The energy chains of the plastics specialist, igus®, based at Cologne, are used in the entire production sector, as also in all machinery, from the power supply for indoor and gantry cranes up to the bundling of innumerable energy and control cables in the produced facilities. Due to the numerous application areas of these energy chains, a close trustworthy partnership has developed between Deckel Maho and igus® in the course of time. For the preparation of various milling cutters, drillers and other tools, mountings in chain form are used increasingly frequently in the DMG machines. Compared to strip or disk magazines, chains are indeed essentially more expensive to produce, but offer a capacity unattainable by other designs with up to 90 tool stations in relatively small space. The bearings are pressed in in the chain links for a low-noise run and trouble-free operation in the machine tools These were for a long time Teflon-coated metal bearings.

Due to the positive experiences with the bearings in the tool chains, Deckel Maho has in the meantime switched over to plastic bearings of the Cologne plastics specialist for other applications - and this applies not only to Seebach. Whether in the application in sliding doors of machine-tool enclosures or other moving parts: The trust in the igus® plastic bearings grows and steadily elicits new application potentials. New researches and trials with new materials for bearings are at present conducted in close cooperation between Deckel Maho and igus®. From the findings, the persons in charge promise path-breaking results that could be of great interest for completely different industrial sectors. However, the utmost observance of secrecy has been agreed upon so far regarding the objective and purpose of this joint project.