Chinese bearing manufacturers are aiming for better bearings

Numerous National players in the Chinese bearing industry are taking measures to strengthen their position in the domestic market in order to increase further expansion abroad. Many manufacturers in China need to overcome a number of barriers, including technological backwardness that will allow the production of high-tech, high-margin and high-precision bearings, for which demand continues to grow worldwide.

Chinese bearing manufacturers are taking measures to solve and strengthen their technological problems

The Association of Chinese bearing industry and several industrial institutes and organizations made a number of recommendations and suggestions to improve the bearing technology and processing equipment. A number of solutions for the technological problems, the introduction of new equipment manufactured in China, the need to develop R&D and the commercialization of the latest developments are introduced:

- The transition to multi-place machines for the forging of bearing rings with diameters ranging from 50 mm to 300 mm;

- Use of induction heating for forging, which allows accurate temperature control and maintain a record of process parameters in real time;

- Solving of a number of technical issues with the quick cold-rolling billets in a wide range of sizes, particularly for thin-walled parts;

- Use of the CNC machining centers for machining parts with diameters up to 300 mm in the production lines.

- Localize the production of sophisticated equipment for heat treatment, especially with the roller hearth furnaces and furnaces for hardening at lower bainite, which are now imported into the country;

- Study and solve the problems of stable processing of the parts and rolling elements by using high-precision machine tools;

- Implement high-speed and co-grinding, for the grinding of bearing parts

- For large amounts of processing, implement the use of auxiliary equipment for automatic line connection; depending on the type, size and requirements of the product;

- To develop proper assembly line for tapered roller bearings are widely demanded in the market and shall create high added value;

- Actively develop ongoing assembly of bearings;

- Actively use cleaning agents, including for demagnetization;

- Facilitate the introduction of new generation, more efficient high-speed electric spindles, to assure environmentally friendly and low-loss lubrication in production.

In addition, China Bearing Industry Association advises companies to work closely together in the field of innovation, invest in modernization and seek support at the level of national policy, which should lead to the speedy completion of the objectives.

Overview of ‘Bearing Manufacturing’ in China from National Grinding machine tool producers’ perspective

• The Bearing Industry worldwide is the largest consumer of the grinding equipment, first of all cylindrical grinders.
• Chinese Bearing Industry is the fastest growing sector of this market. India is on the second position.
• Chinese government supports local bearing manufacturers.
• Bearing manufacturing in China is in transition from growing in terms of quantity to its development in terms of quality. The mass production cheap bearings markets have been pretty much developed already (the bearings for appliances, automotive etc.). Further growth is possible only in a direction of high quality medium and large size bearings, produced in small and medium series for industrial applications – machine tools, energy, including wind power, mining, off-road machines, metal and paper mills, aerospace etc. These bearings are demanded for the domestic Chinese market as well as for export.
• Rings of medium and large size bearings are ground on universal or specialized cylindrical grinding machines oppose to small bearings ground on special automatic machines with build-in loading –unloading systems with a very short grinding cycle time (sometimes shorter than loading-unloading cycles).
• The main market advantage of Chinese manufacturers is low production costs and so low prices. This advantage disappears with increasing demand to the quality of the products. For high precision bearing machining time is much greater due to “soft” cutting parameters, increased number of grinding passes, periodic equipment adjustment and high percentage of scrapped products.
  The Chinese bearing industry is highly competitive. Hundreds of manufacturers make the same bearings; their production costs are similar. Customers have a privilege to choose only quality products.
• The average level of technology in the Chinese industry is middle.  Not all the technologies are available in the open market – lots of new technologies should be developed within companies. This includes grinding processes. Many of companies do not have enough experience, skills, financial and other resources for productive R&D.
• Grinding machines offering in the market can be split into two categories – cheap low quality machines built by local manufacturers and high quality very expensive machines from Sweden, Germany, Italy and Japan. The first group cannot provide high quality production, the machines from the second group is affordable by a limited number of companies, primarily large ones.