Column: Navigating supply chain shifts in the bearing industry
The bearing industry has evolved from global manufacturing and distribution to localized production, requiring users and OEMs to adjust their design and procurement strategies.
May 5, 2025 | By Doug Martin
© Shutter B / Adobe Stock In the early years of the bearing industry, bearing manufacturers would set up manufacturing facilities around the world in many countries. In those factories, a broad range of bearing types and sizes would be made.
By the 1970s, however, with a developing global economy, bearing manufacturers began to rationalize production such that plants would specialize in a product line or two and on specific size ranges.
Locally, the manufacturers would have warehouses across the continent and in almost every Canadian province. As the highway systems developed and trucking increased, the smaller warehouses began to close, and soon there were only regional warehouses. By the turn of the century, bearing manufacturers relied on a central major distribution center that was operated by a third party and that held more than one power transmission manufacturer.
During this same period, the bearing distributors consolidated from a number of local and regional distributors, often family-run, into a few major distributors that had branches all over North America.
In the early 2020s, likely influenced by the COVID pandemic, the global transportation system began to have issues. Certainly, the frailty of the system was highlighted by the running aground of a container ship in the Suez Canal. Shipments across the Atlantic Ocean doubled from four to six weeks to eight to 12 weeks. Even today, we are still experiencing labour unrest at the major ocean ports.
Another factor is the high cost of crude oil, which affects the shipping industry’s reliance on petroleum-based fuel for ocean-going vessels. Indeed, we are in the beginning age of hybrid and electric cars, however, there is a lack of replacements for ships, railways and heavy road trucks burning diesel. The age of inexpensive and timely overseas shipping may be behind us.
However, bearing manufacturers are going back to “local” production (meaning within North America as opposed to state or province). Local plants are being converted to produce multiple product lines, leveraging the latest production technology that allows for shorter runs without the usual high costs of tooling changes.
Where does this place the user?
There is no question that users and OEMs must adjust to this new world in which product availability may not be what it once was. Here’s how a designer can address this issue:
Understand the design system for bearings in terms of what standards it follows. For instance, some bearing products may be more popular as a metric nominal product as opposed to an inch nominal product and vice versa.
For each product type, identify the preferred shaft diameters, as these determine which components are more commonly available for those sizes.
Not all bearings have equal availability. For example, consider three spherical roller bearings with bore diameters of 22215K, 22216K, and 22217K, which differ by just 10mm. The 22215K and 22217K are highly popular and readily available from distributors and manufacturers, while the 22216K is less common and often harder to find, along with its associated components.
Ensure that the chosen nominal dimensions are consistent with the components of the product. As an example, SAF-type housings are designed to inch nominal dimensions. The associated components for this housing, such as the triple lab seals are most often used with inch shafts. If a designer chooses a metric shaft to be used with these housings, the manufacturers will make the metric bore seals, but they are likely made to order and significantly more expensive. The same holds true for the SNL-style housings that are made to metric nominal dimensions as are their associated components. In this case, by using a metric shaft for these housings, one improves the chances of the components being availed and at the best price.
Keep in mind that just because the bearing is shown in a catalogue or on a technical website does not mean that it will be on the shelf or even regularly produced. Today, many manufacturers will tag the popular bearings to indicate those that are popular. Sometimes, one size larger will be more popular and less expensive. Work with the manufacturer’s representatives to help select the right product in terms of both dimension plans and which is more available.
Douglas Martin is a heavy-duty machinery engineer based in Vancouver. He specializes in the design of rotating equipment, failure analysis and lubrication. Reach him at mro.whats.up.doug@gmail.com.
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