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The eBearing News
November 9, 2006
Timken Building Aerospace
Bearing Plant in China
copyright © 2006 eBearing Inc.
The Timken Company (USA; NYSE:
TKR)
announced it will build a greenfield bearing plant in Chengdu, China, to produce
high-precision ball and roller bearings for the aircraft, aerospace, and precision bearing markets.
Timken said Chengdu was chosen because it is centrally located to China's fast-growing aviation
and aerospace parts industry. Chengdu's High Technology Development Zone is also home to the
necessary infrastructure and workforce skillsets.
The plant, scheduled to come online in late 2007, is Timken's sixth in the China and will cost
approximately USD $15 million, initially employing 200 people. Production will begin with ball
and cylindrical roller bearings, up to 12 inches OD.
Eventually, Timken said the plant will lead to related additional operations, including
sales, engineering support, and customer service.
All of Timken's existing aircraft and aerospace bearing operations are in the U.S. and UK at
this point. Timken Aerospace and Landing Wheels are both in Lebanon, New Hampshire; Bearing
Inspection, acquired a year ago, is in Los Alamitos, California; Aftermarket Solutions
is in Mesa, Arizona, and Aerospace UK is in Wolverhampton, UK.
Those operations are OEM and FAA DER certified as Timken Aerospace and Timken Aerospace Services,
to manufacture and rebuild airframe, powerplant and accessory bearings: ball bearings,
cylindrical roller bearings, and tapered roller bearings.
Timken's aircraft and aerospace bearing portfolio includes applications for airframes, APUs,
engines, gearboxes, helicopter transmissions, instrumentation and landing gear.
By producing aircraft and aerospace bearings in China, rather than the U.S., the company is
hoping to expand its market share in the Asian market, where sales are growing at up to 30% per year.
The move also targets one of the most profitable specialty bearing sectors.
Its salesforce is already laying the groundwork in China, working with potential aviation industry
customers in the Chengdu area.
Mike Arnold, President of Timken Industrial, said:
"This investment is directly related to Timken's strategic initiatives to expand our presence in
industrial markets in Asia, as well as to build an increasingly diverse portfolio of aerospace precision
components and services worldwide. Timken is proud of its progress in China. The addition of new
capabilities and technology to this booming market will help us to serve the aerospace industry
in China and around the world."
Chengdu's mayor, Ge Honglin, said: "The city of Chengdu is proud to welcome Timken as a new partner
in our community and in the rapidly growing Chinese aerospace industry. Timken's confidence in our workforce
and history of good corporate citizenship, since their arrival in China in 1992, are the ingredients of
a strong future relationship with our city."
From its first presence in 1992, Timken now has five locations in China: Wuxi (3), Yantai, and Suzhou.
Including seven sales offices, employment in the country now tops 3,500 people.
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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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