Engineering company celebrates 100 years

Over the last 100 years SKF has grown from a designer, manufacturer and supplier of bearings into a provider of a diverse range of engineering solutions.

SKF, celebrates its 100-year anniversary on 16th February this year.

The company has grown from a designer, manufacturer and supplier of bearings into a provider of a diverse range of engineering solutions.

SKF was originally founded in 1907 by Swedish engineer Sven Wingquist, following his invention of the self-aligning ball bearing.

In response to the common problems associated with shaft misalignment in rotating machinery, Wingquist invented this new type of bearing, which could accommodate misalignment due to its design comprising two rows of balls and a single concave raceway.

The self-aligning ball bearing is still widely used today.

Since then the company has introduced products including the spherical roller bearing, the hub bearing unit, and, most recently, the CARB toroidal roller bearing with unconstrained axial displacement ability.

Today, in addition to remaining at a edge of bearing technology, SKF is far more than just a supplier of bearings.

The company now also specialises in seals, lubrication systems, linear motion technology and condition monitoring systems, offering a complete range of engineering solutions.

SKF now works more closely than ever with its customers, sharing its expertise and experience in order for them to benefit from reduced development times, greater system efficiency and lower maintenance costs.

In 1911 SKF established the first SKF factory outside Sweden at Luton in the United Kingdom.

In 1912 SKF had representatives established in 32 overseas centres, mostly within Europe but also in cities such as Tokyo, Melbourne and Mexico.

From 1919 to 1924 the product range expanded and now comprised spherical, cylindrical and taper roller bearings.

Annual production reached a new record of nearly 6.5 million bearings.

In 1938 the company began production of the hub bearing unit, a double-row angular contact ball bearing unit for car wheels.

In 1947 the SKF theory for calculating bearing life was published by ISO and adopted as a world standard.

Two new factories opened in the USA.

In 1967 Group Headquarters were established in Gothenburg, Sweden, to streamline administration, increase international co-operation and co-ordinate manufacture.

In 1995 SKF launched a completely new rolling bearing - the CARB toroidal roller bearing.

SKF now had 90 factories, 44,000 employees, of which some 84% were working outside Sweden.

In 2001 the FILO Drive-by Wire concept car, developed jointly by SKF and the design company Bertone, was presented at the Geneva Motor Show.

In 2002 SKF Reliability Systems introduced SKF @ptitude, a reliability maintenance decision-making support system for end-user customers.

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