Swedish specialist SKF is working towards offering bigger and better solutions

SKF commissioned its new, Greenfield manufacturing plant near Ahmedabad in April 2010. Set up by SKF Technologies (India), an associate company of SKF India, the plant was initially dedicated for the production of wind energy solutions; gearboxes to be precise. It has however come to manufacture medium to large size bearings of various types, apart from products thaat serve the wind energy sector, serving customer segments such as railways, power generation, mining, construction, material handling equipment, power transmission, and industrial electrical. Wind energy solutions constitute a small part of the production spread at Ahmedabad, the larger part being dedicated to the manufacture of housings sized upwards of 200 mm, and large bearings.

The plant, built according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Standard (LEED), is under SKF's Industrial Division Unit (IDU), a provider of bearings, lubrication systems, by-wire products and couplings. The IDU products, aimed at industrial original equipment manufacturers, ensure longer life of machines, lower operational costs and reduced need of maintenance.

The Ahmedabad plant, engineered to manufacture cylindrical roller bearings (CRB), taper roller bearings (TRB), railway bearing units, and spherical roller bearings (SRB) from 240 mm to 1500 mm in outer diameter, apart from large size slewing bearings (SLB) up to 4000 mm outer diameter, would aid the company to launch new products early next year. According to Mr Martti Hakulinen, Director, IDU, SKF India, the plant currently is in a ramp up mode.

Expressing his inability to describe the current capacity utilisation, or the installed capacity, Hakulinen, speaking to IPF in Mumbai, said his company would be launching new products in the first quarter of next year. These would be bearings up to three-metre diameter. Machines to manufacture these bearings are currently being imported from Germany. The Ahmedabad plant, where the machines would be placed, going into the future, is slated to be a location that will manufacture a variety of bearings. Looking at clocking 20 to 30 times growth annually until 2050, for mid and large size bearings, currently 50% of the capacity at Ahmedabad, according to Martti, is for wind energy products. This would however reduce once new products, like the one slated for early next year, are introduced.

The IDU, according to Hakulinen, contributes up to 30% of SKF India's revenue. "Growth is expected to come from traditional products, and our bearing business has grown more than the other segments, or platforms as they are called". While bearings - and bearing units - are the biggest platform under the SKF structure, seals is another. Mechatronics is also an important platform, and manufactures actuators that reduce energy, and make for efficient operation.

Apart from the sectors mentioned above, the mechatronics business also caters to auto and aerospace. In India, the company plans to set up a small manufacturing unit for mechatronics. If the same would be under the Ahmedabad plant, Hakulinen wouldn't confirm. He seemed rather keen to convey instead that the Ahmedabad plant will reach full capacity by 2015. "We can also erect a plant adjoining the current one at Ahmedabad if the need arises," he added.

Touching upon the wind energy business, Martti commented that it is still a young industry; and gearbox, a new technology. "It is constantly evolving, and bearings are an integral part of the gearbox," he said. With the R&D for wind energy business conducted in Germany, the Ahmedabad factory is capable of supplying wind mill bearings; most of them, according to Martti. Keen to offer the clients an optimal solution, Hakulinen expressed that the company has good knowledge, and top quality products. "We combine knowledge to develop, and launch new solutions. Helping customers reach a optimal solution, SKF banks on its knowledge and products that assure top quality," he added.

Acknowledging piracy, and growing competition, Martti opined that both the factors are complex. "A combination of top class bearing, and an ordinary housing can reduce the life of a machine. Also, a top class housing and an ordinary bearing can reduce the life of a machine. It is therefore absolutely necessary to employ a top quality housing as well as a bearing," he stressed. Giving an example of how a piracy attempt may work, Martti said that if his company employs ductile iron to manufacture a housing, the duplicator may copy the design, but not the material, or the combination of materials used. "Sadly it is difficult for the customer to understand this, or detect," he said further.

Stating that the wind mill industry has become more like the auto industry, Hakulinen asserted that it is good to be local. It helps with faster delivery times, he asserted. According to Martti, the company sources most of its raw materials from Europe. Only a small part is sourced from China, where the company has a plant in Dalian. The sourcing strategy is based on the fact that the raw material is sourced from the best location. "SKF developed its own steel industry in Sweden. We looked out only when the Swedish steel industry couldn't supply enough," explained Hakulinen while stressing upon the importance of raw materials to achieve top quality. Interestingly, the Ahmedabad plant does source cages locally. The rings and rollers are imported. Looking for local suppliers, the company also sources seals from its Bangalore facility, which specialises in seals.

The Bangalore plant is also the one-stop sourcing destination for seals under the SKF structure. While the Bangalore facility of SKF caters to railway seals primarily, and is equipped to manufacture seals, the Ahmedabad plant is equipped with a state-of-the-art heat treatment facility, metrology lab with all the latest equipment and instrumentation for quality checks and an on line control mechanism to ensure manufacturing excellence.

Stating that SKF vendors have to follow the company's code of conduct, Martti drew attention to his company's growing interest in newer areas, and projects. Stating that his company is interested in water management, Martti added that SKF already supplies products to the Tata Nano. "We could look at low cost tractors if we find it interesting," he quipped. He further said that they gave a tractor client a cost-effective solution of bearings and seals to extract a longer operating life. "We realised that our bearings were very good. But, there was need for a good seal to ensure a longer life. We improved the seal quality, and re-calibrated the bearing quality to arrive at a cost effective solution that also assured a longer operating life."

While this cost effective solution was offered to a manufacturer in the USA, it can be tailored to suit the requirements in terms of scale, if it has to work in India. In India, SKF is pushing for cost effective solutions too. These would be tailored for local needs, and without sacrificing core SKF quality, and values. At Pune the company has 21 application engineers who work in that direction, concluded Martti Kahulinen.