SKF Partners With Deacero to Improve Performance

SKF, the Swedish technology provider of bearings and housing solutions, is partnering with Deacero, the Mexican steel manufacturer, to improve performance and reduce downtime at the latter’s steel rolling mill in Celaya.

The partnership is built on a fee-based set-up covering bearings, bearing remanufacturing, maintenance services, application engineering and tools, SKF informed. By working together to understand the performance of Deacero's rolling mills, bearing service life and machine uptime can be increased. This will reduce overall maintenance costs and improving the production output and sustainability performance of the mill.

“SKF's unique combination of services and competence has been supporting customers improve their production output for over 20 years. We are very pleased that Deacero shares our commitment to working together to improve the local industry's competitiveness,” Claudinei Reche, President of SKF Latin America, said.

“Market trends are pushing manufacturers for improved quality, cost reduction and just-in-time production. SKF's service helps us to achieve this, while at the same time bringing innovative solutions that enable us to continue to deliver value to our customers,” Ivan Martinez, Central Negotiation Director at Deacero, remarked.

The agreement is in line with SKF’s growth strategy in Mexico. During an interview with Mexico Business News, Carl Orstadius, Director General of SKF Mexico, said the company is considering new investments in 2020 and 2021 to expand its capacities due to new business deals. “Our numbers for 2020 have grown considerably and we are gaining market share. We have a broad product offering and we produce locally and internationally.” Orstadius went on to explain that SKF is transferring some of its production from other countries to its sealing plants in Guadalajara. “Today, Mexico represents the biggest volume in seal production for SKF Group, while our bearing plant in the country is the second-most important globally,” he said.

Collaboration between the two companies will positively impact the industrial value chain in Mexico. Deacero is the largest steel wire manufacturer in Mexico. It operates 17 production plants and 26 distribution centers in North America. SKF’s mining solutions increase uptime and productivity while reducing costs. The Swedish company’s technology is known to withstand mining’s harsh operating conditions, including heavy vibrating loads, abrasive dust and dirt and temperature extremes.

Having a greater performance capacity will streamline SKF’s strategy of working directly with OEMs. Orstadius explained that local content value is crucial. SKF is developing a greater production capacity in Mexico for bearings than most of its competitors. He added that when an OEM sets up shop in Mexico, SKF gains business as it is likely already serving the OEM in another part of the world. “When they come to Mexico, they want to have providers with the global footprint they are used to. Once installed here, many OEMs shortly approach us,” he said.