NKE Distributors’ Conference 2016 in Steyr, Austria: Synergies from partnership with Fersa Bearings

Bearing manufacturer NKE Austria GmbH held its eighth Distributors’ Conference in Steyr, Austria, from 2 to 4 June 2016. The conference was attended by 120 people from 54 companies, 27 countries and four continents. Taking place every two years, the event provides NKE’s global business partners with a platform for exchanging experiences and ideas. The main topic of this year’s conference was the partnership with Spanish bearing manufacturer Fersa Bearings, who has a stake in NKE since the beginning of the year.

The conference opened on 2 June with an evening reception. The following day saw presentations about the current development of the global bearing market, trends in distribution, an outlook on the next ten years, and latest product developments and innovations in NKE bearing technology. The participants were especially interested in the presentation of the new partner Fersa Bearings. In January 2016, the Spanish bearing manufacturer with headquarters in Zaragoza acquired a 49 percent stake in NKE. Fersa’s directors presented their corporate philosophy, production methods and processes, and gave an outlook on the expected synergies from the partnership.

„Both bearing companies complement each other and combine know-how in manufacturing and distribution of bearings for many years. Through this new partnership, we will be a multinational company with three state-of-the-art production facilities, five distribution centers as well as three R&D centers”, Harald Zerobin, NKE’s Technical Director, explained. „This way we are able to combine our strengths and competences to become even stronger strategic suppliers of bearings for global OEMs and distributors in their market segments, with NKE as a premium alternative for the industrial market sector, and Fersa in the automotive market sector.”

The day concluded with a gala dinner in “Museum Arbeitswelt”, an industrial museum in Steyr. The excursion on the next day gave conference participants a chance to enjoy the Austrian town of Gmunden and a boat cruise on Lake Traun. The next NKE Distributors’ Conference will take place in Spain in 2018.

NKE’s products are distributed through 12 international representative offices and more than 240 distribution outlets in over 60 countries. NKE supports its trading partners with product development, application engineering, comprehensive technical service and training. NKE offers both standard and special bearings for all industrial applications. NKE’s core functions – engineering, product development, final processing of components, assembly, quality assurance, logistics, and sales and marketing – are centralised at its Steyr headquarters. All NKE bearings are subject to stringent quality procedures and are tested using state-of-the-art procedures and equipment. In recognition of the exceptional quality of NKE’s products, the company was awarded the prestigious Austria Quality Seal last year.