Sustainability and the Cost of Counterfeit Bearings

Key Points on Sustainability:

1. Acorn’s Sustainability Initiatives:

   • Sustainable Supply Chain: Partnering only with manufacturers committed to environmental goals.
   • Sustainable Customer Offer: Supporting customers in achieving their sustainability targets.
   • Sustainable Operations: Transitioning delivery fleets to electric vehicles, reducing fuel costs by 50%. Efforts include biodiversity projects like beekeeping and improving energy efficiency in facilities.

2. SKF’s Sustainability Efforts:

   • Decades-long commitment, starting in 1989 with energy-efficient bearings.
   • Recognition as an EcoVadis Platinum member for sustainable practices.
   • Providing tools like CO2 calculators to quantify environmental savings from solutions like remanufactured bearings.

3. Remanufacturing Bearings:

   • SKF assesses and repairs failed bearings, regardless of the brand.
   • Examples show significant cost and time savings (e.g., £55,000 saved and lead times reduced from 16 weeks to 3-4 weeks).
   • Environmental benefits include major CO2 reductions, quantified as avoiding thousands of kilograms of emissions.

4. Addressing Friction:

   • 20% of global energy is used to overcome friction. Small improvements in components like motors and bearings can create significant energy savings.

5. Future Workforce Motivation:

   • Young professionals are increasingly driven by companies' environmental contributions, presenting an opportunity to attract talent.

Counterfeit Bearings and Their Risks:

1. Impact on Sustainability and Performance:

   • Counterfeit bearings often fail to meet the performance and sustainability standards of genuine products, leading to higher emissions and operational risks.

2. Identifying Counterfeits:

   • SKF emphasises that counterfeit detection is highly sophisticated, and the best prevention is purchasing from authorised distributors.

3. Preventative Measures:

   • Look for authorised distributor badges.
   • Use the SKF Authenticate app to verify products.
   • Avoid suppliers offering suspiciously short lead times or unattractive payment methods.

Conclusion:

Phil and Gavin stress the importance of small steps toward sustainability and vigilance against counterfeit products. By remanufacturing bearings and implementing sustainable practices, businesses can achieve both environmental and cost-saving benefits. Partnering with trusted suppliers like SKF ensures reliability, reduced downtime, and genuine, high-quality products.