Successful Market Launch Thanks to Tailored Sealing Solution

Source: Freudenberg Sealing Technologies

The Challenge

The project got off to a promising start: Freudenberg Sealing Technologies was involved in the development at an early stage, and together the two companies developed a technically sophisticated, high-performance Simmerring®. The challenge lay in combining a delicate design with demanding operating parameters. Once the design phase was complete, tool and sample production were initiated with the goal of showcasing the new model at the major international trade fair Texcare in Frankfurt, Germany.

However, delays in tool procurement jeopardized the product launch. Despite understanding the situation, the customer insisted on meeting the trade fair deadline – a fast alternative was needed.

The Solution

The answer: Freudenberg Xpress® the service for CNC-machined seals in small to medium quantities. A concept for manufacturing the urgently needed ten sample parts was quickly developed. The challenge: the seal’s delicate geometry had to be manufactured from a very soft HNBR with a hardness of 73 Shore A – challenging conditions for CNC manufacturing. Additionally, a suitable semi-finished product had to be procured – within a strict two-week delivery window.

Thanks to expanded production capabilities acquired through a recent company acquisition, Freudenberg was able to produce the required material in-house. Meanwhile, the seal geometry was slightly adjusted to enable precise CNC machining.