Japanese bearing manufacturers

Are you looking to get your custom bearings manufactured in Japan, have a standard bearing produced in Japan or are you looking to find out which bearing manufacturers have a manufacturing base in Japan ? Either way, the information that you need can be found on this page.

First, let’s start on the custom manufacturing route. Assuming that you are here because you specifically want your bearings to be manufactured in Japan as opposed to elsewhere such as China or India then it’s likely that you are making that choice based on wanting the best quality bearings. At SGL Bearings Ltd we work with a number of highly reputable Japanese bearing manufacturers directly and have long standing relationships with them and can utilise them to manufacture your bearings. If you have technical drawings then you can send them to us and we can obtain a quotation and lead time for you.

What do I need to know about manufacturing bearings in Japan ?

The cost from Japanese bearing manufacturers price is significantly higher than manufacturing in China. The overall costs of manufacturing in Japan compared to China are much higher, China has the advantage of lower land costs, lower labour costs and lower supply chain costs.
The range of bearing production in Japan isn’t as comprehensive as it is in China. Whilst there are still millions of bearings manufactured in Japan each year, there are hundreds of millions manufactured in China. The main focus of Japanese bearing production is some high level ball bearing manufacturing as well as an assortment of different bearing types.

Why should I choose a Japanese bearing manufacturer over a Chinese manufacturer

With Japanese bearing manufacturers, most of them are already set up to cater for the higher quality level in the market. With Chinese manufacturers, there hundreds of very low level “manufacturers” along with a much smaller number of good quality bearing manufacturers. China has catered very well for the mass market in bearings and most applications don’t require the highest bearing quality level, that being said if you want to have a high quality bearing manufactured, then it’s understandable why you would be looking for a Japanese bearing manufacturer.

So who are some well known Japanese bearing manufacturers ?

Some of the biggest and most well known Japanese bearing manufacturers are Koyo, NTN and NSK. Others include Nachi, IKO and Asahi. These are very large multi-national companies with headquarters in Japan and with production bases both inside and outside of Japan. All large bearing manufacturers now have production bases in multiple countries. SKF Bearings for example has production bases in Europe, South America and Asia including China and their head quarters are based in Sweden. Their bearings produced in China are made to the same specifications, tolerances and precision classes as their bearings produced in Europe.

So what if I have a bearing that I would like to be produced in Japan ?

At SGL Bearings Ltd, we can help you with a purchasing project whether you are looking for a standard one off bearing which we can source and find for you on a few days notice or whether you are looking to resource the production of your bearing range to a Japanese bearing manufacturer. We have 20 years experience purchasing bearings from Asia, including from China, India and Japan. We would be able to get you costings from each manufacturing base based on the quality level that you request and if you decide that the bearings must be of Japanese origin then we can arrange the manufacture of them for you.