The Challenge:
In the competitive world of sailboat racing teams are constantly pushing manufacturers of components use aboard to help give their team the competitive edge. One such manufacturer of high-end manual, electric and hydraulic line winches approached XMEK with a new product development application. While they were experts in designing and manufacturing these products, as they put it “we’re not the seal experts”. The seals they required play an integral part in their new design and had to provide the maximum performance and durability over anything currently available on the market.
The Solution:
Engineers from XMEK spring energized seal team jumped at the challenge and working directly with the customers engineering team. Visiting on-site, XMEK engineers determined several opportunities for performance improvements. The team from XMEK proposed changing the spring type of the existing seals supplied by a competitor to the XMEK high-performance spiral pitch spring to reduce friction and increasing durability pursuant with the customers objectives. XMEK quickly developed prototypes and offered tool recommendations and techniques for the assembly process utilizing the new EXMEK Seals.
The Results:
XMEK spring energized seals were custom designed for the customers specific application and requirements, yet XMEK designed them to fit the standard SE grooves. To add to the customers delight, the custom spring energized seals developed by XMEK were delivered with better lead time than the competition thanks to XMEK’s in-house manufacturing capability at the XMEK eFab facility. The customer has been extremely pleased with the performance of the ERIKS spring energized seals and have seen sales growth of 100% per year for the last 3 years!
Application / Products:
- Spring energized seals
- Engineering support
