RKB A Detailed Guide to Choose the Right Supplier0 pages

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As you know, rolling bearings are critical
components for the mechanical
industry. In this specific sector, the possibility
to choose products that comply
with the strictest international standards,
offering reliability and high
quality, is a strategic factor for longterm
decisions. For this reason, in the
rolling bearing market, especially for large bearings, big
spenders tend to resort to the oligarchy of industry giants
rather than a myriad of small and unknown companies
emerged in the past few decades. After all, the process to
define the quality of a bearing, mainly a high-tech product
built to specific application requirements, can be very long
and expensive in terms of resources.
In recent years, we have also seen the rise of companies
that, though having no production factory, address the market
as if they were actually bearing manufacturers. These
are mostly organizations that assemble different components
acquired from emerging markets, with no control on
the supply chain and inevitable consequences on final product
quality. Obviously, this misleading and fraudulent presentation
of a business that does not exist generates strong
mistrust in the industry as a whole.
Based on this premise, knowledge and experience acquired
in the field over more than seventy years have allowed the
RKB Group, the Swiss manufacturer of high value added
bearings, to define the features that help you tell a reliable
rolling bearing supplier from an inconsistent source.
This is particularly true for large bearings (mainly heavyduty
products starting from 200 mm bore diameter); for
these components, theory, technical competence, production
technology, procedures and processes are much
more complicated than for small and more popular bearings.
The compliance procedure for bearing suppliers has been
conceived, studied and implemented by RKB in close collaboration
with the Department of industrial system technology
and management of a major university in Northern
Italy. For an accurate evaluation of the actual reliability and
consistency of a rolling bearing supplier, from design to
manufacturing up to after sales, The RKB Group recommends
Purchase Departments to stick to the nine points
listed hereafter:
1. If required by the situation, it is necessary to subscribe
a preliminary non-disclosure agreement to protect both
parties from the improper use of information transferred
during the relationship;
2. The commercial evaluation shall consider general supply
conditions, delivery terms and prices;
3. The technical evaluation shall be very exhaustive and
the supplier must provide: application analysis, including
feasibility criteria; project development; selection of bearing
type and size; calculation of load capacities for veri-
PubliTec Points of view
A detailed
to choose
A numerical
control vertical
grinder
at the RKB T3
Plant production
site.
by Stefano Cugno
Visit the company
Web site through
your smartphone.
How can you tell a reliable supplier of rolling bearing
from an inconsistent source? The RKB Group has developed
a specific procedure, studied and implemented in
close collaboration with the Department of industrial
system technology and management of a major university
in Northern Italy. Let’s find out more.
fication purposes; engineering and technical drawing
of bearings; fine-tuning and optimization; declaration of
technical specifications, protocols and standards adopted;
advanced calculation and simulation by means of
software products complying with international standards
and recognized by the scientific community; traceability
of all activities;
4. Evaluation of the supplier’s reputation or standing in terms
of general information, qualifications, activities and liabilities,
economic and financial status, expenditure and
investment capacity;
5. Evaluation of the warranties offered by the supplier
(Representations & Warranties), i.e. the set of certificates,
affidavit, written declarations, public documents and references
that formally witness to the supplier's consistency;
6. Evaluation of the supply and production chain operations,
mainly as it refers to vertical integration levels, i.e.
operations actually executed inside the company, and
the possibility to carry out audits in the factories and headquarters
to check the compliance of processes, facilities
and procedures to the requested features;
7. Evaluation of laboratory analysis on the bearing, in terms
of design accuracy, execution and geometry, as well as
raw material quality;
8. Evaluation of tests carried out on the application and related
certifications;
9. Final approval, stating that the product complies with all
reference standards and project specifications.
Following this procedure is essential to ensure high quality
standards and a correct relationship with customers. As
a matter of fact, if you define the responsibility of each actor
in the bearing supply process, especially high-tech products,
the procedure can guarantee that:
• products comply with applicable international standards
and/or with technical project documentation;
• the expected bearing characteristics, parameters and performance
are complied with;
• relationships between the parties involved in the supply
process are carried on clearly and openly, with no misleading
or fraudulent behaviors, especially as relates to
the consistency and reliability of companies and products.
Finally, to streamline the evaluation process of the actual
nature and consistency of rolling bearing suppliers, RKB
has implemented the roadmap described above in a simple
form (Bearing Supplier Eligibility Compliance Procedure
Form) that can be downloaded from the Web (http://
www.rkbbearings.com/docs/ Bearing_Supplier_ Eligibili ty_
Compliance_Procedure_ Form.pdf) and filled out in digital.
Stefano Cugno is Strategist and Market Analyst of the
RKB Bearing Industries Group.
T R A S M E C P u b l i T e c s r l - V i a P a s s o P o r d o i 1 0 - 2 0 1 3 9 M i l a n o - w w w . p u b l i t e c o n l i n e . i t 3
Punti di vista
guide
the right supplier
Quality control
at the RKB
headquarters
in Balerna
(Switzerland).