THE MECHANICS OF VARVEL GEARBOXES: INSIGHTS ON TYPES, MAINTENANCE, AND INNOVATION

In this episode of Wiki Bearings, join host Hassanein Alwan as he dives into the mechanics and applications of industrial gearboxes with Cristian Fiorani, Export Sales Manager at Varvel Gearboxes. Cristian provides a comprehensive overview of the different types of gearboxes, from worm to helical, and explains how each is tailored for specific industrial needs. With maintenance tips, insights into Italy’s engineering craftsmanship, and a look at the future of gearbox technology, this conversation is essential listening for professionals in the power transmission and engineering sectors. 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to Wiki bearings, where we dive into the worlds of engineering excellence, from the automotive marvels to the industrial giants. Join us to explore the wonders that keeps the world in motion. My name is Hassanein Alwan, and I'm your host.

So welcome to another episode of Wiki bearings. In today's episode, we're going to discuss Gearboxes. Of course, we are talking about industrial gearboxes because we have a very special guest with us. Cristian Fiorani is the sales manager or export sales manager for Varvel Gearboxes. And he came all the way from Italy to talk with us about gearboxes.

Cristian, we are very happy to see you. We are glad that you accepted our invitation. to join the podcast. [00:01:00] Thank you so much for, uh, for your invitation. And let me say one more things. Thank you so much also for establishing our business cooperation. We are, we are pleasure to have you here. Uh, our, our cooperation.

is new, but we are very optimistic that we will do something good in the coming years. Now, a lot of our audience are engineers, people from the industrial segment, the automotive segment, and all the segments around power transmission engineering and And, uh, let us, let us start with what is a gearbox. So, um, gearbox in the simple words, uh, is a mechanical components, which, uh, is, uh, is able to transfer the power comes from, uh, [00:02:00] electric motors to the, to the application side, let me say.

So it's, uh, usually located between, uh, the motors and application and, uh, Thanks to the different ratio, he can move some part of the application. Uh, mainly consists, uh, in, um, few important components, housing, uh, let me say gears inside, of course, bearings, uh, uh, oil seals, uh, shafts. So this is in the simple word, uh, a gearbox.

Now, let's still in the wider, so why are we, why do we use a gearbox? Uh, why you need the gearbox is needed to move any part of, uh, [00:03:00] the industrial, uh, Machines. So this is the main needs of, uh, of the gearbox. So when you need to move, uh, any, any, any part of the, the machines is moved by electric motor assembled with the gearbox together in, uh, in, uh, in the application machines.

To get the, the right motion on the right speed of of the out? Yes. Based it on the, based it on the, on the machine requirement or on the application requirement? Yes. Okay. So if we look at, at gearboxes, um, what are the typical industry for gearbox? So the, we are involved mainly in the industrial sectors, many sectors.

Uh, ceramics, uh, pharmaceutical, the style of food and beverage packaging. Uh, so, but mainly you can find, [00:04:00] uh, in all of these kinds of sectors, uh, uh, or company or plants, uh, in, uh, you can find the gearbox mainly in the conveyor system when they need to move, uh, the, the, the, the, the products from the lines, from the automatic lines.

We are talking about belt conveyors, chain conveyors, yeah. Or in other kind of machine, like packaging machine, wrapping machines, uh, waste machines. So this kind of application, but also many, many, many others, many others. So, but mainly in industrial application, of course. Now when we look at the gearbox, I mean, uh, lots of people will have in mind, uh, they think about the car and, uh, the, the automotive gearbox.

So, so this is also a gearbox, right? And, uh, so like common word? Yeah, common word, but different, uh, yeah. Usage. So, so, so tell us what is the difference? [00:05:00] But it's very simple. I mean, as I told you before, the Gearbox is involved in industrial application. The name, uh, should be the same, but the, the, the, the application is, uh, is different anyway.

So the, the, the Gearbox for industrial application, uh, is, uh. Uh, use it to move the power and the torque from the electric motor to the application. When we are talking about the gearbox involved for, uh, automotive, it means that the, the, the gearbox is suitable to, to transfer the, the power and the, from the vehicle, from the, from the engine engine.

to the wheels. So, and also the design, of course, the external design is different. So for sure, I think it comes off as a gearbox purposes is similar. You're moving the, from the engine [00:06:00] to, to the outputs and then a machine basically, yes, basically, yes. And in a machine you're doing maybe from electrical motor to conveyor belt in a car, it's maybe from the engine to the tires, to the tires, to the ways.

