Almost a year after its market launch, the AG 9, the actuating drive flagship from Erhardt+Leimer, the German-based manufacturer, is enjoying major sales in China: the majority of established slitter rewinder manufacturers there are now using the AG 9 in their machines.
“We are clearly seeing a turning point,” the E+L Sales Division Manager, Dirk Schröder, explains: “On the one hand, we have taken the place of the competition while, on the other hand, we have also replaced the still existing brush-based technology with the new brushless and Ethernet-ready drives.”
The benefits for the customer are clear to Schröder: the AG 9 offers not only higher performance reserves than the conventional competing systems with carbon brushes but, thanks to the integrated absolute encoder, it no longer requires a calibration run to determine the position. The device supports freely adjustable actuating forces and strokes plus the Ethernet bus technology (WBM ready) for configuration via the web browser and communication with the machine control system.
The AG 9 is therefore fit for the future with the ability to master the demanding tasks of the Industry 4.0 standard, which will soon be required.
The AG 9, available at a competitive price, can cost up to 30% less than the same performance package would with conventional technology.
With these benefits in mind, it is no wonder that so many OEMs in China are leaning towards the AG 9. Schröder is happy to see that the same trend is now apparent in Germany and the US. “Due to this development, we have once more been able to cement our position as technological leader in the actuating drive segment.”