The Timken Company (USA; NYSE: TKR) announced a restructuring and realignment of its operations, to improve, "operational performance and acceleration of profitable growth."

Timken will now have two major groups and several divisions

Steel Group [ Sal Miraglia, Jr. ]

Bearings and Power Transmission Group [ Mike Arnold ]

    •  Mobile Industries
        -  rail
        -  off-highway
        -  agriculture
        -  heavy truck
        -  passenger car
        -  light truck
       Commercial Transportation Systems [ Peter Sproson ]
       Light Vehicle Systems [ Keneth Hopkins ]

    •  Process Industries [ Michael Connors ]
        -  heavy industry
        -  power transmission
        -  energy

    •  Aerospace and Defense [ J. Ron Menning ]
        -  OEM commercial aviation
        -  aftermarket commercial aviation
        -  OEM military aviation
        -  aftermarket military aviation

    •  Distribution and Sales [ Dan Muller ]
        -  bearings, seals, grease, condition monitoring
           and other products and services through distributors worldwide



Although a reorganization had been expected for some time, Timken surprised by not breaking out a separate operation to parallel SKF's successful value-added Service Division.

Losing out the reshuffling was Jacqueline Dedo. The former head of the now-troubled Automotive Group has been shunted aside to senior VP of Innovation and Growth.

The restructuring further consolidates and establishes Mike Arnold -- now corporate Executive VP as well as President of Bearings and Power Transmission -- as the only obvious candidate to succeed Jim Griffith.

Mr. Griffith, President and CEO, said: "With focused leadership and a strong balance sheet, we are well positioned to aggressively pursue growth opportunities with the potential to create exceptional value for customers and shareholders. In addition, as we implement this model, we expect to benefit from faster, more effective decision-making and less complexity in all parts of our business, allowing us to drive further improvement in our financial performance."