Customers Turn to Timken For Rolling Mill Training

Demand for Rolling Mill Industry Training classes conducted by The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) has nearly doubled in 2007, primarily because of the urgent need to train new millwrights to replace retiring veterans. Customers are turning to Timken to train their new workforce, relying on the company's steel-making and friction-management experience to help increase uptime.

"Many of our customers rely on Timken to help maintain the skills of their rolling mill maintenance team," said James Mayhugh, a principal service engineer at Timken who conducts many of the classroom and hands-on sessions included in the three-day program. "Because we maintain our own steel mills, manage our customers' maintenance operations through MILLTEC(SM) and operate roll, chock and bearing repair facilities, we have become a trusted source of training for rolling-mill operators."

Last year, 91 individuals attended Rolling Mill Industry Training classes held at Timken's service engineering lab in Canton. In 2007, 162 people attended.

The training program reflects Timken's extensive capabilities in providing services and solutions throughout the life of rolling-mill equipment. Subjects include: bearing fundamentals; proper handling, installation, lubrication, maintenance and repair of bearings; bearing damage analysis; four-row bearing maintenance and measurements; demonstrations of large-bore four-row tapered bearings used in high-speed applications such as rolling aluminum foil; and gear-drive bearing settings.

Participants use the training on the job to reduce maintenance costs and downtime. Attendees from various countries around the world have participated.

In addition, Timken arranges dedicated training programs for customers who request it. Steel Dynamics Inc. of Fort Wayne, Ind., sent employees at the company's mills in Butler and Columbia City, Ind., to a Timken program.

"Timken's credibility and experience showed through in the quality of this training," said Curt Butler, roll shop supervisor for Steel Dynamics' Structural & Rail Division in Columbia City. "Achieving and maintaining a well-trained workforce is our No. 1 priority. The knowledge that our personnel gained has enabled us to decrease downtime, and that's how we measure success."

About Steel Dynamics, Inc.

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) is the nation's fifth-largest producer of carbon steel products with 2006 annual revenues of $3.2 billion and annual shipments of 4.7 million tons. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Ind., SDI operates five electric-furnace mini-mills and employs about 3,500.

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