Innovation at thyssenkrupp rothe erde

Product and process development

Highly specialized products

As slewing bearings are machine components that are tailored to individual customer requirements, they are often manufactured in small quantities. For wind turbines, cranes and tunnel boring machines all over the world, we design slewing bearings that have enormous dimensions and can withstand the toughest operating conditions. You can see a selection of these applications in our flagship projects.

In order to develop the best possible products for our customers, we rely on both: extensive fundamental knowledge and practical experience under real operating conditions since 60 years. In order to keep our knowledge up to date and to expand it, we make use of our long-term and close cooperation with regional and national research partners. We regularly supplement this with challenging student work.

The operation of slewing bearings and their components are tested on a one-to-one scale. While our test stands initially occupied small areas in the production halls, this area grew to 1,200 square meters in the early seventies. In spring 2015, our newly established development center, financed from our own funds, commenced research operations. With 3,200 square meters of indoor and 7,500 square meters of outdoor space, it is the largest and most modern of its kind in the world.

Our test center not only has the task of further developing slewing bearings and their components. Rather, it ensures a high level of quality through continuous and recurring testing of slewing bearings and components from production on a 1:1 scale.