With the Igus core technology "motion plastics - plastics for motion", the company ventures into new areas of industry every year: 3D printing for wear parts with an online calculable service life, intelligent smart plastics, energy chains with 1,000 meters of travel or lubrication-free polymer ball bearings with a tenfold longer service life. And with success, because high-performance plastics for motion remain in high demand worldwide. In 2018, Igus was able to increase its turnover by 8.5 percent to 748 million euros. Of the total turnover, 53 percent was generated in Europe, 31 percent in Asia and 16 percent in America and Africa. The number of employees rose to 4,150.

Entering new areas with a start-up mentality
Igus is growing purely organically and is continuously tapping into new markets such as stage technology and the solar industry. Start-up spirit prevails at the main site in Cologne Porz-Lind. "Thanks to agile working methods and open structures, we are able to implement new ideas quickly in sprint teams," emphasizes Managing Director Frank Blase. "We try things out, make new things, improve until the user gets exactly the product that takes them further."

One result of this dynamic is the 120 new products that Igus is presenting at this year's Hannover Messe. It is evident there that plastic machine elements have long since become high-tech components. The company is taking advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalization and is presenting plain bearings that can be equipped with smart intelligence. With the extended icom.plus communication module, customers can decide how they want to integrate the data they have acquired. From an offline version for restrictive environments to connecting the values to the server for automatic spare parts ordering, users are free to integrate and read out their data.

Robotics platform and 3D printing
High-performance polymers from Igus also expand the possibilities of low-cost automation. Because if you build robots with gears and many other parts made of plastic, enormous cost savings are possible. Robots starting at 3,000 euros are already a reality. Together with 16 other partners from the industry, Igus is presenting the online platform rbtx.com, which brings suppliers and users together on a platform for lean robotics. Customers can fully configure industrial and service robots there.

The area of additive manufacturing also continued to grow last year. The 3D printing capacities were tripled with new SLS printers and a dedicated high-temperature printer for the heat-resistant tribo-filament Iglidur J350 was developed. The manufacturer now offers special online configurators and printed solutions with excellent wear behavior for common machine elements such as gears and rollers. Unique in the world: the service life of these 3D-printed components can be calculated online. as