Revolvo Ltd. (UK, a division of Wyko Industrial Services; a division of Eriks Group, Netherlands) announced the latest in a continuing series of investment and expansion moves.

Revolvo operates its business as three divisions: SRB - Split Roller Bearing, RPP - Revolvo Precision Products, and RF1, targets highly specialized F1 racing bearings.

• RPP -- Revolvo Precision Products. Produces solid bearings and related specialty products for a variety of industries. A vertically integrated source for standard and custom designed bearings. RPP will also manufacture nonstandard and obsolete sizes and specifications, inch or metric.

• SRB -- Split Roller Bearings. Started in 1994, the division began selling split roller bearings in 1998. SRB offers a wide range of high-quality bearings, where the split design provides significant maintenance advantages. SRBs are offered in inch and metric sizes, approximately 18mm through 1000mm bore.

• RF1 -- Revolvo Formula 1. Founded in 1993 to manufacture bearings for auto racing and specifically Formula One. Extremely high quality, specialized bearings, low production runs, operating inspection, lubrication design, and inherently high service levels characterize RF1.

Founded in 1968 to manufacture high precision nonstandard bearing, Revolvo was acquired by Wyko in 2004. Eriks acquired Wyko in late 2006.

article: Eriks acquires Wyko Group
In mid-2006, Wyko began an extensive program to retool Revolvo and update its manufacturing resources.

article: Wyko invests in Revolvo advanced manufacturing
The latest series of investments involve the previously announced move to extend capacity into the 1.5m OD range, while adding grinding and turning capacity.

A £400,000 (USD $800,000) Republic Lagun CNC GER ID/OD hydraulic ID/OD cylindrical grinder adds the 1.5m OD capacity projected in mid-2006. A £300,000 ($600,000) Webster-Bennett 1.8m CNC vertical turning lathe and GF AgieCharmilles wire erosion machine for splitting races add to the equipment.

Revolvo said the new equipment, by grinding the ID and OD on a single setup, will allow it to cut lead times on large specialty bearings to less than 36 weeks, hampered only by limited availability of bearing grade steel forgings.

Soon, the latest series of investments will also involve greatly expanded facilities, as Revolvo continues on path to outgrow its current plant in Dudley.

Revolvo's Adrian Menzies said: "Investments of this type put us in the forefront of UK bearing manufacturing. And they are certainly paying off. Our ability to radically reduce delivery times, especially for large diameter bearings means that we have gained a great deal of new business in this sector; some of it because the international bearing manufacturers simply cannot deliver large bearings with anywhere near the lead times that we can. As evidence of this, in one recent example we were able to cut the best-case 18-month delivery time quoted by a major bearing manufacturer for 960mm OD cylindrical roller bearings by more than 50%, and deliver the bearings in just 8 months."