FEATURE SEALS & BEARINGS THE BEARINGS REVOLUTION
efficiency of their warehouse and despatch systems. Riley says: “In many industries these
changes would have been standard. However in the bearings industry, this really was a revolution. Funnily enough it took a while to let customers know our new service was available, so marketing in the early stages was certainly key.” Quality Bearings Online is now a multi-
award winning international e-commerce company, providing bearings, lubricants and maintenance tools leading brands such as SKF, NSK, FAG, Timken, Shell, Dow Corning and more. Although they work with B2B
Can you spot the odd one out? Silicon chip, jet engine, mobile phone, roller bearing, penicillin and graphene?
W
hilst all of these products are still in use, only one was invented more
than 100 years ago. The answer is of course, bearings. You could be forgiven for thinking that today’s bearings have little in common with those of last century, but you would be wrong. To an engineer, they’re the shark or crocodile of the engineering world, perfectly adapted for what they do and changing little over time. However, the true origins go even
further back. Roller Bearings were first used by the Ancient Egyptians in 2600BC during the construction of the Pyramids. Many years later, Leonardo Da Vinci created a design for both the ball and caged ball bearing. Fast forward, and the independent
bearing industry began to evolve. One of the first companies to emerge was FAG, who specialised in single-row, barrel type, and spherical roller bearings. This was swiftly followed by other brands we know today such as Timken and SKF. Although the process and materials
used in bearing manufacture are radically different, there isn’t a big difference between the bearings used by the Egyptians and the ones in your business today. However, it was exactly this lack of change that gave one UK start up a fantastic business opportunity. Whilst bearings may not have changed, the users of bearings had. Globalisation, the internet,
8 NOVEMBER 2018 | FACTORY EQUIPMENT
standardisation, manufacturing tolerances, just-in-time, Kaizen had all happened in the intervening period. The traditional model of bearing sales and distribution wasn’t keeping pace with customer expectations and demand. Product availability, delivery, pricing
and ordering had not entered the internet age. Founded in 2012 by Simon Riley and Denny Maude, Quality Bearings Online was the first attempt at revolutionising how bearings were sold. As Riley explains: “The business was
founded on the principles of high quality international brands, with good stock availability and super fast delivery anywhere in the world within two working days. All supported by excellent customer service and product knowledge, delivered via phone, email or the website. “Although orders grew steadily, we
didn’t realise that we were onto a winning formula until after about nine months. During this period, we invested a lot of time and effort into researching our target markets, countries and products. This knowledge was then applied to our website, marketing communications and our overall offer.” Quality Bearings Online worked with a
range of external consultants to develop their offer, developing their website so it could geo-locate for pricing and contact information for customers in different countries, through to improving the
/ FACTORYEQUIPMENT
customers of all sizes, they have supplied bearings to companies such as Nasa, Bae Systems, Raytheon or Boeing, over 107 countries, in sectors as diverse as Aerospace, Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy, Marine, Textile & Food Manufacturing, Health, Automotive and others. Riley says: “Thanks to over 60 years of
industry experience, we now offer over 1 million products from stock, which can be delivered anywhere in the UK for the next working day, or worldwide in two days. “It is the efficiency of our team that makes our business successful and what allows us to offer such a quick product delivery.” This approach has helped Quality
Bearings Online double their turnover, every year for the last three years, and they’re now on track to double again for April 2019. As for the future, is another revolution expected ? Riley suggested that: “EW know we
Quality Bearings Online www.qualitybearin
gsonline.com T: 0808 168 1234
have a formula that works. Trusted products, availability and fast delivery with excellent service. Whilst these principles will stay the same, we’re going to keep developing each one. Deliveries will have to get faster, as will product availability and even how our customers choose to access products from us. Over the next five years, we’re also going to be investing heavily in some of our 107 target countries. So at least for the next few years, we’re thinking evolution not revolution.”
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