Spindle
Accessories
Importance of spindles in machine tool industry
Machine tool spindles are engineered and manufactured for machine tools used in CNC machines, machining centers in addition to grinding, turning, tapping, boring and drilling applications. The regular trends in the machine tool industry are traced by increasing globalization, standardization of systems and components , and greater international collaboration. The continuous need and drive to improve machine tool productivity is viewed in higher speeds, improved power densities, more flexibility and more multi-tasking of operations. A key factor to achieve this is the continual innovation and improvement of spindles. Spindles are essential for any machine tool industry because they are the ones which largely determine the quality of the final product produced and the overall productivity, performance, and efficiency of the machine tool itself.
There are many parameters indicating a machine tool's functioning. One important parameter which shows the advances over the last 200 years is the increase in spindle speed. During the 19th century, spindle speeds of 100 to 750 revolutions per minute were very common. Today, spindles can rotate at much higher speeds. Spindles are important in the machine tool industry for many reasons:
- Powerful spindles boost machine
- Tool performance
- New, fast, flexible spindles could raise productivity and spindle
market share of any country.
- In the US, it has been reported that one perfect spindle design could
save the auto industry more than 100,000 hours in annual machining time
for a single part.
- Benefits of spindles could extend to appliance, aircraft, electronics, oil, and other sectors as well.
Major factors affecting the growth of spindle market worldwide
- Not enough large firms and little cooperation among small companies
in most countries.
- Difficulty obtaining capital.
- Lack of supply of skills and disincentives to invest in training.
- Poor performance in converting technological research into market
advantage.
- Unsophisticated domestic demand.
- Weak export capacity and infrastructure.
Government Policies Required for the growth of the spindle market
- Provision of development of local cooperative networks among
machine-tool makers, suppliers, users to improve the adoption of new
technology.
- Providing more investment in the manufacturing infrastructure.
- Help machine-tool makers compete internationally.
- Streamlining export licensing procedures, giving support to international sales efforts.
Machine tool spindle matket includes
- Machine Tool Manufacturers
- Metal-Cutting & Metal-Forming
- CNC & Conventional Machine Tools
- Powertrain Machinery Manufacturers and End Users
- Special Machine Tool Builders & Integrators
- Industrial End Users etc.
Global spindle market
The global machine tool spindle market is estimated to be over $1 billion, according to a recent report. However, more than half of this corresponds to spindle maintenance and refurbishment. As there is high demand of higher speeds, improved power density and more multi-tasking in the machine tool industry, there are obviously greater needs for innovative spindle solutions. The largest market for machine tool spindles worldwide are US and Germany. Taiwan and China play a significant role in the manufacturing and exporting of spindles. In recent years, however China has not only overtaken the US and Germany to become the largest machine tool/spindle market in the world but also China's skilled labor force and low cost base makes it a solid base for sourcing or manufacturing.
