JUNKER - a key partner for Mercury Marine

JUNKER’s grinding technology has given Mercury Marine an advantage over its competitors. The world-renowned marine engine manufacturer, headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin (USA), specializes in outboard engines and sterndrives.

In 2016, Mercury Marine retooled its manufacturing plant and chose JUNKER as its key partner. Jason Noworatzky, one of the Engineering managers at Mercury Marine explained that the two key factors were the common control platform shared over all the machine platforms and the very competitive pricing. He further explained that “JUNKER has technology that has given Mercury Marine an advantage over other manufacturers.“

At first, two QUICKPOINT were obtained for the grinding of the head geometry of drive shafts. The Lean Selection Speed was selected for the grinding of the many varieties of propshafts. For the centerless grinding of the main shafts applied to the drive shafts, a JUPITER was chosen. The flexibility of the machines was a key factor, allowing for quick changeovers between the approximately 40 different shafts ground on each machine type.

The greatest advantage of working with JUNKER grinding machines is the changeovers and machine adjustability

At a later date, a Lean Selection Shaft and a QUICKPOINT were added to increase capacity. The JUNKER grinding machines are equipped with higher output technology and are mainly applied in large-scale production.
In addition, a large portion of the crankshafts used for the engines is ground on JUNKER grinding machines at various Mercury Marine suppliers.

Paul Stegemann, a manufacturing engineer, explained that the greatest advantage of working with JUNKER grinding machines is the changeovers and machine adjustability. He also praised JUNKER’s service team, stating: “They‘re always very responsive… if we need to get a service tech here, they always do a wonderful job.”