“Richard [Potesta] really knows his stuff. It was very useful to have that extra expertise when choosing this part. It was a very critical part of our system.”Stephen Shield, Chief Engineer, InterTronic Solutions
The challenge
InterTronic Solutions, a manufacturer of high-performance antenna systems, had the opportunity to develop a 12-meter system and needed slew bearings to rotate the reflector.
The company had used slew bearings from other manufacturers for smaller antenna systems, but when it looked for suppliers for the larger system it found many of them tied up with wind turbine projects. Their products were expensive and their lead times very long.
A custom manufacturer when it was needed most
Unless you are ordering 100-plus units, most manufacturers won't take the time to design a bearing that fits your exact needs. Instead you receive a pre-engineered, mass-produced bearing. A custom manufacturer can build an equivalent bearing for your product at a lower price, with a higher level of service. That is what InterTronic Solutions found in Potesta & Company.
“They were able to build us anything we wanted,” said Stephen Shield, chief engineer at InterTronic Solutions. “They were able to build us the exact bearing that we needed, the right size, their lead times were a lot better and the pricing was a lot more competitive.”
While other manufacturers quoted six- to nine-month lead times, Potesta & Company delivered in four to five months. Shield added that the company was “very responsive” and “submitted drawings right away.”
“It's not a part that's easily changeable; it's probably the hardest part to replace in the system. If it has to be done, it requires dismantling the whole thing, so we really needed something that would last the lifetime of the system.”
The main bearing was a SlewPro 50 Series internally geared cross roller bearing, designed for high stiffness. Potesta & Company supplied not only the primary bearing but also the segment gears, shafts and pinions used in the system.
What made the difference
Flexibility was the biggest differentiator for InterTronic Solutions.
“They really are flexible with almost anything, so we're not constrained in our design,” Shield said. “Any size reflector we want to build, I know [Potesta & Company] can build me a bearing that will match. I don't have to go with the catalog part. Not to be constrained like that makes the design process a lot easier.”