Yes, correct. Correct. So, um, so again, in this episode, we're going to focus more on the industrial gearbox. Yes. So I know that when it comes to gearboxes, we think, uh, industrial gearboxes and we think they, they all do the same thing, but I think there are many different types of gearboxes. So can you tell us what is the most common types of gearboxes?

So, um, there are, you are right. I mean, there are many type of, uh, gearboxes. And the many type of, uh, gears inside in the gearbox. Uh, so let me say, um, the common one, uh, which is [00:07:00] covering in, uh, based on my experience, 60 percent of the market in the global world, um, is the warm type. So warm type of the gearbox, uh, is the common one.

Uh, but there is in the market also other kind of gearbox like helical gearbox with different housing and different design, bevelical gearbox, uh, and, uh, planetary gearbox. So these are the main types of the gearbox, uh, uh, sold, produced and sold, uh, in the global, uh, worldwide market and business. Now if we look at these four types of gearboxes, can you give us a little bit an idea about these?

Each gearbox, what does it do and what is it for? Maybe the advantages or disadvantages. Let's start with a warm gearbox. So the, uh, the warm, uh, uh, gearbox, uh, is the common one [00:08:00] because, uh, is, uh, um, simple, simple. Uh, it means, uh, uh, produced in a few components and, uh, sweet table. For, uh, any, uh, mounting position, since the housing, uh, is very, uh, modular.

Yes, more, uh, more compact, uh, mainly used for the light and medium, uh, duty cycles. So, this is the main, uh, reason why. Uh, most of the machines, uh, uh, they choose for the warm, uh, for the warm type, uh, efficiency and also lifetime, uh, is, uh, another benefit of this kind of, uh, gearbox when we are talking about [00:09:00] others.

Uh, so, uh, we are talking about a different kind of, uh, uh, technology inside, because we are talking about a helical instead of warmer. Uh, Uh, which is warm, is made only by two, uh, uh, main components, warmshaft and whirlwheel. When we are talking about helical and bevelical, we are talking about helical gears, uh, together with the bevelical gears.

So, uh, able to reach a very high ratio, uh, two. Which means a very low speed, uh, concerning the application, uh, compared to the warm gearbox, this price is a little bit expensive in the market. So that's why also is another, uh, uh, things to keep in the mind when they are choosing for, uh, for the helical and bevelical gearbox, uh, of course they are suitable for, um, medium and heavy duty cycle for the application.

I've [00:10:00] got a different gearbox, I've advantages and disadvantages. And I think it's all depending on the application and the machinery. If we need high ratios or sometimes we don't have a choice. But of course, if as long as we can work with a warm gearbox, it's the most simplest, the easiest and the most compact.

And it's, as you said, it's modular, so we can have a different way of setting it up. Yeah. Um, let me say, uh, eh, uh, the, the, the gearbox at the moment, they are not maintenance free. I mean, they, they need maintenance, but, uh, so, um, of course, uh, uh. If we are talking about warm or helical or bevelical, so, um, they need, uh, they need to be periodical maintenance operation.

So in order to, to keep the life, the [00:11:00] lifetime longer as much as, as possible, let me say that concerning the warmer type, uh, they have with a very, uh, few maintenance operation, a long lifetime in term of longevity. So any deficiency. Now, um, let's say if we're going to select a gearbox, if we have an application, we are trying to select a gearbox.

How do we select the right gearbox? So, uh, we need to, To check many different criteria before to, to, to make the proper selection, because this is, is one of the main challenge, uh, in order to avoid, uh, any, any mistake on the market or, uh, now in front of the customers, uh, when they are asking to select, uh, uh, the, the gearbox for them.

Uh, so let me say, first of all, the duty cycle [00:12:00] is very. important to consider when we have to choose the or to make the right selection for the for for the gearbox. Of course, the type of the application, Uh, we need to know, uh, the input power comes from 99 percent from the Electrical motors. Service factor.

The service factor is quite important, uh, because, uh, when you have the right selection, of course, uh, uh, you can suggest also the, the lifetime for the gearbox, uh, with a proper, uh, service factor, uh, and the deficiency. Last but not least, let me say also the environment. Because it's another important, uh, criteria to be considered when we [00:13:00] have to select, uh, the, the gearbox, because, uh, if you, if you are, uh, so with, uh, or the gearbox is installed, is installed, uh, together with the machine, uh, in, uh, hot environment, uh, or in cold, uh, so we, uh, We can have different performance.

