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The eBearing News
March 16, 2005
Sarnatech BNL To Be Sold
copyright © 2005 eBearing Inc.
Sarnatech BNL Ltd. (UK) is on the block to be sold, announced parent company Sarna
Polymer Holdings Inc. (Switzerland). Sarna is divesting all of its nonstrategic
business units to focus on polymer sheeting.
Sarnatech BNL is the world leader in lubricant-free thermoplastic rolling element bearings,
producing approximately 50 million bearings each year. It is also the leading automotive Tier 1
supplier of custom plastic bearings for various in-car applications. The bearings usually have
integrally formed shafts, gears or mechanical assemblies, and are found in most photocopiers,
office machines, signs, cameras, computer scanners, food processing equipment and chemical processing equipment.
Although plastic bearings are
most often designed for a particular application, BNL is unique in that its sales efforts also
target "conversion" OEM sales for applications where the original bearings are made from more traditional
materials such as 52100 steel.
BNL has several offices around the world in Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain and the USA, in
addition to its UK manufacturing facility in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. Knaresborough employs
approximately 120 people and has annual sales in the range of USD $13 million.
In Knaresborough, production equipment includes 23 precision molding machines, varying from 30 to
175 clamping tons. The company recently installed additional twin-shot
Engel & Netstal full-robotic injection molding machines to add TPE surfaces to thermoplastic moldings.
The twin-shot equipment is also being used to produce soft-touch handles for Black & Decker hand tools.
For 2004, BNL was named Ricoh UK's Supplier of the Year and achieved on-time delivery, zero-defect
bearings for three years running. Sarnatech BNL is ISO9001:2000 certified and recently received
ISO/TS 16949:2002 (slated to replace QS9000) for automotive OEM supply requirements.
BNL's founder, David Garnett, is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the molded polymer
bearing ("Bearing No Lube"). Mr. Garnett developed the molded polymer bearing idea when he worked
for Koyo. He left Koyo in 1975 to found BNL Bearing.
The central idea behind the BNL bearing is that it is a rolling-element bearing which is usually
molded directly into the component. For example, in a photocopier application, the paper feed roller
is designed and formed to function as the bearings's outer race. This integral design and molding makes
for more efficient design and assembly, along with fewer parts and fewer opportunities for design
and service problems.
In 1988, Mr. Garnett sold BNL to Henry Barrett Group plc (UK), but bought it back in 1991 amidst
a management buyout at Henry Barrett.
In 1994, Sarna Kuntsoff Holding AG (Switzerland) bought BNL Bearing and established it as
Sarnatech BNL Ltd., a part of Sarna Group's Sarnamotive Division America.
Mr. Garnett died in September 2003 after a battle with cancer.
Bearing inventor David Garnett dies in the UK
In its decision to divest Sarnatech BNL, Sarna announced it will sell that portion of the
company separately from the rest. Several analysts said they believe Sarnatech BNL is the only
profitable piece of Sarna's entire automotive supply division; selling it off separately will assure
a higher price, and make it more likely to be sold to another bearing manufacturer rather than
an automotive industry supplier.
Sarna made the decision to sell off its other divisions to focus on Sarnafil, a leading worldwide
supplier of polymer membranes for the international construction and civil engineering industries.
Sarnafil's 2004 sales were 379 million Swiss francs, up 5% over 2003. Sarna said it believes there
are exceptionally strong growth opportunities for Sarnafil which are lacking in its other divisions.
BNL has reportedly attracted some interest from potential buyers, but Sarna would not comment
if the buyers are from the bearing industry or other sectors.
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- by Bruce A. Carr
from individual research,
tips and commercial sources.
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
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eBearing.com ... for everything that moves™
Entire contents Copyright 1999-2008, eBearing Inc. All rights reserved.
eBearing.com and "... for everything that moves" are registered
trademarks of eBearing Inc.
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eBearing.com ... for everything that moves™
Entire contents Copyright © 1999-2008, eBearing Inc. All rights reserved.
eBearing.com and "... for everything that moves" are registered trademarks of eBearing Inc.
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