National industrial supplies specialist Bearings 2000 has acquired bearings and power transmission supplier MCL Engineering Products – based in Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape.

The acquisition, which was completed in July, will expand Bearings 2000’s reach in the Eastern Cape.

MCL Engineering Products – now known as Bearings 2000 Gqeberha – has been a distributor of products from bearing and lubrication company SKF for over three decades, and also provides additional products, such as gearboxes, conveyor rollers, linear motion and energy chains for the province.

“Our goal is to uphold these relationships and improve our market penetration by providing further value for clients. Moreover, the product offering will be strengthened with Bearings 2000’s product range that will be available through the Gqeberha distribution hub,” says Bearings 2000 MD Ross Trevelyan.

Hence, Bearings 2000 Gqeberha is Bearings 2000’s third coastal distribution hub, alongside the existing hubs in Cape Town, in the Western Cape, and in Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal.

The acquisition has the full backing of the brands that both companies supply.

“We are extremely proud and pleased to see that our loyalty and dedicated support to Bearings 2000 led to this courageous move, which will substantially boost the market share growth for SKF within the Eastern Cape,” says SKF Southern Africa MD Burak Murat Ozyurt.

Products supplied from the Gqeberha hub include SKF, COOPER, Cross Ocean Company and DODGE premium brands of bearings; SYN, B2K and FKD economical brands of bearings; and Dongil and SYN brands of power transmission.

These product ranges and brands will be bolstered by products already available, such as Bonfigioli gearboxes, Igus power chains, Interroll conveyor products and THK linear motion brands.

Despite both companies taking more time than anticipated to finalise the agreement, Trevelyan says the transition was smooth, with no noteworthy challenges.

“For us at Bearings 2000, the biggest milestone of the acquisition has been the good reception from our clients and suppliers. We have seen customers and new suppliers embracing the change to Bearings 2000.”

He adds that the Gqeberha hub will reinforce the company’s distribution capability in the area, which will, in turn, expand its footprint, reduce delivery times and provide clients with improved availability and technical support through an extensive product suite and enhanced overall service.

“With the added value of the Bearings 2000 Group – including larger stock holdings; new products and services; a level 1 B-BBEE rating and procurement recognition of 135%; and outstanding advanced systems, procedures, competent staff and management – I am confident that Bearings 2000 Gqeberha will become a significant force in the Eastern Cape industrial supplies sector,” enthuses MCL managing member Rodney McLagen.

Bearings 2000 aims to further expand its footprint through more acquisitions.

Industry Challenges

Trevelyan remains enthusiastic about the outlook of the bearings industry, which has had to deal with challenges in supply channels.

These challenges arose from pressure placed on supply chains owing to the Covid-19 pandemic which has resulted in longer lead times and bearings shortages in the market.

This was primarily caused by container shortages and port bottlenecks; a shortage of raw materials, resulting in production delays; and an increase in demand for the company’s products as the industry recovers from lockdown restrictions.

Further, the effects of the global supply chain challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic were harder felt by the industry, considering bearings and power transmissions are fully imported with near-zero local manufacturing,

As a result, Bearings 2000 bolstered its stock and supply pipeline to mitigate the impacts of these challenges.

“Our medium- to long-term goal, as an authorised SKF distributor, is to continue to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations. We strive to constantly improve our offering and stock holding, as well as add value, as a rotational specialist, with initiatives and offerings that result in increased machine reliability and reduced downtime for our customers.”

Some of these include on-site training and online webinars held by the Bearings 2000 Training Academy, condition-monitoring and relubrication programmes, site audits, the bearing remanufacture programme, field services and engineering consulting, concludes Trevelyan.