Letter from the President, June 2024

June 6, 2024

To our valued NES customers and associates,

I like the term “Stronger By Design.”

It emphasizes the engineering value that we put into designing a bearing solution that capitalizes on certain critical characteristics to achieve success. As an elite athlete competing in the grueling 3000-meter steeplechase, Angelina Napoleon uses her physical ‘design’ and focused development of strength, endurance and efficiency to be successful. Her physical characteristics and training are designed for this particular event. Split-ring angular contact ball bearings also have characteristics, by design, that provide enhanced capabilities for certain applications.  Unfortunately, historical production volumes have been insufficient to allow OEM design engineers to incorporate them into their finished piece of equipment. It’s our goal at NES to educate how different bearing types and their specialized designs can be great solutions in certain applications. Our recent investment to increase manufacturing plant capacity and capability is enabling us to service an expanded market for the production of split-ring angular contact ball bearings. 

BEARING CAGES are unsung heroes.

Even as bearing engineers, we can fall into the trap of merely designing the internal geometry to maximize stress distribution and bearing life, but the cage isn’t there to just go along for the ride. It has an important job, and its workload and design are a function of several factors, including lubrication type, operating speed and bearing kinematics.  We touch on that in this month’s technical one-sheet: Bearing Cage Design and Materials.

Please remember that NES is also the largest independent bearing inspection and testing facility in North America. We have recently increased our engineering resources to meet the needs of OEM and bearing manufacturers who require technical information about bearings and bearing technology to make informed decisions.

I’d also like to remind you that bearing modification is a viable solution related to challenging bearing applications or hard-to-find bearings. You’ll hear more about this in the coming weeks.

Let’s roll.

Best Regards,

Chris Napoleon

President and Chief Engineer

Napoleon Engineering Services