A customer in the US was experiencing premature bearing failures in a collet closer application. The target was a lifetime of 15000 hrs minimum, but the bearing failed after only 100 hrs. This led to significant bearing replacements required on a weekly basis, leading to high cost and lost production.
NSK engineers reviewed the application and proposed to use a pair of Angular Contact Ball Bearings on the front and the back side of the spindle instead of the existing double row bearing which could not support the axial load. After the implementation, failures were eliminated and significant cost savings were realised.
Before | Cost p.a. | NSK Solution | Cost p.a. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bearing replacement cost: once per week = 52 sets | 5 200 € | Bearing replacement cost | 6 600 € | |
Maintenance cost (to replace spindle): 60€/hr x 3 hrs x 52 weeks | 9 360 € | |||
Downtime cost: 1000€/hr x 3 hrs x 52 weeks | 156 000 € | |||
Engineering support | 1 000 € | |||
Total Costs | € 171 560 | € 6 600 |
Reference:SS-E-0021