And we need to be consider, uh, some, uh, environment factors, environment factors when selected the gearbox. Now you are, you are saying something about, uh, the maintenance of a gearbox. Uh, of course, if we think about, about a gearbox, the gearbox, um, a lot of. People have in mind, I just install a gearbox and the gearbox would work.

And I do need to look at this again, which I think, uh, is not, not very accurate. Right. Uh, I think some many types of good types of warm gearboxes are less maintenance requirements. Sure. Yeah. [00:14:00] But they are not maintenance free at the end of the day, some kind of maintenance that happened. So if you give us some example of what, what do we have to have in mind when it's come to the maintenance.

worm, helical, and the, and, and other types. And, uh, what is the best way to maintain these gearboxes? So let me say, um, yes, you are right. Uh, uh, so far the gearbox, uh, uh, not maintenance free. So, uh, we, um, We are required and we suggest, uh, to keep a high level of efficiency of the gearbox and also the lifetime, uh, as agree in the beginning when we are selected to gearbox, uh, some maintaining, uh, operation.

Uh, let me say a couple of things about the maintaining. So first of all, uh, the people thinking that, uh, anyone can carry out the maintenance operation of the yearbook. This is not, [00:15:00] let me say, totally correct. I mean, uh, we always suggest for sure to use our, uh, manual and use a maintenance manual, uh, together with the specialized people in order to, to guarantee the right, correct operation when they are making the maintenance.

Uh, jobs, activities, uh, the second point that I would like to highlight is, uh, most of the company thinking that the maintenance operation is, uh, is a cost is a cost because, uh, they need to stop the production. And, uh, so, uh, it's a lack, uh, lack of profit, no, because, uh, they interrupted the production because when you have the maintenance operation, you have to switch off the [00:16:00] machines, the lines, and this means, uh, uh, lose the production, no?

Uh, but, uh, in my opinion, also in this case, what we would like to suggest is, uh, if you are scheduling, uh, the maintenance period. operation, you can increase the production and also you can increase the lifetime of the gear. So I think of course it's, it's a lot of, uh, I mean, we, we had previously a guest and we were discussing about, uh, he's a maintenance engineer and always there is this challenge between carrying out the maintenance.

and, and keeping the production. And I think, uh, what he was saying is that it's all about planning because at the end of the day, you have to stop. And if you do the right time to stop at the right time of the year, the right time of the day, and you do carry out the right maintenance, you can, you can plan this and this will [00:17:00] not disrupt the production.

Exactly. But if we leave it until it fails, then, then the problem is, is, is many more hours of work. Uh, then we go into repairing rather than into maintenance. Exactly, exactly. Because, uh, if you are able to plan in advance, you know, when you have to stop, uh, the production, even for a few, few times. But, uh, when you will get the, some problems or a broken gearbox or suddenly, and this was unexpected, of course, this can be a big problem for any production company.

Sure. Now. Because it. It's unexpected and, uh, you have to find the replacement, uh, uh, quickly in order to avoid, uh, to, to have the line stopped for many hours. So of course, better to, to, to schedule the maintenance operation in advance. I think, I [00:18:00] think without planning the maintenance. We can end up losing a lots of more time, maybe not hours can sometimes can happen.

You have to stop for days because to find the right parts and to find the right engineers to do the maintenance. Correct. And we always want to avoid unplanned, unplanned surprises. Yes. Yes. And, and this is why I think. Of course, the gearbox is, is, is a product that is designed to last long. It's not a product that you have to maintain every day or, you know, it is, it is a long lasting product.

And this is why, uh, if you give us some suggestion or tips on how to maybe to have in mind or to what to think about, uh, when it's come, how to, um, uh, increase the longevity of a gearbox, increase the efficiency or keep the efficiency of a gearbox. Um, as for the life of, [00:19:00] of that Gearbox. Yeah. Yeah. This is, um, I agree with you and probably you didn't mention about the cost of this kind of operation.

I mean, when you have some problem unexpected is more cost than the cost that you have to plan when you already scheduled your maintenance operation. Anyway, uh, it's very simple. I mean, uh, uh, So that's why we suggest, uh, to, to, to plan for, for the maintenance. So first of all, uh, it's always better to have, uh, a periodic, periodically check, um, on the oil seals, uh, in the gearbox.

