A motorcycle enthusiast contacted SKF South Africa when he needed an imperial sized, sealed, deep groove ball bearing for his 1936 Norton. The motorcycle was in the process of being re-built to compete in the 50th running of the famous Durban to Johannesburg event, affectionately known as the ‘DJ’ run. “We immediately knew that we would not be able to supply an SKF bearing as the imperial sizing meant it would have to be supplied by one of our competitor manufacturers,” explains SKF (title), Barry Dailly. “The customer had in fact already approached some of our competitors and was advised that they could not assist as it was not a particularly large or valuable order,” continues Dailly.

However SKF South Africa understood the importance of the 50th ‘DJ’ run. “The fact that the motorcycle would be ridden by the son of the original owner who would have been 100 years old this year, made the event even more special,” says Dailly. The uniqueness of this story further motived SKF to find a solution. “We contacted one of our authorised distributors, Bearing Services Africa, whom we know has the necessary expertise and infrastructure to source unique products. Our distributor identified a local importer of the required products; the bearings were purchased and couriered to the end user the following day.”        

“Although SKF does not manufacture the bearing required by our customer, we still managed, through the power of our distributor network, to source the unusually sized item to meet the customer’s special requirements.” Dailly says SKF and its authorised distributor network share a close and extremely important partnership. “As an extension of SKF, our authorised distributors deliver quality SKF products and services to market countrywide, optimising our customers’ productivity by meeting their requirements on time”. “SKF South Africa acknowledges that the value for our company is knowing that we have a satisfied, passionate customer whose re-build of his rare and valuable Norton could now be completed so that he can participate in the 2013 DJ run, fulfilling a dream. This is proof that SKF is not just about sales revenue,” concludes Dailly.