Bearing up: Join John Challen for a tour of SKF's North American tech center. The company is the world's largest bearing producer and now an ever-expanding development force

摘要

Situated less than 48km (30 miles) west of downtown Detroit, SKF's North American Technical Center was established in 1997 and is home to almost 75 personnel. The center complements SKF's other research bases in Niewegein, Holland, and Osaka, Japan. With a 20 per cent market share, bearings are clearly the main money-maker for SKF, contributing greatly to the USD5 billion turnover of the company in 2003. But seals and development work for the motorsports industry are two other major elements of the business. It's such work that keeps Steven Brown, head of the tech center, and his team very busy. And they certainly have the tools to hand…