Uh, after that, uh, we suggest, uh, in case, uh, uh, the lubricant is required because, uh, in any gearbox internally we have. lubricant. Don't mix, don't mix the X 16 one, which is a synthetic oil, with any other mineral lubricant. [00:20:00] Don't mix each other. It's a bad idea. It's a very bad idea. Um, and if you can see on the gearbox, uh, um, dust, accumulation of all the dust, more than five millimeters, we suggest to, to, to clean.

Uh, to clean the dust by vacuum cleaner, for example. And this is what we are also, uh, writing in our manual. So every 500 working hours, or every month, oil seals visual check. Every 3, 000 working hours, or every six months, oil seal check and replacement is heavily worn. And [00:21:00] every 5, 000 working hours, try to replace the synthetic oil.

Very simple. Change. This is, this is what I want to, I mean, usually the first thing that gets impacted is the oil seal, and usually by having just paying attention to the seals, you can get an idea about what's happening, because If the seal started to worn out, then you start to have leakaging, high problem will come.

And then contamination in, leak out. And then suddenly this can go short and you are, you are, you are damaging your gap. And this is, this is why it is important. These are some, as you said, maybe some simple tips, but I think in many times we, in our hectic life and the maintenance engineers are killing themselves.

Looking at so many machines, so many components and so on. And sometimes they, they, they don't look at, at the suspect. But if we have, as you said, the regular check, maybe every, [00:22:00] uh, 500 hours to see if we need to replace any seals and, and usually replacing a seal is not expensive. The seal itself is not so expensive, but after it, it, it's damaged.

And then you have a leak and you have a dust and contamination in. This can end up to be an expensive repair. Exactly. And, uh, I think you said 5, 000 hours to change the, the, the oil. 5, 000. Yes. Every 5, 000. This is what, yes, this is what we are, we are, uh, yes, we are suggesting. So based on our experience, basically based on our, uh, technical engineer, which is there any, any specific, uh, Uh, lubrication that you as a manufacturer usually recommend from thumbs to the gearbox?

Uh, we have, uh, um, we use, uh, uh, our, uh, O'Malashell, uh, Uh, oil VG 320, which is standard for all, uh, [00:23:00] all the gearbox, uh, don't mind about the brand because you can find locally about the brands. Uh, different brands are suitable for the important is a synthetic oil VG 320. Yes, exactly. I think, I think. And many times, and I think sometimes when there is, uh, some kind of leak, people will pour in a little bit, uh, well, you know, other types of available oil and yeah, you can mix any brand.

The important is, as I said before, don't mix synthetic with mineral oil. This is a bad, bad idea. Uh, yes, sure. So I think we, we have to, to, to keep the specification. The most important is to keep the specification of the oil. Yeah, when the, the, the gearbox will be installed in the, in the, in the line that application, uh, it's a longer we do use in maintenance manuals, which there are a lot of information concerning.

[00:24:00] the maintenance and also the spare parts. So, and, uh, as, as we discussed it, so it's very simple. I mean, uh, there is no hard job to do and during the maintenance, uh, or operation. So mainly is the visual check. Uh, and, uh, so it's not required any expenses. Sometimes we say. It's simple, but not easy. Yeah.

That's why also before I told you, I, and, uh, and we spoke about, uh, not anyone can do, uh, the, the, the main or can carry out the maintenance operation because instead to, to make a benefit, he probably will make some problems for the mage when replaced some part of the gearbox as required by the. And, and, and, and I think we always recommend that, uh, you look at the manufacturer recommendation in terms of what types of seals, what types of oils, and, uh, [00:25:00] after how many hours you have to do the.

The, the lubrication change or any means. Yes. Now, Italy have been the hub of many things, good food, good coffee, uh, football, uh, fashion. Recently, we can discuss about the football because the European tournament was not a big success for Italy team, football team, but it's fine. It's okay. Uh, in the past.

Yes. Let me say you used to be. Yes. Except 2024. Yes. Yes. Excited. No joking. Joking apart. Yes. Italy. People say like Italian have everything. They have the, the fashion. They have the food. They have, uh, uh, football, gelato, uh, and, and, and coffee. Um, but it's happened also to be. Uh, the hub for a lots of gearbox [00:26:00] manufacturer.

Uh, why Italy? But generally speaking, uh, I agree about what you say when I mean, I mean, uh, except the football, uh, we have, uh, we have, uh, or we are became famous, uh, mm, from, because we have many different, uh, success in, uh, in, um, In the food, in the wine, in the, uh, in the design, in the fashion, and also in, uh, in the machineries.

