Flender CEO Andreas Evertz said “we are reinventing the standard” when the company introduced the Flender One single stage version to the market last year. Now, this reinvention has entered its next chapter with Flender announcing the global launch of the next extension of Flender One gearboxes. After the models for pumps and paper applications, Flender One expands its reach, offering versatile solutions for over one hundred different applications.
The new gear units are designed to meet a wide range of application needs, many of which are relevant to mining including bucket elevators, belt conveyors, and hoisting applications. With a broad spectrum of power classes, sizes, and designs, these gear units it says ensure optimal coverage of various industrial requirements.
Flender states: “Flender One stands out with its tailored solutions. Customers only purchase what they need, eliminating unnecessary components and maximising efficiency. This customisation reduces operating expenses and enhances performance, providing a perfect fit for each specific application. Additionally, the gearboxes offer a wide range of add-on parts and customisable output shafts.”
It says the Flender One design saves both time and money in planning and plant operations. “The new configuration process can be completed in minutes with just three parameters. Combined with instantly accessible 3-D data, prompt quotations, and shorter delivery times due to automated manufacturing processes, project timelines are accelerated from the planning phase.” Flender added that plant operators can achieve up to 25% time savings in planning through simplified processes.
In operation, the Flender One platform reduces operating expenses. All gearboxes are equipped with performance-optimised Metaperform® gearing, reducing power dissipation by up to 20% compared to previous models and a 30% higher thermal capacity. Also, the bearing lifetime increases by 80%. “This results in faster cost amortisation for industrial gearboxes from Flender than ever before.”
Flender One offers built-in gear unit intelligence straight from the factory. Each unit comes with an integrated AIQ Core sensor, providing digital monitoring and intelligent onboard analytical functions. This allows for increased plant availability and process optimisation, reducing unplanned downtime by up to 70%. Data- and need-based maintenance intervals can decrease service costs by up to 40% and service-related downtime by up to 50%. The optional torque measurement function allows for process and operating point optimisation. The AIQ Core torque can be easily selected via the configurator.
Rouven Daniel, President Industrial Gear Units at Flender, also once again stresses the fact that with the help of collected data and AI models, Flender is now able to size the gearboxes only as large as needed for the respective application. “Most industrial gearboxes from all manufacturers in the field, including Flender, are oversized by up to 50%. 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.”
In the future, further expansions of the Flender One platform will make it possible to configure gearboxes tailored to the respective application and the associated requirements. Despite maximum individuality, customers will benefit from the advantages of series production – process efficiency in production and thus fast delivery times and low costs. “This is made possible by a real milestone in transmission manufacturing: the complete digitisation of the engineering process. It triggers the design exactly according to customer requirements and translates it into a fully automated manufacturing and delivery process.”
Evertz comments: “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.”
Daniel adds: “Flender One stands for being more individual, efficient, and smarter. With an easy-to-understand configuration process, automated manufacturing, and comprehensive 3-D 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.”
Flender One succeeds the renowned standard industrial gearbox range, FSG, with over 500,000 units in the field. As the most successful standard industrial gearbox range to date, FSG sets a high bar, but Flender says Flender One is ready to surpass it with its innovative features and superior performance.
