BEARING IT ALL!
Unlike passenger vehicles, when it comes to construction equipment applications bearings should be compatible with loads and harsh working conditions. Construction and mining are mostly encountered with dust, mud, and huge loads. Bearings for construction and mining applications must be rugged enough to bear these extreme conditions. For such conditions, the various ranges of bearings like cylindrical roller bearings, spherical roller bearings, tapered roller bearings, plain bearings and slew ring bearings are used as per the application within the equipment. Such bearings will provide longer life and higher efficiency to the equipment and machinery.  

With customers now looking for more than just a bearing supplier, most of the bearing manufacturers are looking forward to improving the product features to live up to the expectation from customers. In any industry segment, be it is automobile, power, or industrial machinery, the concept of lightweighting is fast gaining momentum as it leads to fuel saving, resulting in overall economy. Customers would need more reliable systems as they are not only looking at bearings, but also sub-assembly systems such as housings, lubricants, and additional components like seals. Different equipment will require different application requirements. Considering this, bearings manufacturers are also focusing on customising their products. The Special Focus section elaborates more on the bearings for CE applications.

Automation plays a major role in the productivity and efficiency of a system or process. Painting is a major part of construction equipment manufacturing process. One of the significant areas to maximise availability in construction equipment manufacturing plant is the paint shop. Paint provides aesthetic value and boosts physical properties of equipment. It offers durability, resistance against corrosion, adds mechanical protection, and guards against weather conditions, since equipment are typically deployed in all terrains and conditions. Edge Controller from B&R helps to monitor paint shops, increase efficiency and provides transparency. The Technology elaborates on the automation solution in paint shop. Another Technology highlighted is that Siemens and IBM announced the availability of a new solution designed to optimise the Service Lifecycle Management of assets. The new solution establishes an end-to-end digital thread between equipment manufacturers and the owner/operators of that equipment.