So, especially in the north, in the north of Italy, uh, we have many, many, uh, uh, machines, yes. Uh, companies which are producing many different kinds of machines. packaging, uh, to the ceramic field, uh, packaging, everything, food and beverage and so on. So, [00:27:00] uh, but also there are several reasons why the Italy is known also for, for, for the gearbox, uh, quality products.

Let me say the design, the innovation, the knowledge, the technology, the quality of materials, uh, Also, also the passion and pride, and also because we have a traditional artisanal, uh, story, so behind the, behind us. So is, is there any link because you drink maybe too much coffee, you have good machines or good cars?

No,

no, no. There is no link. I mean, uh, so, uh, we have many, many in uh, industries, uh, which they are producing. Uh. machines. And of course, as I told you before, uh, industrials machines. And, uh, so [00:28:00] you agree that there are a lot of very successful gearbox manufacturer in Italy. Yeah. Um, are you, when you look at, at this, is it, is it an opportunity or is it a challenge?

Both. Both? Okay. It's an opportunity because, uh, of course, uh, we can provide, uh, uh, our goods to many different industries. And it's a challenge because, uh, day by day we need to get there with our, uh, technical team to improve and increase, uh, our products, uh, our core quality, our reliability, our efficiency.

Thank you. against others. So, so do you think the competition have helped to improve the quality? A lot. Uh, Well, we are talking about, uh, European competition, let me say. [00:29:00] Until now, we talk about Italy. Yes, yes, yes. So, so, so this have, this have pushed as, as a manufacturer pushed the, you know, to, to evolve over, over the years.

Yeah. So, um, the, the, the competition, uh, uh, It's, uh, it's normal because, uh, um, in Italy, we have many other different products which they have the same competition. And of course, as I told you before, uh, make us in the position where every day we need to, to do better. So if you look at the industry in the past 20 years, I mean, Gearbox, how does the Gearbox market or industry have evolved?

And how do you see this, this will continue in the future?[00:30:00] 

Let me say, uh, they increased the efficiency and reliability, uh, making new design, new technology, and, uh, investing also in, uh, concerning the, the, the company which are producing gearboxes, for example, uh, investing in new, in new CNC machines. I mean, if we, if we look at how the challenges, for example, is on the automotive market.

Evolution, uh, electrical cars. There is a lots of happening on that aspect. If we look at the online technology, AI and all of this, everything is moving so fast. Yeah. And, and some people think Uh, that when it's come to gearbox, the world is, is, is still and the same. Uh, it's like the [00:31:00] time does not move because when we come to talk about the warm gearboxes, the design have been very similar for the past 20, maybe 30 years, not much have have changed.

So do we, do we see that this, there is a change coming? Is there any, any change that is impacting? Is there any, Uh, in, uh, surrounding, you know, environment that is, is, is will help or is, is making a challenge on this, uh, industry? Generally speaking, let me say, I think in my opinion, we will see the gearbox, uh, design more or less the same also for the next , another 50 years

But, uh, uh, in my opinion of, uh, um, we have one challenge. I mean, uh, in term of the gearbox. As we spoke before about the maintenance operation is to, to develop and to get the [00:32:00] gearbox with maintenance free. Do you think this is possible? It will take time, but I think it will be possible in the next future.

Do you see that this internet of thing and AI will, will have any impact on, on this? Uh, . So, I think so. Um, I don't know so far how the, for example, AI can, uh, can help us, but I think, uh, uh, in some way we can have some, or we can get some benefit, uh, from, from this kind of new technology. When I speak to customers, like end users and so on, uh, and especially maintenance guys, they would say we would.

Love to see what's happening on cars to happens on machines, which is the [00:33:00] car is today telling me, please change the oil. You know, I get a message or a phone or, you know, uh, and they think it will be for a maintenance engineers. It will be makes my day much easier than rather me calculating the number of hours and looking at, uh, Oil and, uh, you know, if I would have a message saying, okay, you have to change the oil, maybe change the seal.

Do you, do you think that there's something that we will see in this direction? Uh, potentially yes, but, uh, we need to find always the compromise between what the customer is looking for and what we can offer because, uh, so, uh, Every, every, everywhere you are facing, uh, competition. And, uh, of course, uh, uh, we need to try to, to be competitive on the market.

