Power Transmission Engineering is collaborating with the Bearing Specialists Association (BSA) on a special section within the magazine. Bearing Briefs will present updated reports on bearing topics for each issue in 2016. Complimentary access to all BSA Bearing and Industry Briefs is available on the BSA website at www.bsahome.org/tools. Additionally, our new Field Notes section on page 34 will feature field reports from BSA’s Certified Bearing Specialists.

News from around the industry

Third-quarter earnings are confirming the worst-case scenario, i.e. — not only are energy related end markets in a downturn, but conditions continue to worsen.

Energy costs and downtime can be greatly reduced by instituting a motor management plan. Part II of this three-part series specifically addresses the establishment of a motor failure policy and the development of purchasing specifications. Part I addressed the general aspects of a motor management plan, including the first steps of creating a motor inventory and guidelines for motor repair and replacement. Part III will examine motor repair specifications as well as preventive and predictive maintenance.

The revolution goes by many names: machine-to-machine communication, smart manufacturing and the Industrial Internet, to name a few. In Europe, the prevailing term is Industry 4.0. In Germany, where that phrase was coined, the government is putting down €200 million to cultivate a lead in the industry. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that its potential economic impact will be almost $4 trillion (or more) by 2025. Enthusiastic evangelists will tell you that the Industrial Internet is the most important advance in their industries that they’ve seen in their decades-long careers.

Reducing losses and increasing profits by instituting a motor management plan is what this series of articles is all about. Here in Part I, we discuss how to create a motor inventory and establish repair-or-replace motor guidelines. Subsequent topics in this three-part series will address (Part II) motor failure policies and purchasing specifications, and (Part III) repair specifications and preventive and predictive maintenance, respectively.

I recently finished a decent-sized project where I had to define several ball bearing fits for a prototype — all with different fitting arrangement...

News From Around the Gear Industry

Gear, Gear Drive and Power Transmission Component Suppliers at Gear Expo 2015

You may well have already read the following Gear Expo description on the AGMA Website.