SKF South Africa recently announced the launch of their remanufacturing facility in Jet Park, east of Johannesburg. One of the drivers of this initiative is the increasing lead time for large size bearings (LSBs).
SKF's Warren Walker demonstrates the Kevlar ruler for accurately measuring bearing diameters
"Remanufacturing presents the best possible solution in terms of both cost and lead time as bearings that are in service can be removed during planned maintenance shut down periods, allowing refurbishment within a reasonable turnaround time. We can now remanufacture a large size spherical roller bearing that does not require replacement components in approximately two weeks," explains SKF bearing remanufacturing manager, Giscard Lailvaux.
Lailvaux believes that the current energy crisis will increase demand on remanufactured bearings as Eskom de-mothballs some power stations.
According to MD, Gavin Garland, demand from the wind power and tunnel boring industry has put bearing manufacturing facilities under severe pressure world-wide. SKF is making a concerted global effort to address the problem of the shortage of large size bearings and Garland quotes new production facilities in India and China that will target those product categories for which current demand outweighs availability.
SKF Remanufacturing will focus on high value LSBs that have to be removed from service before having reached their design life, LSBs that have been stored beyond the recommended preservative shelf life as well as LSBs that require new packaging due to handling errors.
By proactively remanufacturing LSBs, bearing service life will be prolonged through thorough condition inspection. This process will expose and prevent potential problems that, if left unattended, may lead to premature bearing failure.
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