The Timken Company is a global manufacturer of bearings and power transmission products. Timken operates from 42 countries.

Company history

In 1898, Henry Timken obtained a patent for an improved tapered roller bearing, and in 1899 incorporated as The Timken Roller Bearing Axle Company in St. Louis. In 1901, the company moved to

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes an ...

, as the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

industry began to overtake the carriage industry. Timken and his two sons chose this location because of its proximity to the American car manufacturing centers of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

and the American steel-making centers of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and Cleveland. In 1917, the company began its steel- and tube-making operations in Canton to vertically integrate and maintain better control over the steel used in its bearings.

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fight ...

had created an increase in demand for steel, affecting its supply and price in the market. Timken entered international markets in the early 1900s, establishing a presence initially in Great Britain, France and Germany. The performance of Timken tapered roller bearings in

military equipment made an impression on the European bearing market. After the war, Great Britain rose to the position of #2 in the global automotive manufacturing market, creating opportunities for Timken to expand its European manufacturing presence. Timken entered the Great Depression in a strong financial position and its performance placed it in the ranks of the most solid, well-managed industrial firms of the 1930s. Expanding into non-automotive markets like agriculture, machine tooling, industrial and rail softened the impact. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Timken production increased dramatically to keep up with wartime demand. For instance, every U.S. jeep was built using 24 Timken® bearings. With 660,000 jeeps delivered to the U.S. military, Timken delivered more than 15.8 million bearings for those vehicles over the course of the war. Following the war, much of the machinery shipped to Europe under the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic ...

was Timken-bearing equipped, helping Timken establish a broader presence in a bearing market where European competitors had dominated. By 1960, Timken had operations in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, France, South Africa, Australia and Brazil. Timken Research was created in 1966 to establish technological leadership and to help standardize research and development processes across the company. Timken expanded into new global markets throughout the 1970s and 1980s, establishing a sales operation in Japan in 1974 and opening sales offices in Italy, Korea, Singapore and Venezuela in 1988. By the late 1990s Timken also had a sales presence in Spain, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. Timken acquired its competitor, The Torrington Company, in 2003 for $840 million, doubling the size of the company and creating the world's third-largest bearing manufacturer at that time. The company changed its corporate structure in 2014; the roller bearing-producing part of the company was separated from the steel-producing part of the company, resulting in two separate companies. The Timken Company continues to manufacture roller bearings, while TimkenSteel produces steel.

Company overview

Timken is currently focused on expanding its tapered roller bearings and growing its offering of industrial bearings and mechanical power transmission products and services. Today the company engineers, manufactures and markets bearings, gear drives, automated lubrication systems, belts, chain, couplings and linear motion products, and offers a spectrum of powertrain rebuild and repair services. Timken engineering knowledge in metallurgy, tribology and power transmission is applied across bearings and related systems to improve the reliability and efficiency of machinery around the world. Applications range from the

Mars Rover A Mars rover is a motor vehicle designed to travel on the surface of Mars. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny p ...

to offshore

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year ...

s. The Timken Company brands include: Timken bearings, Fafnir bearings, EDT bearing housed units, Lovejoy couplings and universal joints, Carlisle belts, Cone Drive worm gear drives, Drives chain, Diamond chain, Groeneveld-BEKA lubrication, Interlube lubrication systems, PT Tech industrial clutches and brakes, R+L Hydraulics hydraulic components, Rollon linear motion products and Torsion Control Products spring couplings. The company also operates Timken Power Systems, which supplies and services industrial drivetrain customers with repair, upgrade and service for bearings, gearboxes and electric motors. Timken has a significant presence in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. The company's Indian subsidiary is called Timken India, and is publicly listed on the

National Stock Exchange of India National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) is the leading stock exchange under the ownership of various group of domestic and global financial institutions, public and privately owned entities and individuals. It is located in Mumbai, Maha ...

and the

Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Limited, also known as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is an Indian stock exchange. It is located on Dalal Street in Mumbai. Established in 1875 by cotton merchant Premchand Roychand, a Jain businessman, it is the oldest stock exchange in ...

. One of Timken India's largest customers is

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

, and as of 2022, supplying to Indian Railways accounted for approximately 17% of Timken India's revenue. In 2018, Timken India acquired ABC Bearings, an Indian bearings manufacturing company.

References

External links

Company site
an

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{{Authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Manufacturing companies established in 1899 Companies based in Ohio 1899 establishments in Missouri Bearing manufacturers American brands