b'Engineer Innovation | AutomotiveDesign Challenges & OpportunitiesBearings manufacturer meets stringent accuracy requirements while improving productivitySupporting mobility high-end semiconductor, medicalspecialized in high-tech machining. Its Humankind has been trying to improvedevice and machine tool industries. Theglobal customer base extends from the mobility of people and materials bycompany was founded in 1966 as aSilicon Valley to Shenzhen.reducing friction between movingmanufacturer of linear bearings, and parts for centuries. The creators of thehas expanded to include design,Focusing on customer needspyramids and Stonehenge were able tomanufacturing and assembly of custom- The diversity of customer needs move massive structures by placingmade multi-axis positioning stages withpresents a number of challenges for cylindrical wooden rollers beneathcomplete mechatronic integration.the precision bearing manufacturer. great weights to reduce the coefficientLocated in the Netherlands atThese include requests for of friction and the force required toDedemsvaart, the company employscustomization (up to 80% of the move them. These world wonders were140 people and supplies customerssystem design in most cases), short made possible by some of the earliestworldwide. The companys productstime to market, and extreme precision known applications of bearings. range from very small bearings (10(for example, smooth motion of two millimeters in length) up to systemsmicrons per meter). Additionally there Modern bearings with races and ballswith footprints of 1.2 to 1.5 squareare requirements for reduced bearing were first documented in the fifteenthmeters with stroke lengths of onesizes and exotic materials, including century by Leonardo da Vinci for hismeter. The portfolio encompasses linearceramics used in non-magnetic or helicopter model. Since then, themotion components including precisionultra-high vacuum environments.design, mobility and precision ofslides, positioning tables and bearings bearings have developed dramaticallystages. PM-Bearings is part of the PMWhen the customer submits a in many application domains. In thegroup, along with other companiesspecification, often the deadline is semiconductor and medical device industries, miniaturization and increasing product complexity have revolutionized motion systems and their components. The precision and accuracy of motion systems are highly dependent on bearings assemblies and how they are integrated into systems. Precisie Metal Bearings (PM-Bearings) is one of only a few manufacturers in the world that provide high-precision linear bearings. A leader in precision bearingsPM-Bearings specializes in the design and manufacture of high-precision linear bearings, motion systems and positioning stages, and supplies the 48'