Success Stories
Advancing forging solutions
Comforsa is the international market leader thanks to its commitment to technological innovation along with a strong element of design. The purpose of this section is to spread the word about our success stories both from the production perspective and our management of the engineering field to encourage knowledge, innovation and the continuous improvement of the company.
Caterpillar case
Carterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of high tonnage vehicles for public works, is one of Comforsa’s longest-standing international commercial customers. Comforsa is one of the main international forgers of track links for powertrains in the vehicles of this American group (excavators, cranes, etc.) and we are proud of being one of their Silver Category suppliers.
Track links are essential for the manufacture of powertrains for excavators and tractors, as they are parts subjected to high levels of mechanical stress.
The technical departments of Comforsa and Caterpillar have worked together in the co-engineering of these components to make technical improvements through continuous development and to perfect the design and manufacturing processes.
As part of this process, Comforsa succeeded in reducing the forging tolerances to within a threshold known as Net Forging. These tolerances have reduced from ± 0.5 mm to ± 0.175 mm. This is an important step forward, in that these low tolerance figures allow our customers to dispense with machining entire parts of the track links, along with the consequent cost savings. Furthermore, and as part of the same project, the Comforsa technicians have increased the performance of these track links by 20% compared to more traditional links.
Comforsa has a powerful and innovative technical and R&D department that is always customer-focused and prepared to undertake co-engineering projects to achieve technical excellence in order to produce the best possible product in terms of quality and cost.
Meritor case
Meritor is a global provider of axle, brake and suspension systems for the industrial sector. They also supply original equipment and accessories to transportation manufacturers. Meritor provides services and products for commercial truck machinery, trailers, buses and coaches manufacturers, as well as for defense machinery.
In this case, Comforsa assumes the largest part of the supply of their largest volume products: the differential gearboxes (diffcases).
As result of a close collaboration between the Meritor technological department and the Comforsa research and development department (R+D), a new forge that optimizes the lubrication among all the elements forming the diffcase (axes and gears, such as the shaft) has been created.
This new technique improves the durability and operation of all the elements that make up the inside of the differential box. Additionally, the waste disposal process has also been improved.
Schmitz Cargobull case
The German manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull is one of the leading suppliers of trailers for trucks in the commercial vehicle sector. It is a leading company, leader in the European market and supplier of the world’s leading brands of commercial vehicles.
The technical departments of the two companies worked together through co-engineering to achieve the design and optimal development of a high-volume product such as the Spindle-Spider: a component from the undercarriage.
This product is a concept of high-end components that fit perfectly to optimise their functioning: axle, bearing, brakes and brake discs, shock absorbers and air suspensions, not only are of top quality, but also fit and work perfectly. This ensures better cooling for the brake discs thanks to an innovative ventilation system, which is achieved through:
- Lower temperatures in the wheel bearing
- Even wear of the brake pads
- Easy brake disc change without bearing removal
- Minimised risk of accidents thanks to the standard equipment of the RSP (Roll-Stability Program)
- Lower own weight
- Permanent availability of any spare part
The undercarriage “rotos” can be used in van vehicles, semi-trailers, container carriers, canvas and platform semi-trailers, dump trailers, trailers with interchangeable chassis, interchangeable chassis with central axles, among others.