Swedish firm finds its bearings

According to Zhang Xinfeng, a professor at the Clean-Energy Automotive Engineering Center at Shanghai's Tongji University, a car generally has 30 to 40 bearings. Almost everything that is rotating in the car, such as the gear-box transmission, normally has one or the other kind of bearing. The friction caused by the bearing will have a direct effect on energy consumption.

Makhija cited one of the company's clients, a coal mine in North China, that replaced all its bearings in its production lines with E2 models. Essentially it got back its investment quickly because the mine uses a lot of power and the energy reduction successfully offset the initial input.

Another such example involved replacing metal-to-metal camshaft bushings with roller bearings, an innovation first used in high-performance racing cars. Some studies show that crankshaft roller bearings can yield fuel savings of up to 5 to 6 percent, as a result of less friction and the fact that only a small oil pump is required.

During the celebration of its centennial in China in September, the company vowed to put more resources into the country's automotive market by establishing a new SKF campus in Shanghai's suburban Jiading district to support growth in China and across Asia.

The 700 million krona ($104.5 million) investment includes the founding of a new automotive factory that produces hub-bearing units for passenger cars and also the relocation and expansion of the Global Technical Center China, SKF Solution Factory and an SKF College campus.

The technical center includes product development, engineering services, global metallurgy and chemistry laboratories, manufacturing process development, testing and product investigation.

"Because you often see a lot of compact cars in Asia, we are designing all bearings specifically for these applications," he said.

Likewise, the technical center aims to primarily feed local Chinese needs while also meeting standards that apply in markets such as Japan and South Korea.

Also in September, SKF inaugurated a plant in Jinan, Shandong province. The operation will double the capacity of tapered roller bearings and truck hub units to serve truckmakers.

The factory uses new technology that is designed to make Chinese trucks more competitive and reliable, and help them improve the overall industry standard.

In a separate factory in Wuhu in East China's Anhui province, SKF is adding capacity to mass produce a product line of bonded piston seals, designed for a new generation of automatic transmissions. These parts will result in reduced friction and improved fuel efficiency.

The Chinese market also guided the company to move into new areas of growth. As the country has been heavily investing in high-speed rail, it infused new momentum into industries such as off-highway vehicles, precision tools and related businesses.

To bolster business in China, SKF broke ground with a new regional distribution center located in Shanghai's Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone to shorten delivery times for customers in China and elsewhere in Northeast Asia.

The Chinese bearings market is highly fragmented. The main international bearing companies, such as Schaeffler AG, Timken Co Ltd and NSK Ltd, account for about one-third, while a host of local manufacturers such as Zhejiang Tianma account for the other two-thirds.

The "In China for China" stance apparently propels SKF to compete with local rivals. To this end, in April the company acquired New York-based General Bearings Corp, which has operations in Shanghai.

Q+A: Rakesh Makhija