Of course, this is, is, is possible, but [00:34:00] we need to find also the right customer, which are looking for, for this technology. I think, I think of course, every, every additional components or additional sensors will have a price impact. But I think. As we enter the generation where the young, the young engineers used to, um, work with an iPad and order online and, uh, there will be more of that types of demand on this application.

We want to be able to check my phone and maybe say, okay, you have to change the seals on the gearbox or something. Now, this maybe will not happen in one or two years, but I think. It will be possible, for sure. It depends on the market situation, correct. And I think it also depends on how complex is that.

Because if you have a gearbox that is easy to have a visual inspection, and you know, that is different if you have a very [00:35:00] A gearbox sitting on a remote area where you cannot easily. So maybe, um, some kind of, of a sensor or some kind of, uh, um, uh, feedback that we get from, from the machine. And I think we are in this, um, era.

Of internet of things. We want everything to be connected and maybe the future. We want sour gale boxes to be connected. Why not? Why not? Yes. But the, is, is there, is, is this, um, something you think can add a level of competitiveness because we always think about when it's come to cost. It's how to make this very cost effective when it comes to a price.

But on the other side, I think we are also looking for what we call, [00:36:00] um, ease. And we want things a bit easier, convenience. Today you order your food, it will be, you pay additional charges to get it delivered. But because it's more convenient, we are willing to pay for that. Not easy to reply, I mean, to answer you because it depends, uh, from many reasons.

I think that every company which are requiring gearbox needs to put on the table every cost and check if, uh, can be helpful or not. Introducing new technology on the machine. So, uh, everything is possible. Of course, increasing also the technology in the gearbox.

Uh, but it depends if the market needs this kind of technology and to check if the [00:37:00] market needs it only, for example, in our cases, our customer can check and know if, uh, can be a benefit. Or only a cost introducing new technology, of course, in the, in the past, of course, sorry, we need to move forward and, uh, following, uh, what the trend in the global world is, uh, uh, is doing, for example, uh, AI.

No, but, uh, it depends also from, from the market situation, if it's required or not. Now, of course, when we, we know in the past 10 years and it comes to gearboxes efficiency, I've increased a lot compared. And if we look at the 10, 20 years old gearboxes, maybe even the same technology, but in terms of efficiency, we have seen major improvement in the last few years.

And, and there is efficiency today that we did [00:38:00] not even dream of 20 years ago. Uh, so, so for, and also when it's come to maintenance, I think new gearboxes are less maintenance requirements compared to the past 20 years. Uh, the technology of seals, the technology of lubrication, the technology of gears all have evolved.

Uh, maybe we don't see it from outside, but inside in the components and the design. So, yes, it looks the same, but, but, uh, That's why concerning what you spoke before, uh, or asked me before, uh, about the new technology. I think, uh, in my opinion, uh, Instead of introducing new technology for the gearbox, our big challenge is to, to, to have the gearbox with maintenance free.

This, this would, then, then we're going back to reach the convenience. Instead of telling me when to do maintenance, this is a maintenance free. This is even a [00:39:00] step, a step forward. And, and, and I think if we reach there, we are, we are even beyond that, that step. Now, Varvel is, is, is a well known gearbox manufacturer.

How do you make sure that every gearbox is of a high quality and is a reliable product? Uh, yes, Varvel is, um, quite well known in the market, and, uh, we are getting the success, uh, thanks, uh, to our, uh, service and, uh, reliability products together with a high quality level. Uh, the question is, uh, how the answer is we have our internal, internal supply chain where we are making and producing our, uh, key components.

[00:40:00] And, uh, and so thanks to the internal supply chain, we can keep under control all the, the production and the, uh, processing. From A to Z and, uh, together with our, uh, quality, uh, department, we can check the result and, uh, make, uh, our gearbox, uh, reliable and, uh, efficient for the markets. Now looking at, at, at, uh, a common gearbox.

Maybe what, what is the expected lifetime of a gearbox? Um, it's different from, uh, the gearbox brand. Let me say, from our gearbox, we can have 15,000 working hours. [00:41:00] 15,000. Yes. All of the gearbox are calculated and developed for the, I mean, the gears mainly, uh, for 15,000, uh, working hours, yes. That's, that's, that's a good number of, yeah.

Do you think now, if we look at, at the competition, I'm talking about the lower competition, you are talking about the lower. So, so if we compare the lower competition to, to you, 15, 000 hours is a lot, right? If you compare to a low cost gearbox, what, what, uh, because people always look at the price. They don't look at, The outcome of that gearbox.

