GOTHENBURG, Sweden (Nov. 3, 2016)—SKF is investing nearly $17 million (SEK 150 million) in modernizing its cylindrical roller bearing (CRB) manufacturing in Schweinfurt, Germany, according to a statement from the company.
This is the third significant manufacturing investment announced by SKF in the last 18 months, following the announcement of similar investments in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Flowery Branch, Ga., the company said.
The investment in Schweinfurt will involve the implementation of the latest technologies within machining, assembly and packaging and will result in older production channels being replaced by largely automated, world-class technologies, according to the statement.
Luc Graux, president of the company’s Bearing Operations, said: “We are very excited to be ramping up our investments in developing world-class manufacturing within SKF. The automated assembly and zero reset-time of the channel will greatly improve our flexibility and lead-times for medium- and small-size lots of standard CRB products. Our ambition is to launch pilot projects such as these across all of our main product lines, before replicating them across other manufacturing sites.”
Graux added, “Together with our projects in Gothenburg and Flowery Branch, we have now announced almost SEK 500 million of investments in upgrading and digitalizing our factories during the last 18 months. Ensuring we develop flexible and modern manufacturing processes is essential in supporting SKF’s growth and profitability ambitions.”
The latest investments announced are expected to be completed by the middle of 2018.