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The Predictive Maintenance Playbook

How HECO keeps critical components one step ahead of failure

Kalamazoo earned the nickname “Paper City” thanks to a papermaking industry that dominated its economy for more than a century. The industry began in 1866 when the Kalamazoo Paper Co. built the city’s first paper mill. The area was well-suited to papermaking because of abundant water from the Kalamazoo River, good rail access, and proximity to timber resources in northern Michigan.

The Search for Flexible and Sustainable Packaging Solutions

Pack Expo International 2026 aims to tackle operational challenges

Systematic Solutions

Schaeffler Showcases Motion Technology at Automotive Symposium 2026

The Right Linear Drive Starts With the Right Questions

Thomson Industries deconstructs drive technology selection

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Feature Articles

The Big Squeeze

Few things say good morning like a glass of fresh orange juice. Thanks to the rise of in-store juicing machines, you no longer need an orange grove out back, let alone a hand press and strong forearms to enjoy one. Just walk into any Sam’s Club in the country and you’ll find gallons of fresh juice in the cooler, squeezed on-site that same day.

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Make it Your Own

Customization may not always be top of mind when machine designers are selecting motion control vendors. The hope is usually that they will find exactly what they need in the catalog and avoid what they believe to be the higher costs, delays and risks associated with custom solutions. But, given that more than 25 percent of motion system projects end up requiring at least some degree of customization, it could be beneficial to prepare for that eventuality from the outset.

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Inside the Lab

Testing is a powerful tool for improving equipment reliability and reducing the risk of costly, unplanned downtime. When a bearing fails, it’s important to figure out why. Without an investigation or testing to determine the cause, there is a greater likelihood that the same problem will happen again. That’s why SKF Global Labs and Testing plays such a critical role in helping customers maximize the performance and service life of their rotating equipment.

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Industrial Strength Reliability

SEW-Eurodrive is helping power one of the most ambitious bulk material handling projects in North America through its contribution to the Dune Express conveyor system, a record-setting 42-mile single-flight conveyor designed to transport frac sand across the Permian Basin. Developed by Atlas Energy Solutions in collaboration with system integrator Voith Turbo, the Dune Express system is designed to move up to 13 million tons of frac sand annually from Kermit, Texas, to the New Mexico border.

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Gear Drives

For worm gearboxes, oils are mainly used in combination with splash lubrication. Consistent lubricants, such as greases, are used less frequently and are used, for example, in gearboxes where it is not possible or difficult to seal the housing (Ref. 1). These applications include positioning gears, but also power gears with high sealing requirements, such as in the food industry. Grease lubrication has, in comparison to oil, a negative thermal effect on the worm, resulting in higher mass temperatures (Ref. 2). However, this effect becomes less relevant in the application of positioning gears, so that the advantages of grease lubrication outweigh the disadvantages in these applications.

Gears

Future electric and hybrid electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles will require high-efficiency and lightweight electric motor-driven propulsion systems. One key to designing an optimum electric motor-driven propulsion system, is to have a method for estimating the mass and efficiency of a gearbox for different power levels, motor speeds, and propeller speeds. Understanding the trade space for gearbox mass and efficiency allows the overall optimization of the propulsion system.

Bearings

We have all seen the Q4 2025 headlines around electric vehicle (EV) sales and they were not good. Ford recorded a $19.5B loss in EV pullbacks (Ref. 1). General Motors posted $6B in EV debt (Ref. 2). Stellantis took a $26B hit which was compounded by underperforming EV sales and recovery from the previous CEO’s disastrous cost-cutting strategy (Ref. 3). Also, notably, was the laundry list of not-long-ago hailed startups that have went bankrupt, often leaving investors, suppliers and employees holding the bag: Bollinger, Canoo, Nikola, ELMS, Lordstown, Fisker, Arrival, Proterra, Volta just to name a few. Many more are on the brink along with dozens of startup suppliers that enticed investors with untold wealth to be gained in the automotive revolution 2.0 (Ref. 6,13,14).

Motors

The hydraulics market is very mature, according to Terry Hershberger, mobile hydraulics technology leader, Bosch Rexroth. So mature, in fact, changes occurring from an innovation standpoint come in smaller and smaller increments on the hardware side. Today, it’s all about bundling components in new ways and focusing on advancements in electrohydraulics and sensor technology.

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Videos

Expertly Designed Complete Actuation System for Aerospace with AMTEK PDS

Elevate the aerospace program with AMETEK PDS. See how their complete actuation systems, designed by a team of experienced engineers, can meet your specific needs—from a single actuator for a cargo door to a full flap actuation system with motors, actuators, and system-level controllers.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Oct 3, 2026

Siemens will invest more than $200 million in two new U.S. manufacturing facilities in Pendergrass, Georgia, and Grand Prairie, Texas. These investments will expand Siemens’ production capacity to deliver the critical electrical infrastructure required to power the next wave of AI. Siemens will create more than 1,500 jobs and strengthen its ability to serve the rapidly growing demand for AI-ready data centers. The investments are part of a move to expand Siemens’ global capacity. In July 2026, the company already announced an investment of €300 million in its factories in Germany to support the rapid growth of AI and data centers.

PRODUCT NEWS

Regal Rexnord Corp. launched Powerlign 2.0, an updated torque monitoring system for turbomachinery applications. The updated system is designed to make installation and use simpler, while enabling more robust performance, better train efficiency and smarter maintenance planning.

CALENDAR

CES 2027

Jan 6, 2027 - Jan 9, 2027

Attracting a diverse range of professionals, including executives, engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs, CES (Las Vegas) is an excellent opportunity to connect, collaborate, and grow your professional network. The broad range of exhibits and industries represented at the show can inspire innovative solutions. Industries include 3D printing, AR/VR/XR, AI, cloud computing/data, construction tech, cybersecurity, robotics, e-Mobility, AI, vehicle tech and more.

PowerGen 2027

Jan 18, 2027 - Jan 21, 2027

SPS Smart Production Solutions 2026

Nov 24, 2026 - Nov 26, 2026

CTI Symposium Berlin 2026

Dec 8, 2026 - Dec 9, 2026

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Power Transmission Engineering magazinePower Transmission Engineering is THE magazine of mechanical components. PTE is written for engineers and maintenance pros who specify, purchase and use gears, gear drives, bearings, motors, couplings, clutches, lubrication, seals and all other types of mechanical power transmission and motion control components.

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