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Another one gone, SKF Bearing In Avon, Ohio

From what I can see by the size It looks like only the bigger bearings.

I hate to see the large bearings go over seas. I would think they would be used for turrets on ships/tanks or heavy equipment something else China should not have a Monopoly on.

The date on manufacture on some of the machines are 2007 so I hope they are lightening the load to bring in newer or better equipment.
 
"We are deeply appreciative of our employees in Avon and North Charleston and we are committed to fully supporting them as they transition to roles outside SKF." from a 2020 announcement it may be the Avon facility is already closed.

 
Is this the Avon bearing company that made the large rotek bearings for excavators & cranes ?
I was employed at this facility for nearly 10 years. SKF purchased Kaydon in 2013.
Kaydon purchased Avon Bearings in late 2007 for $55M. This is the same Avon Bearings plant that specialized in large bearings for cranes and excavators. SKF decided to make a large investment in a facility in Sumter, South Carolina. This brilliant decision resulted in the closure of the Avon plant. Word on the street is that Sumter continues to struggle making bearings that were made successfully in Avon for years.
 
"We are deeply appreciative of our employees in Avon and North Charleston and we are committed to fully supporting them as they transition to roles outside SKF." from a 2020 announcement it may be the Avon facility is already closed.

Meaning "Don't come down here, we don't want you"
Was this union busting ?
 
I was employed at this facility for nearly 10 years. SKF purchased Kaydon in 2013.
Kaydon purchased Avon Bearings in late 2007 for $55M. This is the same Avon Bearings plant that specialized in large bearings for cranes and excavators. SKF decided to make a large investment in a facility in Sumter, South Carolina. This brilliant decision resulted in the closure of the Avon plant. Word on the street is that Sumter continues to struggle making bearings that were made successfully in Avon for years.

Lockheed Martin did the same thing in 2015. They made a large investment in their Oswego NY facility and shut down operations in Akron. They didn't sell anything off though. They packed up all of the shiney new Mazaks and shipped them to the new facility.

Meggit aircraft braking systems followed shortly after by sending their DoD work to Kentucky and the commercial work to Mexico.

They were the last two companies representing the legacy of Goodyear Aerospace.

Edit: Both shops were union. UAW local 856
 
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Avon Ohio auction ended 8-9-2022)

Now it looks like it's on to Mexico.....

They already tried some years ago, nothing sold. Basically, Kaydon effed up. There was never the market for these things that they thought, and these machines were the third-rate crap they bought for Mexico. Youji, bleugh. And those phoenix things, double-bleugh*. Not sure how some ended up in Ohio. It was all slewing bearings for wind energy, which has kinda collapsed in the US. The gashers are not suitable for low-production parts, Doug. Cutters run eight to ten thousand and only good for one design.

A friend was a Kaydon plant manager in, I think, Charlotte ? He quit right after they pissed away many millions moving across the road in Sumter, for no reason except some fool's wet dream in management. And yeah, he had some stories about Sumter. Pretty funny how stupid people can be when they try.

It wasn't a case of being out-competed by anyone overseas, Kaydon went bad, like most US corporations after Milton took control of the country, and fell apart.

Maybe you guys should be more concerned about incompetent US management than the inscrutable competition overseas ....

* Place I know doing the same thing in Minhang bought G&L and Liebherr for the same job. Who buys quality ?
 
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Youji, bleugh. And those phoenix things, double-bleugh*. Not sure how some ended up in Ohio.

The shop I work for has 4 Phoenix VBM's. 2 were built on the iron from our old Gray machines. We've also got G&L, Mitsi, Pama and Ingersoll VBM's and HBM's.

The Ingersoll VBM is massive. The columns are something like 60 feet tall.
 
The shop I work for has 4 Phoenix VBM's. 2 were built on the iron from our old Gray machines.

Didn't they start out in Arizona rebuilding stuff ? Or, more like using the old bases and castings to make new machines out of old castings ?

But their gashers are awful. Or maybe not awful but well below the level of the competition. Cheap trash, pretty much. Even the Yichang ones are better.

The Ingersoll VBM is massive. The columns are something like 60 feet tall.

Ingersoll has always been impressive :) But have to love G&L as well, for VTL's. Definitely a class act.
 
I was employed at this facility for nearly 10 years. SKF purchased Kaydon in 2013.
Kaydon purchased Avon Bearings in late 2007 for $55M. This is the same Avon Bearings plant that specialized in large bearings for cranes and excavators. SKF decided to make a large investment in a facility in Sumter, South Carolina. This brilliant decision resulted in the closure of the Avon plant. Word on the street is that Sumter continues to struggle making bearings that were made successfully in Avon for years.
I am from this area, and skilled labor is non-existent. SKF has been running billboards for machinist.

$3,000 sign on
$17-24 per hour & benefits

Thing that irritates me with SKF.
They have 3 tiers of bearings. SKF, PEER & generic. They are not adding distributors at this time. So I have to go international SKF distribution & can buy SKF bearings cheaper across pond with shipping than from 5 minutes away. $20.00 bearing in the USA from South Africa is $4.20 with VAT
 
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They already tried some years ago, nothing sold. Basically, Kaydon effed up. There was never the market for these things that they thought, and these machines were the third-rate crap they bought for Mexico. Youji, bleugh. And those phoenix things, double-bleugh*. Not sure how some ended up in Ohio. It was all slewing bearings for wind energy, which has kinda collapsed in the US. The gashers are not suitable for low-production parts, Doug. Cutters run eight to ten thousand and only good for one design.

A friend was a Kaydon plant manager in, I think, Charlotte ? He quit right after they pissed away many millions moving across the road in Sumter, for no reason except some fool's wet dream in management. And yeah, he had some stories about Sumter. Pretty funny how stupid people can be when they try.

It wasn't a case of being out-competed by anyone overseas, Kaydon went bad, like most US corporations after Milton took control of the country, and fell apart.

Maybe you guys should be more concerned about incompetent US management than the inscrutable competition overseas ....

* Place I know doing the same thing in Minhang bought G&L and Liebherr for the same job. Who buys quality ?
I'll second that. They get some fool as a CEO who doesn't even know what a bearing is to run the company. Sure, the guy successfully might have run some other company. Maybe he was a Venture Capitalist who made a fortune for his shareholders. Anyway, its a recipe for disaster when fools like this try to cut corners in manufacturing environments. Why spend extra money for "Machine A" when the sales circular for "Machine B" says it can do everything Machine A does....but better. Don't listen to the workers. They are stupid.
 








 
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