Large investment sees UK bearing maker set for lead in large bearing manufacture
1 min read
With the acquisition of a new plant, Revolvo Ltd is set to become the UK leader in the manufacture of very large bearings up to 1.5 m diameter - solid or split.
The company has acquiired new GER 1.5 m CNC internal/external grinding machine, a new large CNC Webster & Bennet vertical turning centre, together with new GF AgieCharmilles Robofil 300 wire erosion machine for splitting.
The acquisition of these new machines enables Revolvo to offer lead times of less than 36 weeks for the delivery of large bearings. “We could do even better were it not for the current supply problems with bearing grade steel forgings,” said Adrian Menzies, Revolvo’s sales and marketing director. “However, we are addressing the lead-time issue with acquisitions such as the GER grinding machine and large CNC turning centre. Representing an investment of over £400,000, this enables us to grind both internal and external bearing diameters in a single set-up, reducing process cycle times substantially.”
Complementing Revolvo’s expanded grinding capability is an additional £300,000 investment on a 1.8 metre CNC vertical turning centre, and the wire erosion machine for the production of split bearing rings. These latest investments follow a substantial 2006 investment programme that included four highly advanced CNC internal / external grinding machines, which offer resolution and accuracy of 0.25 microns; a new laser etching machine, and a new Mitutoyo surface measurement system, which was purchased to further improve Revolvo’s process capability.
“Investments of this type put us in the forefront of UK bearing manufacturing,” said Mr Menzies. "And they are certainly paying off. Our ability to radically reduce delivery times, especially for large diameter bearings means that we have gained a great deal of new business in this sector; some of it because the international bearing manufacturers simply cannot deliver large bearings with anywhere near the lead times that we can. As evidence of this, in one recent example we were able to cut the best-case 18-month delivery time quoted by a major bearing manufacturer for 960 mm OD cylindrical roller bearings by more than 50 per cent, and deliver the bearings in just 8 months.”
The rapid growth of Revolvo’s business for both solid and split roller bearings has meant that the company has outgrown its existing premises in Dudley, and is soon to move to a larger site, which offers potential for future expansion.
