News


SKF South Africa celebrates 110 years

June 2024 News

Established in 1914, SKF South Africa is proudly celebrating its rich 110-year heritage of delivering premium value solutions to customers across southern Africa. As the first SKF subsidiary on the African continent, SKF South Africa, then known as SKEFKO (South Africa) Ball Bearing Company, based in Pritchard Street, Johannesburg, went on to evolve from a bearings and engineering services supplier to develop innovative products and advanced technologies that seamlessly integrate with the digital era and meet the demands of modern day industry.


Today, SKF South Africa leads the southern African market as an OEM supplier of bearings, seals and power transmission and lubrication products, supported by professional mechanical engineering and remanufacturing services. These state-of-the-art product and technology solutions are widely used in nearly 40 market sectors across the region, including mining, materials handling, automotive, solar and wind energy, railways, machine tools, medical, food and beverage, and paper industries.

There have been a number of important developments and milestones during SKF South Africa’s distinguished 110-year history. These include the relocation in 2019 of its Jet Park, Johannesburg headquarters to larger, purpose-built premises, to accommodate future development and growth. The design of the new building, which is also situated in Johannesburg’s prominent Jet Park industrial area, aligns with SKF’s net zero drive; the building’s 383 kWp solar system delivers approximately 30% more than the company’s average needs, with the warehouse, workshops, offices and logistics essentially operating completely off-grid from 8:30 to around 16:30. Being a grid-tied system, energy is not stored in batteries onsite. However, SKF ensures that the excess electricity is not going to waste by feeding it back to the municipality free of charge.

Last year earmarked the launch of SKF’s Circular Economy Centre (previously known as the SKF Solutions Factory) and the TBU Bearing Refurbishment Centre. With the deliberate intention of making a meaningful contribution to sustainability, the Circular Economy Centre comprises an organic collection of SKF services. It houses a combination of quality circular economy product and service solutions, including the Bearing Remanufacturing Centre, project engineering, seal manufacturing services, RecondOil and a range of onsite services.

Machine efficiency and reliability are sustainability game changers. Through the provision of innovative designs, superior quality products, advanced technologies, connected lubrication systems, state-of-the-art condition monitoring, data analytics and machine learning, SKF engineers can increase mean time between failure (MTBF), extend machine longevity, and lower energy consumption for customers.

Reducing, reusing and recycling are key elements of sustainability, and here too SKF South Africa leads the market. Pivotal here is SKF’s specialist Bearing Remanufacturing Centre. Established in 2008, it gives high-value bearings a second, third and even fourth life. Reusing rather than replacing keeps customers’ costs down, and reduces lead times and material consumption. Moreover, bearings not eligible for remanufacture can be recycled to produce new bearings, effectively closing the loop. SKF’s remanufactured bearings and units conform to the same quality specifications as new SKF bearings and units.

SKF South Africa has a competitive edge when it comes to its comprehensive product portfolio of bearings and bearing units, axle boxes, bearing mounting/dismounting equipment, lubrication and condition monitoring solutions for the rail segment. The establishment of the TBU Centre further elevates SKF’s value chain and unlocks the tremendous potential presented of this important transport sector on the African continent.

Along with premium quality product and service solutions, steadfast customers, and a dedicated distributor network, a committed team of employees continues to drive the SKF success story. Since the appointment of its first distributor in 1970, SKF South Africa went on to develop a strategic network of authorised independent industrial distributors along with lubrication, commercial vehicle, and agricultural distributors in South Africa and neighbouring countries in a bid to deliver engineering, product and service solutions to customers’ doorsteps.

SKF invests in long-term customer partnerships, delivering ever more advanced and energy-efficient solutions that support the company’s strong history of optimising the performance, life, reliability and efficiency of customers’ rotating assets.

With an unblemished reputation for excellence in products and services, SKF South Africa looks to the future, keeping in step with market trends and requirements, ready to unpack the African continent’s vast potential. SKF South Africa continues to hone its products, technologies, services, experience, knowledge, capabilities and competencies. In doing so, SKF ensures that it continues its journey of delivering the right solutions that are aligned with a dynamic, rapidly developing industrial and digital landscape to futureproof customers’ operations for competitive edge and ultimate business sustainability.


Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

New Würth Elektronik location in South Africa
News
A new Würth Elektronik branch has opened in Brackenfell, Western Cape. The location operates under the name Wurth Electronics South Africa and will serve local customers, as well as being responsible for markets in Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia.

Read more...
John Thompson and BECS partner to deliver biomass energy solutions
News
John Thompson, a division of ACTOM and South Africa’s leading provider of industrial energy solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Berkeley Energy Corporate Solutions, a specialist developer and supplier of biomass energy projects. Together, the companies aim to accelerate the deployment of reliable, renewable steam solutions to industrial customers across Africa.

Read more...
Academy pumps out the next generation of experts
News
KSB Pumps and Valves has invested in a specialised training centre designed to equip internal and branch staff and certified partners with in-depth knowledge of KSB products and systems.

Read more...
Celebrating the power of diversity in the engineering sector
News
The engineering sector has historically been a male-dominated field, and to a large extent it still is. However, this is changing, and the shift is gaining significant momentum as more women begin to take up leadership roles, spearheading innovation and driving inclusive growth.

Read more...
Fifteen years of promoting innovation and supporting engineering excellence
RS South Africa News
RS South Africa is celebrating 15 years of promoting innovation and supporting engineering excellence through DesignSpark, its pioneering online engineering platform.

Read more...
From the Editor's desk: What happened to the metaverse?
Technews Publishing (SA Instrumentation & Control) News
One of the most interesting technical crashes in recent years is the metaverse. As recently as 2022, it was white hot, with massive hype led by Meta. Even Bill Gates was saying that in two to three years ...

Read more...
Omniflex celebrates 60th anniversary
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists News
Remote monitoring specialist Omniflex is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Read more...
Nidec adopts Siemens Teamcenter for electric motor development
Siemens South Africa News
Siemens Digital Industries Software has announced that Nidec Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer and distributor of electric motors, has adopted Teamcenter X software from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of industry software to achieve innovative motor development and supply to set new industry standards, including automotive.

Read more...
Yaskawa Southern Africa and Sol-Tech advance industrial robotics training
Yaskawa Southern Africa News
Yaskawa Southern Africa has announced a strategic collaboration with Sol-Tech, a private vocational training institution based in Pretoria, to strengthen technical education in industrial robotics and support the development of future-focused talent for South Africa’s evolving manufacturing sector.

Read more...
Building skills and sharing knowledge for growth in Africa
SEW-EURODRIVE News
As a leading provider of drive and automation solutions across the continent, SEW-EURODRIVE recognises that local insight and on-the-ground capability are critical to delivering effective sustainable results. The company continues to invest in people development and technical training within its network of African subsidiaries and partners, supporting the long-term growth of its customers and the broader industrial ecosystem.

Read more...









While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved