Breakthrough in the gearbox world

The tremendous development advances in process automation during the last thirty years were mainly focussed on control systems. The technical sections of specialist magazines feature expert views on new developments in communication technology for device integration or new trends like asset management. On field level, drive motors are required to take over mechanical tasks. This includes actuators and valve gearboxes (Figure 1). Manufacturers’ success for these devices strongly depends on the interpretation of DCS developments and implementation in own R&D departments. However, to master this field, electronic engineers did not take over from the mechanical specialist. The mechanical engineers had to acquire in-depth knowledge. New and improved manufacturing processes and materials are continually considered for product management. When taking a closer look like in the following article this evolutionary process can already be detected for gearbox ranges long established on the market.