So what do you think is the number of hours for a cheaper or a low cost gearbox in terms of working hours? We are happy with our gearbox and with our quality, uh, the customer [00:42:00] feedback, uh, uh, is a positive. Honestly, I don't like to speak with other lower competitors, but of course existing in any market and is a part of our competition and competitors in any market.

Anyway, uh, if you are going, if you are looking only about the price, uh, of course you will get the gearbox, uh, maybe with Less work in hours than hours in terms of lifetime. And what does it mean? It doesn't mean that probably, uh, in, in the machine, something will happen soon compared to us, compared to our products.

You have to put on the table, uh, uh, if you would like to get, uh, saving [00:43:00] cost in the beginning, but you will pay more. Or you would like to pay a little bit more in the beginning and say, but yeah, this is the question that any customer need to do. I mean, uh, we believe in our quality and, uh, so with the correct maintenance, uh, operation, uh, So the, the custo, our customer can save a lot of money, especially, especially when we are talking about, uh, the export, export, uh, material.

I mean, because we are now thinking about our country, but when this, uh, machine manufacturer exporting their machine in other countries, uh. You have to consider, uh, the, the debt cost because, uh, to ship by half rate, uh, to [00:44:00] replace some units, uh, unexpected due to the low quality and low lifetime in terms of working hours, uh, is quite expensive.

You will not be saving so much. Exactly. So, so any, any, can you share with us any success stories that you think, uh, Volvo was able to, to achieve? Uh, like give us an example how by maybe a customer is using, uh, some Volvo gear was, was able to improve, uh, their, their performance. Uh, yes. Uh, uh, so considering everything said, uh, so far, uh, let me also.

Introduce a different part of the service that Varvel can offer to the customer. Uh, which probably some customer [00:45:00] doesn't know about that. Uh, I'm very happy to tell you this case history. Uh, where we won, uh, One of the big customer and project thanks our, uh, uh, flexibility at technology, uh, in the, in the field of the packaging machines, um, uh, where Varvele was able to listen to the customer needs.

And designing and producing a completely customized gearbox. Okay. Totally out of our product range in, uh, for the gears and the design and also for the protection requirement requested by, requested by the customer. So, and, and, and how did this make the customer life easier? Sure. Happy, easier, uh, and [00:46:00] satisfied with, uh, with, uh, with our quality with our design.

And with our technology and reliability. So you are able to, to make a custom solution for, for a specific customer? Correct. This is a, one of the service that probably, uh, not many customer knows for, from, from Varvel, but yes, we can tailor made the, the, the, the gearbox based on the customer needs. So you have been working for Varvel maybe about 10 years now?

Yes, next year, beginning of next year, 10 years. Yes. Yes. Long story. Nine and a half. Nine and a half. Yes, correct. Nine and a half. So, uh, what, what makes Varvel different from, from the competition? First of all, uh, I would like to highlight that, uh, our production is very made in Italy. Okay. Very made in Italy.

Yeah. [00:47:00] I like that. Yeah. Because there is made in Italy and very made in Italy. Exactly. It's a very Thing point, but yes, I don't like to speak about others. Let me just say that it's very made in Italy. As I told you before, we have our internal production, internal checks, internal, uh, processing step, which can, we are able to, to keep monitored and controlled at all the steps, our quality control.

So this is a, is a plus for us. I mean, for us, um, so very made in Italy is, is a synonymous of quality. excellence, reliability, uh, innovation. And, uh, so in addition to that, all of our gearbox are modular, uh, modular for the [00:48:00] customers, uh, uh, I mean, uh, the customer which are, uh, producing the machines, uh, these are low, the flexibility in the final, in the final selection and fast delivery.

Concerning the other customers, our distributors around the world, this modular gearbox can save space in the warehouse, reducing the quantity, the number and the quantity stocking in the warehouse, and consequently also the cost. Less numbers, less space, less cost in investment. Okay, so for our audience that doesn't know what you mean by modular, can you explain the modular?

Yes, so the modular system, uh, uh, Can be in a double option. The first option is all of our gearbox in the front side, let me say in the electrical motor side, uh, are modular because in the [00:49:00] middle from the gearbox and the, and the, and the electrical motors, we have, uh, a components, uh, one of the important components of our production.

