Firm’s Strategy Will Improve Bearing Repair Capacity

Canton, OH– The Timken Company plans to expand its industrial bearing services capacity in response to a strong long-term outlook for demand and to extend the company’s heavy-industrial customer base. Timken will invest nearly $6 million in this project, which includes the opening of a new service centre in Union, S.C., and the expansion of the company’s existing industrial bearing services facility in South Bend, Ind.

The investment will enable Timken’s Indiana facility to respond more quickly to customer needs. The South Carolina service location, which is currently housed within a Timken bearing manufacturing plant, will relocate to a facility solely dedicated to providing industrial bearing services.

The new centre will open in mid-year 2008. When it is fully operational in early 2009, it will have additional capacity to remanufacture bearing types and brands within the 18-in. to 51-in. size range.

“This investment supports Timken’s global services strategy of providing integrated maintenance services for our customers’ power transmission systems,” said Joseph W. Wonsettler, global operations manager for industrial services. “This expansion will allow us to increase bearing repair capacity and improve on-time delivery requirements for customers.”

Through its industrial bearing services, Timken provides customers with an integrated maintenance program that covers the total life cycle of bearings. Services include mill maintenance management programs, bearing remanufacturing, chock bearing maintenance and roll and chock repair.

In addition to South Carolina and Indiana, Timken operates bearing repair centres in India, Brazil, South Africa, China, Romania and France. For more information, visit www.timken.com/products/repair.