Customised gearboxes can be configured in minutes
23 July 2024 
The German gearbox manufacturer Flender has added new power classes, sizes and designs to its range of industrial gearboxes, allowing users to tailor them for more than 100 applications, including conveyors and hoists. Customers only buy what they need, eliminating unnecessary components and maximising efficiency.
Flender has digitised its engineering process, allowing the Flender One boxes to be configured “in minutes” using just three parameters. The company is claiming savings in project planning times of up to 25% through a combination of instantly accessible 3D data and short delivery times, resulting from its automated manufacturing processes.
The gearboxes are equipped with Metaperform gearing, which is said to reduce power dissipation by up to 20% compared to previous models, and to deliver 30% higher thermal capacities. Also, bearing lifetimes are said to be 80% longer, resulting in faster paybacks than ever before.
Each box comes with comes with an AIQ Core sensor which provides digital monitoring and onboard analytical functions, cutting unplanned downtime by up to 70%. Data- and needs-based maintenance intervals can cut servicing costs by up to 40%, and downtime by up to 50%, Flender claims. An optional torque measurement function allows processes and operating points to be optimised.
The gearboxes offer a wide range of add-ons and customisable output shafts.
Flender CEO Andreas Evertz says that Flender One “represents a significant shift in how we think about gearboxes. It is not just a mechanical iteration of its predecessor FSG, but an entirely new solution from the first customer inquiry to operation in the plant.”
His colleague, Rouven Daniel, president of Flender’s industrial gears business, adds that, with the help of the collected data and AI models, gearboxes can be sized to be only as large as needed for an application. “Most industrial gearboxes from all manufacturers in the field – including Flender – are oversized by up to 50%,” he points out. “With Flender One and AIQ, we have the right tools to continuously eliminate this oversizing, together with our customers. As a result, we will realise massive savings in raw materials, energy consumption, delivery times and installation space. Any waste is eliminated in terms of the environment and costs.
“Flender One stands for being more individual, efficient and smarter,” Daniel continues. “With an easy-to-understand configuration process, automated manufacturing, and comprehensive 3D data and documentation in the cloud, it saves our customers valuable time. In operation, Flender One excels with improved power dissipation and AIQ optimisation, making it the most efficient Flender gearbox solution we have ever introduced.”
Future expansions of the Flender One platform will allow gearboxes to be tailored to other applications. Users will benefit from series production combined with customised specifications, as well as fast delivery times and low costs, the company claims.
Flender: LinkedIn
