Franke is the inventor and manufacturer of wire race bearings. 95% of all Franke products are special solutions. They allow CT-scanners to run very quietly and with great precision, they make it possible to build robots extremely compact and light and they meet the strictest hygiene requirements in food production.

A few years ago, Brian Gattman, senior mechanical engineer at Fluke Corp., faced a big problem when designing the company’s new handheld TI400 thermal imaging camera. The off-the-shelf bearings he wanted to use in it were too big and had a too-high coefficient of friction. By working closely with the supplier, however, he was able to have the bearings custom made to meet both design specifications.