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The eBearing News
September 20, 2006
Timken Marks Tenth Anniversary in China,
Continues Expansion Plans
copyright © 2006 eBearing Inc.
The Timken Company (USA; NYSE
TKR)
will continue to grow aggressively in China, according to President and CEO, Jim Griffith.
Mr. Griffith was in China to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its first manufacturing
venture there, in Shandong.
On a pace that has seen Timken adding one new manufacturing plant in the country each year for the
past four years, Mr. Griffith indicated the push will continue unabated.
James Gresh, President of Timken China, said: "Timken is committed to growing rapidly in
China and we are looking at opportunities."
Timken opened its first sales office in Hong Kong in 1992, another in Shanghai in 1993 and
Beijing in 1996. Today, there are sales offices in seven major cities. A large distribution
center is located in Pudong New Area, near Shanghai.
The door opened in 1996, when Timken established its first manufacturing joint venture there --
Yantai Timken, with local partner Shandong Yantai Bearing Factory. But unhappy with the performance,
quality, and unwilling to mark the bearings with the Timken brand, Timken bought out Shandong
Yantai in 2001. The plant posted its first profit in 2004. Today, Yantai Timken produces Timken
branded bearings for automotive and industrial applications, and reportedly has a capacity of more
than 5 million sets per year.
Mr. Gresh said: "A bearing component made at Yantai can be paired with its match from any
other Timken plant and both will fit together."
article: Timken completes buyout of Yantai
"We intend to duplicate our success in Yantai time and time again in China," said Mr. Gresh,
"Our growth in China is exciting, but it has just started."
Another important step in both its China and joint venture strategies occurred in 2003, when
Timken teamed with NSK Ltd. (Japan) to build a plant in Suzhou, producing single-row tapered roller
bearings for automotive and industrial applications. It came online in 2004.
article: Timken and NSK break ground on Suzhou joint venture
Timken is working on its fifth plant, in Wuxi province, tying to a facility
inherited with the acquisition of Torrington.
Although the Chinese market is currently not a major factor in Timken's worldwide sales, its importance
is growing. Across all of Asia, sales were approximately $300 million in 2005. Employment
in the region has reached 3,500, and the company just graduated its first group of engineers
from a new training center.
Mr. Gresh said: "We are truly dedicated to the long-term growth of Timken in China. We have been
growing at a rate of more than 20% each year and have aspirations to double our sales here
again by the end of the decade."
Mr. Griffith commented: "China is our number one growth priority in the world; China is the
platform from which to build our second century of success."
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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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