"There is a concept called 'from west to east. The whole industrial chain, from manufacturing to research and development, is moving east. SKF has 15 technology centers around the world, while the ball bearing center is currently only in China." "Shi Bo, vice president of SKF China, told the paper.
SkF, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, is the world's largest bearing manufacturer. Recently, the SKF ball-bearing Xinchang production base and R & D center project was officially launched in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. The project's total area is about 130,000 square meters with a total investment of SEK 770 million (about 600 million yuan).
Ball bearing is a kind of rolling bearing, known as the "joint of industry". Ball bearings are widely used in automobile manufacturing, railway, machine tools, new materials manufacturing and other industrial fields.
The first phase of SKF Xinchang Production Base and R&D Center project started construction in July 2018. The first production line was put into operation in January last year, and the second phase of the project is under construction.
"When the second phase of the project is completed and put into operation by the end of this year, the output value will reach 4.1 billion yuan, making it the largest single bearing manufacturing plant in China." The project is the largest foreign investment in Xinchang County in recent years, said Li Ning, Xinchang County Party Secretary.
Dr Wu Fangji, the CTO of SKF China, told thepaper.com that application was the deciding factor behind SKF's move from "the west to the east". "Where there are applications, there are incentives to innovate." The Xinchang project is also the largest ball bearing production base invested and constructed by SKF in the world.
"In the post-epidemic era, 'provision' is the most critical thing. From a supply chain perspective, we are also working with local suppliers to make it seamless." "Shibo said.
In terms of market share, global bearing industry giants include SKF of Sweden, Schaeffler of Germany, NSK of Japan, etc. According to the available data, in the global consumption of bearings, Europe accounts for about 25% and America accounts for 20%. After the rapid growth in the past 15 years, the consumption of bearings in Asia has accounted for 50% of the global consumption. At present, China has grown into the world's largest bearing consumer market, accounting for more than 30%.
Xinchang is located in the east of Zhejiang Province, south of Shaoxing City. Li Ning, secretary of Xinchang county party committee, said that Xinchang is the hometown of bearings in China, the base of textile machinery, the big county of cold distribution and the production base of auto parts. "At present, Xinchang has 3 enterprises with sales exceeding 10 billion yuan and 15 listed enterprises. Especially in 2020, Xinchang ranked 58th among the top 100 counties in the comprehensive competitiveness of county economy, the highest ranking in history." Li Ning said.
At present, six of the world's eight multinational bearing companies have set up their China headquarters in China.
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