ThysennKrupp Industries represents the essential core of the manufacturing cluster for the production of undercarriage components for the aftermarket as well as for the OEM manufacturers.
At the heart of the BERCO supply chain and together with BERCO , the BRITISH repair parts production plant, stand BERCO Industries facilities. Manufacturing plants are located in ITALY producing chains, shoes, segments,track and carrier rollers as well as in China producing track and carrier rollers, idlers, and sprockets. This article will be focused on the Chinese manufacturing plants.
Production control for rollers, sprockets, and idlers
The ThyssenKrupp company mainly produces undercarriage track and carrier rollers, sprockets, and idlers.
The manufacture of the sprockets and idlers starts from the selection of raw materials. On-site casting furnaces ensure complete production self-sufficiency and guarantees accurate quality control. The factory also hosts several areas dedicated to CNC machining and heat treatments, while the assembly and painting lines are located at the end of the production lines. Recently, all these production areas have beenreorganised as part of the continuous improvement policy implemented by dedicated waste reduction teams. In particular, the new approach aims to minimise the so-called seven, which are wastage resulting from waiting materials, transportation, overproduction, excess inventory, handling, defects, and “useless” phases in manufacturing process.
The track and carrier rollers are manufactured starting from forged steel.
They are worked mechanically, and heat treated so to obtain the right wear resistance and strength characteristics. Recently, new investments were focused on the improving the heat treatment processes, the central part of BERCO’s knowledge, to ensure compliance with the increasingly severe standards for large size machines.