SKF celebrates 100 years in China and announces significant new investments

SKF Dalian factory

SKF has started a weeklong celebration of its 100-year anniversary in China holding a number of events. SKF sales in China started in 1912 and today SKF has 18 factories and over 7,000 employees in China.

SKF also announces further investments in this important market through establishing a new SKF Campus in Jiading, Shanghai to support the growth in China and Asia. The investment includes a new automotive factory for wheel bearings for passenger cars, as well as the relocation and expansion of the Global Technical Centre China (GTCC), SKF Solution Factory and SKF College to the new site. The GTCC includes product development, engineering services, global metallurgy and chemistry labs, manufacturing process development, testing and product investigation.

SKF Dalian factory

“SKF’s business in China and Asia is very important to the SKF Group and we are confident in its long-term development. This new campus means SKF will further strengthen our manufacturing, engineering, development and testing footprint in the region. It will enable us to even better support our customers locally with higher speed and increased competence and resources,” says Tom Johnstone, SKF President and CEO.

The investment for the land, new factory, and relocation of technical centre is around SEK 700 million. Built according to LEED certification standards, the new automotive factory will manufacture mainly hub bearing units for the automotive market. It will also support SKF Group best practices within global technology and processes; and will enable SKF to further strengthen local supply and engineering services to both Chinese and global customers in China.

“The new SKF campus brings together SKF’s best practices into one location enabling us to develop local competencies so we can better serve the needs of the customer of this region,” says Erik Nelander, President, SKF China.

The new campus will cover an area of 45,000 m2 and will employ around 900 people in 2015, of which 400 will be part of GTCC. Located in the Jiading district in Shanghai, the SKF Campus is in close proximity to several major SKF automotive and other customers, as well as technical universities and engineering institutes.

Construction is planned to start in Q3 this year and to be completed in Q4 2013.

For further information, please contact:
PRESS: Rebecca Janzon, Director, Press Relations,
tel: +46 31 337 2400, e-mail: [email protected]

INVESTOR RELATIONS: Marita Björk, Head of Investor Relations
tel: +46 31-337 1994, mobile: +46 705-181994, e-mail: [email protected]

SKF is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 15,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2011 were SEK 66,216 million and the number of employees was 46,039. www.skf.com

source: SKF