SKF
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| Type | Publicly traded Aktiebolag |
|---|---|
| Traded as | OMX: SKF B |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Founded | 1907 |
| Headquarters | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Key people | Leif Östling (Chairman), Tom Johnstone (President and CEO) |
| Products | Bearings, linear motion products, seals, lubrication systems, maintenance products, grease |
| Revenue | SEK 61.03 billion (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | SEK 8.452 billion (2010)[1] |
| Profit | SEK 5.138 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | SEK 55.22 billion (end 2010)[1] |
| Total equity | SEK 18.94 billion (end 2010)[1] |
| Employees | 44,740 (end 2010)[1] |
| Website | www.skf.com |
SKF, Svenska Kullagerfabriken AB (Swedish: Swedish ball bearing factory AB), later AB SKF, is a Swedish bearing company founded in 1907, supplying bearings, seals, lubrication and lubrication systems, maintenance products, mechatronics products, power transmission products[2] and related services globally.
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[edit] History
The company was founded on Sven Wingqvist's 1907 Swedish patent No. 25406, a multi-row self-aligning radial ball bearing. The Patent was granted on 6 June in Sweden coinciding with patents in 10 other countries. The new ball bearing was successful from the outset. By 1910, the company had 325 employees and a subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Manufacturing operations were later established in multiple countries.
By 1912, SKF was represented in 32 countries and by 1930, a staff of over 21,000 were employed in 12 manufacturing facilities worldwide with the largest in Philadelphia, Pa.
Assar Gabrielsson, SKF sales manager and Björn Prytz, Managing Director of SKF were the founders of Volvo AB in 1926. In the beginning, the company functioned as a subsidiary automobile company within the SKF group. SKF funded the production run of the first thousand cars, built at Hisingen in Gothenburg, beginning in 1927. SKF used one of the company's trademarked names: AB Volvo, which derives from the Latin "I roll", with its obvious connotations of bearings in motion. The ownership of Volvo lasted until 1935 when the last shares were divested.
In the 1970s SKF embarked on a massive production rationalization program in Europe. A visionary project, "Production Concept for the 80s" was launched with the aim to run the night shifts practically unmanned. To increase productivity and safeguard the product quality, a continuous, automatic flow of bearing rings was needed, so SKF developed the Flexlink multiflex plastic chain conveyor system. SKF divested FlexLink as a separate company in 1997.
[edit] Present day business
Today, SKF is the largest bearing manufacturer in the world and employs approximately 40,000 people in approximately 100 manufacturing sites that span 70 countries.[3] Turnover for FY2005 was SEK49,285 million, and total assets were SEK40,349 million. The SKF Group currently consists of approximately 150 companies including the seal manufacturer Chicago Rawhide. Since its founding, SKF's company headquarters have been located in Gothenburg. One recent acquisition was that of Economos, part of Salzer Holding, an Austria-based seal company, Jaeger Industrial and ABBA, Taiwanese manufacturers of linear actuators.
The company's clients include General Electric, Rolls-Royce plc and Pratt and Whitney. It also supplies bearings for Ferrari racing vehicles, used in Formula One races,[4] and is a sponsor of F1. Another focus area is the energy sector, including wind turbines which generate electricity.
SKF currently sponsors Richard Childress Racing and Jeff Burton in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
SKF is a member of World Bearing Association (WBA).
[edit] Products
SKF is selling products within five technology platforms:
- Bearings and Units
- Mechatronics
- Lubrication Systems
- Services
- Seals
[edit] SKF and Business Excellence
SKF runs an own business excellence program for continuous improvement of its business processes in all parts of the company. The program is based on previous initiatives like TQM and integrates with lean management also statistical methods of Six Sigma along with related project management.[5] Many elements of this SKF program remind of the integrated approach of the actual EFQM model for Business Excellence.
CEO Tom Johnstone was recognized as the Premier Six Sigma Leader of the year (2006) in Europe by the International Society of Six Sigma Professionals.[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] Company history references
- Fritz, Martin and Karlsson, Birgit (2006). SKF: A Global Story, 1907-2007. ISBN 978-91-7736-576-1
- Steckzén, Birger (1957). SKF: The History of a Swedish Export Industry, 1907-1957. (Swedish)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f "Annual Results 2010". SKF. http://investors.skf.com/files/press/skf/201102012102-1.pdf. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ "Annual Report 2009". SKF. http://investors.skf.com/files/press/skf/SKF09_en.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
- ^ SKF
- ^ Manufacturing & Logistics IT Magazine
- ^ "Business Excellence in SKF". sandholm.se. http://sandholm.se/pdf/Lean%20&%20Sex%20Sigma%202011/Business_Excellence_in_SKF_Tom_Johnstone.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
(Presented by Tom Johnstone during the Lean & Six Sigma 2011 conference in Stockholm) - ^ "First European Six Sigma Leadership Award". Cision Wire. http://www.cisionwire.com/skf/first-european-six-sigma-leadership-award-goes-to-skf-ceo-tom-johnstone-1. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
[edit] External links
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