LDW News 3 - Lloyd Dynamowerke GmbH

Max-Planck Institute reaches for the stars with LDW
Since as far back as the 60’s, LDW motors have been controlling a radio telescope the size of a football field
The Max-Planck Institute radio telescope receives waves from the
depths of the universe. Photo: N. Tacken, MPIfR
Ingenious employees ensure the success of the suggestion program
About 100 suggestions were submitted by
colleagues for the LDW company suggestion
program during the past year. The efforts paid
off: Exploitation of the first 60 suggestions has
already generated savings of 85,000 euros –
and that only involves the effects of improvements
that can be expressed in numbers.
In 2007, 43 individual employees and two
groups already participated in the company
suggestion programme. The system has
proven itself viable, and not only for the corporation
but also for the employees. As of April
2008, from the 60 assessed suggestions 38
improvements have been awarded with a total
of 13,300 euros; the highest single amount
was 4700 euros. Furthermore, a special
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Imprint
Publisher:
Lloyd Dynamowerke GmbH & Co. KG
Postfach 11 01 60
D-28081 Bremen
Telephone +49 (0) 421 4589-0
Telefax +49 (0) 421 4589-260
E-mail: vertrieb@LDW.de
Internet: www.LDW.de
Responsible: Marco Anlauf
The radio telescope in Effelsberg
near Bonn with a diameter of
100 metres is one of the largest
swivelling telescopes in the world.
The telescope area
is as large as a
football field. It is
operated by the
Max-Planck Institute
for radio astronomy,
which is dedicated
to researching
astronomical objects using radio
waves and infrared waves.
Especially remarkable is the
precision with which the telescope
can be controlled. It can be turned
90 degrees within five minutes and
be swivelled or tilted with a precision
of one-half millimetre.
The 60-metre long circular rail
around which the telescope revolves
also meets the highest demands:
The rails are adjusted horizontally
with a precision of 0.3 millimetres.
prize was raffled off during each quarter from
among the positively evaluated suggestions.
For instance in the 1st quarter 2008, it was
possible to win a travel voucher from Go-
Reisen valued at 800 Euros. This prize went
to Susanne Oehmicke in bookkeeping. She
made a suggestion for optimising office materials
requisitions to prevent waiting times.
Eugen Geis, who submitted a total of
four suggestions in 2007, has already been
drawn from the raffle pot twice. He won an
Asus Notebook in the 4th quarter. He made an
improvement suggestion in which aligning socalled
buckle fins can be omitted after cutting
to size. Previously he had already won the
special prize raffle in the 2nd quarter.
The telescope with a diameter
of 100 meters can be
positioned with the precision
of one-half a millimetre
The powerful and simultaneously
gentle drive for the ultra-sensitive
system is implemented with the
aid of LDW motors. The machines
from LDW were
supplied already
during construction
in the late 60’s. In
the early 80’s they
were replaced by
newer models,
and recently LDW
delivered the third generation motors
to the Eifel.
In total, 20 motors are needed
to achieve the high precision of the
telescope. Sixteen of them are used
to position the telescope itself; the
other four control the gradient of a
mirror to bundle the waves.
Due to the special requirements,
the motors were equipped with a
special filter design and a protective
hood to protect the machine from the
weather.
Savings already amounting to about 85,000 euros per year / Attractive prizes for implementable suggestions
Prize presentation for the first quarter 2008:
The improvement suggestion representative
Jens- Erik Borngräber, Managing Director
Berthold Groeneveld and Employees’ Council
Member Holger Warninghoff (from left) present
a travel voucher to Susanne Oehmicke from
bookkeeping.
Editing:
Kölling Medien-Service
Prager Str. 37
D-28211 Bremen
www.k-ms.de