SKF Group is the leading global supplier of products, solutions and services within rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems. Services include technical support, maintenance services, condition monitoring and training.
The SKF Group
SKF was founded in 1907, and grew at a rapid rate to become a global company. As early as 1920, the company was well established in Europe, America, Australia, Asia and Africa. Today, SKF is represented in more than 130 countries. The company has more than 100 manufacturing sites and also sales companies supported by about 15,000 distributor locations. SKF also has a widely used e-business marketplace and an efficient global distribution system.
Research and development
Technical development, quality and marketing have been in focus at SKF since the very start. The Group's efforts in research and development have resulted in numerous innovations, forming bases for new standards, products and solutions in the bearing world. In 2008, the number of first filings of patent applications was 179.
Five technology platforms
SKF groups its technologies in five platforms: Bearings and units, Seals, Mechatronics, Services, and Lubrication Systems. By utilizing capabilities of all or some of the platforms, SKF develop tailor-made offers for each customer segment, helping customers improve performance, reduce energy use and lower total costs, while bringing increased added value and higher price quality to SKF.
Three divisions, 40 segments
SKF does business mainly through three divisions: Industrial Division and Service Division, servicing industrial original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket customers respectively, and Automotive Division, servicing automotive OEMs and aftermarket customers. SKF operates in around 40 customer segments, whereof examples include automotive, wind energy, railway, machine tool, medical, food & beverage and paper industries. Read more
Financial targets
SKF's long-term financial targets were announced in January 2007. These are to have an operating margin level of 12%, an annual sales growth in local currencies of 6-8% and a return on capital employed of 24%. Results in 2008 were well in line with these targets. Towards the end of the year, the market demand weakened considerably. In the fourth quarter the automotive business continued to deteriorate and a negative trend was seen also for several industrial segments. SKF initiated actions to adapt the capacity and cost base globally to address this.
Certification
The Group has global IS0 14001 environmental certification and global health and safety management standard OHSAS 18001 certification. Its operations are also certified in accordance with either ISO 9001 or applicable customer segment standards, e.g. ISO/TS 16949 (Automotive), AS9100 Aviation or IRIS (Railway). Read more
SKF Care
SKF defines sustainability as SKF Care, comprising Business Care, Environmental Care, Employee Care and Community Care. Within each of these four cornerstones, key focus areas and targets are defined to drive continuous performance improvement. Read more
BeyondZero
BeyondZero is a commitment, launched in 2005, stating that SKF is to realize business objectives in such a way that negative environmental impact is minimized, while positive impact is enhanced. BeyondZero goes beyond traditional practice of reducing negative impact by striving for an overall positive environmental impact. A number of products and solutions have been launched as a result of SKF's work according to the BeyondZero concept. Read more
CO2
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is by far the most significant greenhouse gas generated as a result of SKF's operations. Therefore, the Group has set a target to reduce CO2 emissions by a minimum of 5% annually, irrespective of production volume. In 2008, the reduction was 9.1%. Read more
More about SKF in the latest annual report
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