In April 2010, two new executives have joined Austrian bearing manufacturer NKE’s engineering team: Gunnar Simm is now Head of Engineering, while Dr. Bernhard Deffner has taken charge of project management for the hard machining production unit.
Gunnar Simm studied aerospace engineering and was, for more than twenty years, responsible for application engineering and sales in various industrial sectors throughout the world at German bearing manufacturers INA in Herzogenaurach and FAG in Schweinfurt (now Schaeffler). Most recently he established the German subsidiary of the wind turbine bearing manufacturer ILJIN GmbH and worked as the company’s managing director. As the Head of Engineering at NKE, Gunnar Simm will structure and implement the growth and transformation process towards a stronger OEM business and a higher in-house production depth. This includes, in particular, the expansion of the consulting capacities for application engineering and employee qualification.
Bernhard Deffner studied general mechanical engineering at the Technical College of Karlsruhe and graduated with a doctorate degree in high-strength aluminium and titanium base alloys. During his 18 years at FAG he was responsible for product development for all standard manufacturing processes and finally as manager of production development for innovative solutions in the field of hard machining and automated assembly machinery. At NKE Bernhard Deffner will take on the project management for development of a hard machining production unit for small lot sizes. The new project aims to complete the commercial implementation of a greater manufacturing complexity and an associated knowledge transfer about the characteristics of rolling bearing production.
Technical managing director Harald Zerobin is enthusiastic about NKE’s new, highly-qualified technical managerial staff: “Both have extensive experience in the rolling bearing sector and represent a real enhancement in our company’s expertise.” NKE’s engineering department consists of four groups: Research and Development, Application Engineering, Technical Service, and Design. Totally 17 engineers, including three apprentices, work in this department.
With 180 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 15 international representative offices and more than 240 distribution outlets in 60 countries.
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