Large bakery: service life of linear guides increased tenfold

If linear guides in the food and packaging industry do not achieve the expected service life, the use of linear systems with integrated lubrication units can make sense. They continuously release the lubricant over a long period of time. A large bakery saves more than 200,000 euros in maintenance and downtime costs per year by switching to such linear systems in their bread slicing systems.

In a large bakery there were regular failures – on average every three weeks – in the linear guides of the process-integrated bread slicing systems. The existing linear guides were coated with Armoloy, and a food-grade lubricating grease was used. But they could not meet the required requirements.

The bakery was looking for a linear guide that, in addition to a longer service life, also has higher permissible speeds because an increase in productivity from 250 to over 300 cycles per minute was planned.

As part of the AIP program (Added Value Program), NSK experts examined the on-site environmental conditions and the failed units. They then recommended the use of linear guides from the NH / NS series made of stainless steel in combination with a food-grade K1 long-term lubrication unit, which also achieves the required speed.

In the first step, a test run with a set of NSK linear guides was agreed, which was successful. The large bakery then converted all bread slicing systems to stainless steel linear guides from the NH / NS series with K1 lubrication units.

The NH / NS series was developed for precise linear movements even at high speeds. The stainless steel version in particular is suitable for use in food technology. The K1 units enable a clean solution in the truest sense of the word, because they gradually release the lubricant incorporated in a carrier medium. That means: The lubricant supply is guaranteed over a long period of time. The careful sealing prevents impurities from getting onto the running surface. At the same time, less lubricant is released into the environment than with conventional lubrication. In addition, the linear guides equipped with the K1 units, especially in stainless steel, have a long service life, even with frequent and thorough cleaning processes.

The large bakery can only confirm that. Since the switch to NSK linear units, your maintenance personnel have to plan a maintenance call after 32 weeks at the earliest instead of replacing the linear guides after three weeks. This corresponds to a service life extension of more than ten times. The amortization calculation shows (despite the roughly doubled costs for the linear units) an annual saving of around 206,000 euros due to lower spare parts, maintenance and downtime costs.

NSK has recently expanded the series of lubrication units to include the K1-L, which guarantees an even longer service life for the linear units under adverse environmental conditions. Compared to the K1 unit, it contains a larger supply of lubricant. This is made possible by a new carrier material based on polyolefins, which allows the storage of a much larger oil supply. This extends the maintenance intervals and increases the availability and productivity of the machine or system in which the linear system is used. In the first step, the K1-L is available for the NSK standard range of linear guides, ie for the NH and NS series. Versions for other series are in preparation.