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NKE joins Research Association Power Transmission Engineering FVA

. Janet Mo

In July 2011 bearing manufacturer NKE AUSTRIA GmbH became a member of Frankfurt-based research association Forschungsvereinigung Antriebstechnik e.V. (FVA). In joining the network, which focuses on research all around the power transmission, NKE aims to participate in the member organisations’ joint research activities and to gain additional research capacity for developing new products and technologies.

FVA – part of the German Engineering Federation VDMA – is a network of mainly German research institutions and manufacturing enterprises. Its objective is joint research and training in the fields of electrical, mechanical and mechatronic drive engineering. An important criterion for NKE’s admission to the network, for which it was audited by FVA, was the bearing manufacturer’s value creation in Austria. Supplementing its own research capabilities, FVA membership will allow NKE to participate in research ventures with leading research establishments and companies and to benefit from their outcomes. The research project aims, which are defined by working committees made up of FVA members, is to advance technical expertise and product quality and to cut production costs.

"All of our key customers and trend-setters are represented in FVA. This enables us to develop a good sense of direction for future product developments”, explains Gunnar Simm, Head of Engineering at NKE. “To obtain valuable stimuli for the continued expansion of our production facilities in Steyr, we will be able to draw on the extensive know-how available within FVA.”

With 200 employees at the headquarters in Steyr, NKE produces 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. In addition to product development and application engineering NKE provides a full range of technical services and training. NKE’s products are distributed through 18 international representative offices and more than 240 distribution outlets in 60 countries.