Collection: Bearing Manufacturer

Bearing Manufacturer

If you are looking for a bearing manufacturer then SGL Bearings Ltd can help. We have 20 years experience in the bearing industry with a significant amount of bearing manufacturing knowledge working with factories in Europe and the far east.

Give us a call today on 01302 315144 or email us at sales@sgl-bearing.com

We are small enough to work with short production runs of 500pcs plus and large enough to manage the bearing manufacturing for the worlds largest original equipment manufacturers.

Who are the worlds biggest bearing manufacturers ?

SKF are the largest bearing manufacturer in the world, turning over approximately £65 Billion in 2021 and employing more than 40,000 people.
SKF’s competitors include NSK whose turnover is approximately £6.5 Billion, Timken whose turnover is approximately £3.5 Billion and NTN whose turnover is approximately £3.2 Billion per year.

Do bearing manufacturers just produce bearings ?

Most bearing manufacturers don’t just produce bearings, they normally produce related components or have a vertically integrated manufacturing process. Timken for example have their own steel manufacturing plants to make the bearing steel used to manufacture their bearings. It allows them additional control over the quality of their bearings

Other than manufacturing bearings, SKF also manufacture seals, which is again a natural extension of their bearing range as well as a wide range of power transmission components such as:

• Belts
• Chains
• Pulleys
• Couplings
• Sprockets
• Bushings
• Fasteners

SKF also manufacture a wide range of vehicle aftermarket components including :

• Steering and suspension components
• Wheel bearings
• Coil springs
• Tyre pressuring monitoring systems
• Timing belts and tensioner pulleys
• Auxiliary system parts
• Waterpumps
• Driveshafts
• CV Joints
• Lubrication products

Normally, when replacing bearings there are other products to replace at the same time. Bearing manufacturers have utilized their knowledge of this to manufacturer rebuild or refurbishment kits like the one below containing all of the parts needed for a wheel bearing replacement on a Volkswagen Golf.

Bearing Manufacturing Locations

Bearings are manufactured worldwide. NTN for example manufacture their bearings in :

Americas

• USA
• Canada
• Brazil
• Mexico

Europe

• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Romania

Asia and Oceania

• Thailand
• Indonesia
• India
• China
• Taiwan

It’s a similar situation for other manufacturers too. Normally, specialist bearings will be produced in dedicated factories and then some of the factories will also produce the wider range of standard bearings too meaning that the bearings are produced and consumed in the local market. In more recent years, bearing manufacturers have invested heavily in China to increase production there and take advantage of the cost base and bearing production knowledge already available within China.

Are some manufacturers better at producing bearings than others ?

Naturally, some manufacturers will have an edge or advantage over others on certain product types and manufacturers are always coming up with improved designs. INA who are part of the Schaeffler group for example have in the past years introduced their X-Life range which is slowly replacing their standard range of bearings. The new X-Life range is essentially the same bearing but that has been optimized through modern modelling and design techniques that maybe weren’t around when the bearings were first introduced. The good thing about the bearing industry is that none of the major players are standing still. With new materials and technologies becoming available all of the time, processes, design and manufacturing are being improved all of the time. Within the top tier of bearing manufacturers are SKF, Timken, NTN, SNR, NSK, Koyo, RHP, INA and FAG as well as a few more. Below that there are many other manufacturers that produce very good quality bearings at competitive prices including SGL Bearings Ltd who are able to use decades of industry expertise to help you find the right manufacturing location for your bearings.

Bearing Manufacturing quantities

Do you need an obsolete one off bearing ? Whilst this isn’t our main focus, quite often we can still point you in the right direction. Whether it’s a bronze bush or a ball or roller bearing, it is likely that we know who to contact to manufacture the bearing that you need.

For those that need production batches of bearings manufacturing, if you have designs or drawings available then we can quote you based on those. If it’s a bespoke bearing that you need to be manufactured then some of the tier 1 manufacturers have very high minimum production quantities and set up costs but with our expertise we can match the right manufacturer to your requirements and we can certainly manufacture bearings for you in our SGL brand. We can also design your bearing for you from scratch and have it manufactured to suit your requirements.

Bearing manufacturing materials

We can manufacture bearings from a wide range of materials including :

• 100Cr6 bearing steel with high chromium content or Gcr15 which is the Chinese equivalent
• Copper bronze alloys such as C86300
• Stainless steel bearings such as 440c or 316.
• Aluminium & Silicon bearings
• Leaded-Bronze bearings
• Plastics including PA66 and PA43
• Ceramics

With such a wide range of bearing materials to choose from we can ensure that bearings are manufactured for you according to your exact application. Whether it’s agriculture where strong robust bearings are needed or the food industry where cleanliness and contamination are concerns we can manufacture bearings for you. For the construction industry we can manufacture high load bearings with great wearing capabilities to prolong service intervals.

Manufacturing lead times

The manufacturing lead time of a bearing depends greatly on a range of factors including the material, style and whether any tooling is required. For a short run of bronze bushes made from standard materials, we can have them manufactured and delivered to you in just a matter of weeks. For non-standard bearings which are bespoke designed for you the time from concept to delivery can be as long as 18 months. We can however work with you to understand your needs so that we give you the best balance on the delivery time for your manufactured bearings.

Bearing Packaging

For the tier 1 bearing manufacturers, they package their bearings in their standard packaging based on in-house rules. At SGL we have much more flexibility, if you need your bearings packaged to meet your own retail requirements then we can accommodate that for you and if you need to minimize the amount of packaging to reduce waste and your carbon footprint and improve sustainability then we can deliver the bearings bulk packed ready for a production line assembly. Discuss your requirements with us and we will do our best to meet your needs. The earlier in the process we have this information the better so that we can plan the manufacturing process from the beginning.

Bearing manufacturing after sales support

After your bearings have been manufactured we can either ship them to you directly in one batch saving on carriage costs or we can stock them for you in our warehouse and ship them to you as and when they are needed saving you space in your facility. We can also provide inspection reports if you need them, material analysis reports and work with you on improving designs for future production runs. If you have a particular challenge that you need to solve then let us know and we will see if we are able to help.

Popular bearing manufacturers that we work with 

Talk to us today to discuss your bearing requirements. Call us on 01302 315144 or email us at sales@sgl-bearing.com

Discuss either our SGL branded product range or ask us about one of the premium bearing manufacturers below and see what we can do to help you.

 

At SGL Bearings Ltd we stock a wide range of bearings from the following bearing manufacturers alongside our own SGL Bearings range.
FAG Bearings, Koyo Bearings, NSK Bearings, NTN Bearings, RHP Bearings, SKF Bearings, SNR Bearings, Timken Bearings

We back up this range with an offering from other manufacturers including :

INA Bearings, Peer Bearings, Nachi Bearings, Nadella Bearings,

We can however source bearings from any manufacturer. If you have a bearing from a manufacturer that isn't shown above then please contact us and we will source it for you.