Uh, the name is, uh, is a coupling and, uh. Normally what's happen when, uh, uh, the customer, uh, needs to change the motor power normally need to change also the gearbox, uh, In our case is not like that because we can keep the same gearbox but changing only the coupling in the middle And the motor flange, of course if if changed uh at the same time looking for the maintenance operation coming back to the maintenance operation, which is Also, this point is very important This is another important Aspect aspect thanks because uh, normally the other competitors they have the direct connection from the motor shaft to the gearbox.[00:50:00] 

Uh, in a normal case. Yes. And after the working hours or during the duty cycles, what's happened? It can happen the vibration. It can happen the eating by eating, um, problems, issues. And, uh, after many working hours, uh, If something will happen in the motors or in the gearbox, it's always difficult to disassemble the motor shaft from the gearbox side.

And what's happened? Happened and the, the, the customers is forced to, to buy the, the most component. Yes. The electric motor and the gearbox together, which means more power. cost more price. Much more. Much more. With our system, since we have the coupling, the coupling in the middle together with elastic, uh, uh, spiders, uh, this will not happen.

I mean, uh, uh, uh, Every time you always can disassemble, [00:51:00] uh, if something will happen, uh, these components each other and just to replace what you need to replace exactly. Uh, this is the, the first option. The second option about the modular system, all of our gearbox are, can be provided in kit form and can be assembled in, uh, in, uh, in the customer warehouse based on the customer needs.

aspect about the modular the modular system from for me, I would say it's, it's the legal of uh, of, of Gearbox. So you can put the different components and build your own in an output. Because at the end of the day, I think that what I like about this concept, it's, it's, it's, it's. It's easy. It's all your products are compatible to each other.

So you can, it's like building a lego of, uh, and then you [00:52:00] build, depending on the input and the output and what do you have there and what do you have? And if you want to change the electrical motor, maybe you still can keep the gearbox. If you have to change any, any, any application, sometime you can save the electrical motor and just keep the Change the front components or, or, uh, the coupling maybes.

Correct. Correct. So, um, as I told you also before, this allow us to, to, to reduce the number of the components, uh, and, uh, using, uh, Uh, modular motor flange, which can be used for warm, for iCal, for iCal type of gearbox. Things are the same. So this help us and our customers, uh, the modular system, mainly from the distributor point of view because, uh, so we, we are present in more than, uh, uh, 60 countries around the world.

And, uh, [00:53:00] so need. to give to the local customer, uh, good service. And, uh, thanks to the modular system, they can, I mean, our distributor, local distributor, can provide the proper solution in, uh, in the fast delivery, assembling by themselves our, uh, our gearbox based on the final configuration selected by the customer.

I mean, this is, this is, uh, This makes both the distributors job easier and also the end user job. Yes. And help us to reduce the delivery time as we can put together two or three components and make the similar expected output of, uh. Now, we talked about the different types of gearboxes and you know, so looking back at at Varvel, so can you tell us about the range today that you have in Varvel?

Yeah. So at least if any of our audience or customer wants to order a gearbox, so at least they know what is available. Yes. [00:54:00] So we are following what is available. They are the main, uh, common types, uh, in, uh, in the world, as I told you before, I mean, uh, we can cover, uh, and we are able to produce, uh, warmer gear boxes, uh, helical, uh, gear boxes in, uh, in line or co axial type and parallel.

shaft, uh, bevelical gearbox, uh, and, uh, the planetary gearbox. Of course, uh, these are the, the, the type that you are able to produce in terms of gear, but we have also our range, uh, and, uh, our, uh, nominal output torque, uh, and sizes. So we have a double type of, uh, sizes, one small and medium made by aluminum body and, uh, big size made by Cast Iron Body and all of them are available in, uh, in, [00:55:00] uh, in our production.

Plus you can produce customized solution as well. Exactly. Exactly. This is, uh, not in our product range, but in our, uh, type of service, let me say. So if a customer is looking for a special type of gearbox, We are here to help. Now, as I said, uh, now maybe many of our audiences is maybe thinking about changing their goal box of buying a gearbox.

Any final advice you can give them? Uh, if you would like to choose for the best quality and good compromise in terms of, uh, of price and availability, please try to choose Varvel, which is the right choice for, for your machines. And, uh, you are buying very made in Italy. Like that. Yeah. Cristian was a pleasure having you.

Thanks again for your invitation. Our audience and our listeners [00:56:00] are now more. educated about the gearbox. Yeah. We are happy to have you here. Thank you very much. And our audience, if you have any suggestion, email us at podcast@mcb.ae. Until next time. See you soon. And that wraps another episode of wiki bearings.

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