SKF Group is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training.

The SKF Group

SKF was founded in 1907 and grew at a rapid rate to become a global company. As early as 1920, the company was well established in Europe, North and Latin America, Asia and Africa. Today, SKF is represented in more than 130 countries. The company has more than 100 manufacturing sites and also sales companies supported by about 15,000 distributor locations. SKF also has a widely used e-business marketplace and an efficient global distribution system.

Five technology platforms

SKF groups its technologies in five platforms: Bearings and units, Seals, Mechatronics, Services, and Lubrication Systems. By utilizing capabilities from all or some of the platforms, SKF develops tailor-made offers for each customer segment, helping customers improve performance, reduce energy use and lower total costs, while bringing increased added value to SKF.

Three business areas, 40 segments

SKF does business mainly through three business areas: Strategic Industries and Regional Sales and Service, servicing industrial original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket customers respectively, and Automotive, servicing automotive OEMs and aftermarket customers. SKF operates in around 40 customer segments, whereof examples include cars and light trucks, wind energy, railway, machine tool, medical, food and beverage and paper industries.

Financial targets

SKF's long-term financial targets are to have an operating margin level of 15%, annual sales growth in local currencies of 8% and a return on capital employed of 27%.

Research and development 

Technical development, quality and marketing have been in focus at SKF since the very start. The Group's efforts in research and development have resulted in numerous innovations, forming bases for new standards, products and solutions in the bearing world. In 2009, the number of first filings of patent applications was 218.

Certification

The Group has global certification to IS0 14001 (environmental management systems) and OHSAS 18001 (health and safety) standards. Its operations are also certified to either ISO 9001 or applicable customer industry standards, e.g. ISO/TS 16949 (automotive), AS9100 (aviation) or IRIS (railway) for quality management systems.

SKF Care

SKF defines sustainability as SKF Care, comprising Business Care, Environmental Care, Employee Care and Community Care. Within each of these four cornerstones, key focus areas and targets are defined to drive continuous performance improvement

BeyondZero 

BeyondZero is a commitment, launched in 2005, stating that SKF is to realize business objectives in such a way that negative environmental impact is minimized, while positive impact is enhanced. BeyondZero goes beyond traditional practice of reducing negative impact by striving for an overall positive environmental impact. BeyondZero influences SKF's development of products and solutions.

CO₂

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is by far the most significant greenhouse gas generated as a result of SKF's operations. Therefore, the Group has set a target to reduce CO2 emissions by a minimum of 5% annually, irrespective of production volume. In 2009, the reduction was 18%, compared with reduction of 9.1% in 2008 and 2.2% in 2007.