Growing sports plastics: Igus sales increased by 8.5%

The special wearable parts that can be configured online with the tablet anytime, anywhere, and 3D printing and intelligent configuration make sports plastics increasingly become high-tech components. At this year's Hannover Messe, igus will showcase this trend with 120 new products – both smart plain bearings and the world's first online platform to bring together suppliers and users of cost-effective robots.

With the core technology of "Sports Plastics", igus launches new products every year to meet the needs of industrial applications, such as 3D printed wear parts that can be used to calculate the service life, smart plastics, drag chains with a stroke length of 1,000 meters, and use. Lubrication-free engineering plastic ball bearings with a 10x longer life. The growing demand for high-performance engineering plastics for sports applications in the global market is a recognition of igus. In 2018, igus's sales increased by 8.5% to 748 million euros. Among them, sales in the European market accounted for 53% of total global sales, Asia accounted for 31%, and the Americas and Africa accounted for 16%. The number of employees in the company has grown to 4,150.

Online simulations, smart and plain bearings, and the latest low-cost robotic platforms, all of which mark the igus machine components made of engineering plastics are becoming high-tech components. (Source: igus GmbH)

Entering new fields with the mindset of entrepreneurs

Igus is in a period of sustained and stable organic growth and continues to open up new markets in areas such as stage machinery and solar energy. The igus headquarters in Cologne, Germany, is always filled with a positive and enterprising atmosphere. Frank Blase, CEO of igus, Germany, said: "Flexible work methods and an open office environment allow us to quickly implement innovative sports plastic ideas in an efficient team atmosphere. We constantly test and improve our products. And optimized until the user is satisfied with the applicable product." In this very dynamic way, igus has developed 120 new products and will exhibit them at the Hannover Messe in 2019. At the show, igus will clearly show the audience that plastic mechanical components have been high-tech components for a long time. And igus seizes the digital opportunity and will introduce intelligent sliding bearings. With the extended communication module icom+, the user can decide on the form in which the data collected by the sensor is integrated. From offline mode for restrictive environments to online mode for linking thresholds to the igus server for automatic ordering of spare parts, users are free to integrate and read their data.

Robot platform and 3D printing bring new possibilities to users

Igus' high-performance engineering plastics are also constantly exploring the potential of low-cost automation. The advantage is that if the robot uses a gearbox made of engineering plastics and many other components, it can save a lot of money. Robots as low as 3,000 euros (excluding tax) have become a reality. Igus will be the first to showcase its online platform, rbtx.com, with 16 industry partners. The platform will gather suppliers and users to build lean robots together. Users can configure industrial robots and service robots in one stop on the platform. Last year, demand in the field of additive manufacturing also increased. Thanks to the new SLS printer, igus's 3D printing capabilities have been tripled; and igus has developed its own high temperature printer for its high temperature resistant wear wire iglidur J350. For best-selling machine components such as gears and rollers, igus now offers professional in-line configurators and printing solutions with outstanding wear resistance. It also offers a unique service worldwide: the lifetime of these 3D printed parts can be calculated online.

Test lab is the driving force for growth

The calculation of parameters such as service life is based on the test laboratory data. Last year alone, igus developed and tested more than 264 new engineering plastic parts in the test lab. In addition, more than 11,300 sliding bearing tests were performed on more than 50 different test stands. In the drag chain and cable lab, igus conducted more than 4,100 tests in 2018, accumulating more than 10 billion cycles. At the same time, the test lab is also a "think tank" of igus, where special engineering solutions for industrial applications and practical applications have been developed using wear-resistant engineering plastics. For example: iglidur Q2E plain bearings can safely and reliably withstand loads of up to 7 metric tons in construction machinery and agricultural machinery without any lubrication at all; E4Q towline for long stroke applications with curved curve design and heavy weight Lightweight and QuickLock crossbar for easy assembly without tools. Currently, iugs is building a new test facility outdoors for long-stroke testing. As a result, the test lab will have an area of ​​more than 3,800 square meters. Around the world, igus will further expand its production capacity to serve local users more quickly. Among them, the US office has an office and production area of ​​5,000 square meters, which is about 19,000 square meters. The Chinese branch is currently constructing a new 22,000 square meter facility that will be completed in August this year. In addition to expanding facilities in Brazil, India, Poland and Thailand, igus also purchased a piece of land for new construction in Korea. The building covers an area of ​​9,500 square meters and is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. Frank Blase believes that global growth is possible only through a constant user-centric corporate activity. He said: "My father, the company's founder's question to the first user in 1964, is still inspiring today. At the time, his question was: 'What is the most difficult part of your injection molding? 'Today, we asked a slightly different question: 'How can we help you to easily reduce costs and improve the technical performance of the equipment, leaving the product quiet, lubrication-free and with a longer service life? 'With sports plastics, we are constantly Find a new answer."