The Siemens Mechanical Drives Group (http://www.industry.usa.siemens.com/drives/us/en/gear-motors-couplings/Pages/Default.aspx) invited a group of editors to its Elgin, Ill. facility to discuss it gear drive business.
The meeting was an unveiling of a division that has generated little publicity over the years. It is sort of like a light under a bushel with high-precision machining and assembly manufacturing accompanied by design, sales and support.
The company began life at the Flender company that was eventually acquired by Siemens. These are not small gearboxes, rather the gears produced here can be as large as a few tons. The product line consists of standard gears and packaged solutions, many custom designed to the customer's application.
Mining is the first target industy with the specialty of high-quality solutions requiring minimal maintenance attention. Vertical grinding mills in the cement and minerals industry is another prime target--executives noting that products are growing ever larger in this segment. Belt conveyors in the power generation industry, gear trains on large ships and pumps in water/wastewater constitute other markets.
Executives noted current market demands include global support, quick delivery, energy efficiency, quality and need for a design partner--all of which Siemens can provide.
Applications for future growth include tidal power, wind power, wave power and positioning of arrays of solor panels.
