TraceParts improves brand visibility for SNR

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 13, 2008

SNR is a manufacturer of bearings in France and develops parts for the industrial marketplace, automobiles and for the aerospace sector.

The company has five production sites in France and six in other locations around the world.

Its recent merger with Japanese company NTN was aimed at situating the new group NTN SNR to be ranked third in the world of bearing suppliers.

Selecting a bearing is not only the result of simple geometric criteria.

In addition, many parameters come into play such as speed, force, or conditions of utilisation.

In the mid-1990s, SNR decided to develop a configuring CD-ROM, called ICAT, in order to help its clients define the appropriate equipment with clear criteria.

Axel Rocher, marketing manager for the industrial markets at SNR, explains the objectives of this configurator: 'ICAT made it possible to select a bearing from our line using a certain number of formula fields.

'Customers could define geometric specifications and various technical constraints linked to the bearing's operational environment.

'ICAT also made it possible to find one of our products by simply inputting a competitor's reference number.

'But, in addition, we wanted to propose a graphic display of the bearing to users of this CD-ROM, and we lacked the expertise for that.' In order to attain this last objective and to generate a 2D electronic design for the selected equipment, SNR called upon Trace Software Group.

'This initial development is at the origin of the ongoing active partnership between SNR and TraceParts,' said Axel Rocher.

'The team at Trace Software Group and the tools it implemented responded perfectly to our expectations.

'The company did not yet have the desire, and probably did not even have the idea, to become one of the main players as supplier to industrial component libraries.

'When this strategy was confirmed, and TraceParts was created, the partnership with SNR was naturally reinforced because generating our bearings in 3D in all CAD formats was a complementary service that we wanted to bring to our customers.' The ICAT CD-ROM still exists today but the majority of users of SNR bearings go online to make selections.

On the SNR website, a complete set of choices can be found that leads to a rapid selection of components and the generation of the part in the TraceParts environment.

At the end of the selection, the site also proposes calculation utilities that permit, for example, to evaluate the life span of the bearing, to determine the factor of static security, or to describe the lubrication process that is advised for this specific part.

'TraceParts has been able to partner with SNR while respecting our choices.

'The presence of our equipment product line in an online library is an important addition to our public presence and fits perfectly within the NTN SNR group's geographic growth strategy.

'It actually improves the visibility of our brand and our products in Europe and beyond,' said Rocher.