(March 25, 2011)
It's often hard to tell the difference between a genuine bearing and a counterfeit one. Let's face it, fake bearings will not have "fake bearing" written on them. They won’t be scratched, rusty or dirty and may not necessarily be any cheaper to buy. But how can you be certain you are getting what you paid for.
Premium brands such as NSK are always a target for counterfeiting, worldwide. We all know that counterfeiting is a crime but it is rife amongst many industries such as music, film, home electronics and fashion designer clothing. But counterfeiting poses a far greater risk to industrial safety critical items such as tyres, bearings and seals.
Faulty and worn out bearings can degrade quickly and not see out their expected life span. At best this means that your machinery will require downtime and repair sooner than expected. However as the buyer of a counterfeit bearing there may be financial and legal consequences of your actions.
Counterfeit bearings can be new, low quality bearings which to the untrained eye will appear to be labelled correctly. Even the packaging will be skilfully imitated. They may also be old or even used premium brand products that have been refurbished and polished to give the impression they are the real thing.
To protect yourself, your workmates, your business, always turn to a trusted, recognised source of bearing supply to ensure you are getting what you pay for.
Supporting the fight against counterfeiting, the World Bearing Association (WBA) has created an Anti-Counterfeiting Committee. This committee is dedicated to addressing the counterfeiting of premium brands and to assist the relevant authorities in eradicating it.
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