EXPERT RESPONSE PROVIDED BY CHRIS NAPOLEON.
There is no broad brush answer to this question.
The power transmission industry can utilize the global
supply chain successfully. The global supply chain can
successfully support the application demands of the power
transmission industry. These are factual statements; however,
they unequivocally must be followed up by the statement
that a very thorough technical analysis of the supplier
one intends on using is required to ensure success. There
are literally thousands of bearing manufacturers in the
world—all wanting your business and all claiming they
can meet both commercial requirements of price and lead
time and technical needs of the application. The commercial
needs are fairly easy to evaluate. The technical aspects
of overall bearing quality are far more difficult to identify
and evaluate by an OEM design engineer. This is because
their area of expertise is typically not in bearing design and
even less in understanding and establishing bearing manufacturing
control limits that construct the basis of bearing
quality. Indeed, most critical bearing characteristics are
not under the direct control of any national or international
standard.

So, if a power transmission OEM intends on utilizing
the global bearing supply chain—which is almost a necessity,
since even the most notable bearing manufacturers
are global in their production—one needs to have, develop
or partner with someone who understands bearing
qualification practices. When this is executed properly,
certain global bearing suppliers can viably provide acceptable
quality for the power transmission industry. I’ve
traveled and inspected bearing product from around
the world and have seen the best and worst that’s
out there, and year after year I see OEMs successfully
sourcing bearings to meet extremely demanding
applications in all industrial applications.
Every successful outcome started
with the development and execution of a
specific technical bearing analysis process.
One other important point is that
those that are successful fully understand
that there is a cost associated
with the process necessary to gain
sufficient knowledge to ensure one’s success. There is no golden egg. Success in the utilization
of the global bearing market requires time and money, and
must be part of the equation. Additionally, the road to success
might include initial failure of a supplier and the need
to make changes and re-inspect and test to meet the necessary
requirements. This is common and, although painful,
it pales in comparison to the time, cost and pain associated
with catastrophic field failure prior to the expiration of the
warranty period.

In conclusion, all industries, including power transmission,
can look to the global bearing supply chain for solutions.
There are plenty of world class suppliers out there; you
simply need to develop a plan consistent with the risk associated
with the application and plan accordingly with time
and both financial and technical resources.(Chris Napoleon
is president/chief engineer of Napoleon Engineering Services,
www.nesbearings.com; cnapoleon@nesbearings.com.)