600 Group member Gamet Bearings reports a 40 per cent growth in turnover for the third year in succession.
Gamet manufactures super high precision taper rolling bearings at its Colchester (Essex) factory to a rotational accuracy better than Abec 9/Timken 00 - the highest quality standard – a radial run-out on the bore within 0.5 micron (QK grade) and axial run-out of 3 micron.
Sales to non-600 Group companies are up by 28 per cent, while the continuing increase in the company’s order book is due in part to the success of its big bearings (up to 550 mm ID and 680 mm OD), in part due to the continued buoyancy of the top-end of the machine tool industry, but is primarily due to improved market penetration globally.
The company recently launched its range of large diameter bearings, particularly appropriate to the oil industry but pertinent to the grinding, turning, printing and steel industries as well as special purpose machinery. “The growth in our business is fundamentally due to the quality of our manufacturing process, which enables us to delivery exceptionally high quality bearings, on schedule, and at a realistic cost, combined with an aggressive marketing policy. We are winning – and retaining - business because we try to be very good indeed what we do,” said director/general manager Gerry Shrimpton.
Part of Gamet’s current success is that UK customers 600 Lathes, which manufactures the Colchester-Harrison range of Alpha and Tornado lathes, and Matrix Machine Tools, which manufactures high quality grinding machines, are both enjoying very buoyant markets for their machines.
Of greater consequence, Gamet is expanding existing markets and opening new ones around the world: it has increased substantially its market share in traditionally strong markets such as Germany, India and Taiwan at the same time as winning significant business in new markets such as China, Italy, Russia and Spain.
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