South Africa's well-known Bearing Man Group [website] has renamed and is rebranding itself as BMG. The move is meant to put a unified face on all of the merged divisional brands within the Bearing Man Group, and dispel any lingering market perception it might be just a bearing distributor.

BMG's product lineup includes bearings, seals, power transmission equipment, motors and drives, belting, fasteners, and filtration systems. The rebranding effort follows up on research that showed customers were not seeing beyond the Bearing Man name into its full product spectrum, particularly value-added engineering solutions and technical services.

Bearing Man was founded in 1974 in Durban as a bearing distributor. The company gradually grew to over 100 branches across South Africa and then the rest of Africa. Along the way it acquired Fenner Power Transmission in 1998, Invicta Bearings in 2000, Springset in 2004 and Oscillating Systems technology in 2005. In 2005, Bearing Man was acquired by Invicta Holdings.

2004 article: Bearing Man celebrates 30 years and new home office
2005 article: Invicta completes Bearing Man acquisition
BMG CEO Charles Walters said: "The new corporate identity reflects this phenomenal growth and consolidates the various divisions into one streamlined group, providing specialist services such as condition monitoring, lubrication and maintenance programs, design, installation and support, as well as energy-saving solutions to all sectors of business, including agriculture, mining, steel processing, robotics, sugar, paper and general engineering, as well as the automotive sector."

The logo's three interlocking arcs represent: Quality Components, Technical Expertise, and Superior Service.

Mr. Walters went on to say: "Our ongoing aim is to 'Simplify, Streamline and Clarify!' This re-branding process marks the beginning of a new and even more successful future for the group."

BMG's sales have been growing rapidly. The company's current target is to double sales, to more than 3 billion Rand (USD $320 million), by 2013. 2007 sales were 1.6 billion Rand ($170 million), up 14% from 2006.