Last year, Igus was able to increase its turnover by two percent to 764 million euros despite a difficult economic environment. The current corona crisis has further exacerbated the general conditions. The Cologne-based company is also feeling the effects. In the first four months of the year, turnover fell by eleven percent compared to the same period last year. Incoming orders are almost stable and are currently only down two percent.

"We are currently receiving a lot of inquiries and arranging numerous virtual visits," explains Frank Blase, Managing Director of Igus. "Customer interest in solutions that improve technology and reduce costs is growing noticeably." One example of how this can be achieved is the modern production of a manufacturer of packaging machines. Here, two pieces of toast need to be cut, packaged and sealed every second. Until now, one weak point was the moving cable for the extremely fast loading of the machine. In search of a solution, even before the current coronavirus situation, the company found the Chainflex service life calculator for dynamic cables on the Internet - and thus the right product for its highly dynamic application. With the addition of intelligent Smart Plastics monitoring of this cable, it achieved its goal: the availability of the system in 24/7 continuous operation, predictable cable replacement every 18 months and thus high cost savings.

Donation campaign: Headbands for face shields
Maintaining the fast and reliable supply of tribopolymer products in the current situation is an important goal for Igus. "Igus is currently delivering without any restrictions," says Managing Director Frank Blase. "On average, small and medium-sized orders are on their way to the customer after 2.5 days." Internationally, local supply is guaranteed thanks to 14 production sites. More than 100 measures have been implemented at the main site alone, from five new canteens to a hardship allowance for production employees, in order to reliably maintain the ability to deliver. The company also produces headbands for face shields using injection molding from recycled Iglidur A200. This enables low-cost mass production.

The first 100,000 headbands are available free of charge, after which they will be sold at cost price. A special production run of 140,000 complete face shields is also currently underway. Igus is thus supplying all of Cologne's schoolchildren - a fundraising campaign for the home city.

Innovations and initiatives
As neither trade fairs nor personal visits to customers are currently possible, Igus is relying entirely on the advantages of digitalization: the focal point is the trade fair stand that the company has set up. More than 100 plastic innovations will be presented there on 400 square meters. One example of how customers can save costs and improve their technology is the Autoglide 5 energy chain with cable floor guide, which can save 88% of assembly time in intralogistics and crane systems, with total costs including cables starting at EUR 49 per meter. Another new feature is the drylin polymer telescopic rail, which can be used to easily adjust and extend drawers, seat and head adjustments, among other things. It is also 64 percent lighter than metal runners.

Tests in the company's own 3,800 square meter test laboratory are central to product development. This enables Igus to offer a unique 36-month guarantee on the standard e-chain range and chainflex cables. The brand promise "igus 36-month chainflex cable guarantee and service life calculator based on 2 billion test cycles per year" has now been successfully certified by the UL test organization. Igus is increasingly focusing on integrating its motion plastics into a circular economy with initiatives such as "chainge Recycling", "plastics2oil" and ISO 14001 certification. In the "chainge Recycling" program, the manufacturer takes back discarded plastic energy chains (e-chains) independently of the manufacturer, recycles them and pays a price per kilo in the form of a voucher. The 4.7 million euro investment in Mura Technology goes one step further. The company wants to build plants in which plastic waste is converted into oil in an energy-efficient way. The ISO 14001:25 environmental certificate was awarded to Igus Germany in mid-April and to Igus Korea in May. Energy saving targets of at least ten percent are the next step.

Cutting costs, improving technology - also at Igus
Even though Igus is aware that planning is difficult at the moment, the company is still committed to long-term investments, as Frank Blase emphasizes: "The loss of sales and costs in coping with the crisis are severe. A general turnaround for the better is difficult to predict at the moment. However, we have saved a high level of equity for such exceptional times. And we are tackling all costs." Short-time working has been announced in some countries, but not in Germany. "We want to minimize the impact on our employees as much as possible. And we must continue to make crucial investments for the future."

These include, for example, the current tunnel construction and the development of the new site for an additional new building at the Cologne location. The high level of investment in digitalization is also continuing. The company launched eight additional service life simulators and online tools in 2019 alone, for example for gears, rollers and shafts, as well as the RBTX platform for low-cost robotics. There are now 38 online tools that can be registered and used free of charge. Frank Blase emphasizes: "Both example projects, new construction and digitalization, have a common focus: customers should be able to access their Motion Plastics solutions quickly, easily and reliably." as