This month, we are highlighting team member Nik Jerinic, who is a mechanical sales engineer based out of our Lake Zurich, Illinois, facility. He collaborates closely with CCTY customers to design and engineer custom bearings precisely tailored to meet the unique demands of robotic applications.
What unique challenges do you encounter when engineering bearings tailored to the precise specifications of robotic applications, and how do you overcome them?
We collaborate closely with engineers from both CCTY and our customer to optimize key characteristics such as load capacity, stiffness, rigidity and lifecycle, while adhering to tight deadlines. By clearly communicating the rationale behind CCTY’s proposed design changes, we ensure alignment with the customer’s engineers, fostering mutual understanding and facilitating the successful implementation of improvements.
How does working closely with customers during the design process help ensure that the bearings meet both performance and durability requirements in robotics?
Last-minute design changes are often critical to the final performance of these bearings. Such adjustments are only feasible through close collaboration with the engineering and design teams of robotics companies. These changes are driven by specific application requirements, which can only be addressed by working closely with the customer throughout the process.
What innovative trends or advancements in robotics have influenced your approach to designing custom bearings, and how is CCTY adapting to these changes?
CCTY has always been a design-to-application manufacturer, providing a strong foundation for innovation. Our engineers aren’t afraid to tackle uncharted challenges to address customer needs, including unique designs like custom mounting features, custom drilled holes and spacing, and rapid prototyping. This capability—backed by skilled design, manufacturing and quality control teams—enables our engineering team to adapt quickly and efficiently to emerging robotic trends without compromising quality or extending lead times.
Can you share a recent project where you developed a custom bearing solution for a robotic application, and how it contributed to the customer’s success?
Through rapid prototyping and collaboration with engineers across various robotic sectors, CCTY has developed five custom bearing designs. This required substantial engineering and manufacturing effort from both CCTY and the customer. Despite their complexity, CCTY effectively communicated with the customer, understood their needs, provided valuable design and manufacturing insights, and delivered all prototypes within a two-month timeframe.
To learn more, visit: www.cctygroup.com/robotic-bearings
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