SKF's Industrial Supplies to Eastern Cape on Track

It was the end of an era for SKF South Africa's Uitenhage Factory when, at the end of June 2007, the facility ceased to manufacture bearings in South Africa. However, it is "business as usual" for long-standing Port Elizabeth-based SKF Authorised Distributor, MCL Engineering Products.

The vast majority of the SKF Uitenhage Factory's bearing production was for the export market and, one of the main reasons for the decision to close the local facility was the fact that 100% of the raw materials used for bearing manufacture were imported. The factory only supplied selected products to local automotive, agricultural and materials handling industries but did not manufacture any products for other industrial applications in South Africa and therefore could simply no longer compete in either local or international markets.

"Supported by our unique global SKF Logistics Services Division, a world-wide operation with international distribution centers complemented by local warehouses and over 100 factories, we will always have sufficient stock to guarantee continued supply to all our local industrial customers on time, every time", says SKF Managing Director, Gavin Garland.

SKF's logistic system also manages a worldwide-integrated transportation network that includes all transport modes - daily and weekly airfreight and weekly sea freight departures to all major markets internationally - to ensure timeous delivery of SKF quality products irrespective of industry or location. SKF's distributors, like MCL Engineering Products, utilise this system and employ direct deliveries from SKF's central European Distribution warehouse in Brussels.

SKF remains the number one bearing brand and continues to lead the world in bearing engineering technology, rotating equipment, allied products, services and solutions. Despite the Uitenhage factory closure, the local industrial market can continue to rely on the complete range of quality products, tailor-made solutions and service excellence from SKF and its authorised distributors.

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