visit as many customers, branches or dealers as possible. More than that: while the country and the people were often at the focus on the tours through Asia and America, the technical aspects are more important in Europe. This is another reason why Karl Weinmeister, a young mechatronic engineer, has been made team leader. Sightseeing, photography and recording videos with the vehicle are part of the programme for Sweden as well, though. This is to fill our afternoon as well. Together, we set out for the Stockholm city centre. Our destination are the royal palace, the parliament building and the old town. This is where part of Iglidur‘s Sweden video is to be produced. As soon as they have gotten out, Karl, Nils and Sandor immediately start to plan their recordings. Soon, Nils, who graduated in media design, has a great idea, as so often: “Let‘s stand around the bridge so that we can film the car perfectly from all directions.” No sooner was this said when work was started. I immediately feel that the team is perfectly coordinated and that the members understand each other almost without words. It‘s a great advantage that makes the three men‘s work on the very exhausting tour much easier. Soon, everything has been recorded. We even have enough time to visit the Abba Museum in Stockholm on our way to the next hotel. Agneta, Björn, Benny and Anni-Fried are waiting for us and our orange star. The little town of Tranås in the Jönköping province is our chosen site place for the night. We have about 250 km to drive ahead of us before we are able to rest 04 Visit at authorised Igus dealer OEM Automatic in Tranås, Sweden 05 Christian von Koenigsegg (centre) personally learns about the Igus components AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES 3/2015

COMPONENTS AND SOFTWARE on this first exciting day. Such long drives are, of course, not rare for Iglidur on tour; after all, as many stations as possible are to be visited under compliance with a rather strict schedule, to pass on the Igus idea to technology enthusiasts. “Of course it‘s very exhausting at times, especially because we have little time to get to the next customer. It‘s also a lot of fun, though, especially with our team and the respective Igus employees in the countries,” Sandor Meierjohann, who just graduated from secondary school, says as we drive on. Of course, I want to know how the three got their job: “Nils and I were interns at Igus last summer. We were asked if we could imagine doing this. We accepted spontaneously because it‘s a unique opportunity. We needed a team manager and someone who could cover the technical aspect. Igus found a great team player in Karl,” Sandor is certain. Typically Swedish! Thursday, January 8, 2015: the first visit for the day lies ahead, now with Igus‘ second authorised dealer in Sweden. OEM Automatic offers its customers a great range of products around automation technology. The company from Tranås sells power trains and lines from the Chainflex range for the plastic specialist from Cologne. Today, the team around Karl Weinmeister and Ralf Kabus will present its products to the sales managers of OEM Automatic rather than their customers. It‘s a special situation. They are waiting to learn more about Igus itself and its entire product range today – including plain bearings. Kabus has a lot to tell: “Decades of research and development in the industry‘s largest test lab for next page plastic components for moving applications, the ‚motion plastics‘, have led to serial production of 45 different reliable Iglidur materials that are used as plain bearings in the automotive industry more than 200 M times per year today. Every other plain bearing we sell is installed in cars.” The self-lubricating plastic mixtures are characterised by very low friction and wear. They are corrosion- and maintenance-free and therefore long-lived. “Since external lubrication with oils and grease is not necessary, the bearings do not contaminate and the environment is protected,” Sweden‘s boss says. The automotive industry is also part of our next stop. That afternoon, we visit the Concept Center of Volvo Cars in Goteborg. On the way there, Ralf Kabus insists on introducing us to the Swedish cuisine. “Raggmunken”, potato pancakes with bacon and cowberries, is a traditional Swedish dish. Or, as they‘d say in Cologne: Rievkoche met Speck! Everything has to go quickly at Volvo. Many employees are already waiting to learn more about the plastics from Germany. For me, it is now time to do some proper work. After all, I wanted to experience the tour in all of its facets. Driving the car onto the premises, into the lift, setting up roll-ups, putting up samples, and don‘t forget the Drytech boxes. These are small cases with any number of sample plain bearings that are at hand for the interested audience to take along. Now I‘m a “real” team member. While Ralf Kabus and Oliver Cyrus explain the advantages 06 Dirk Schaar, editor in chief of AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES, at work 07 Handing over of the cheque to a local facility for the homeless AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES 3/2015

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