Counterfeit or fake bearings are a global supply chain issue, with customers in all markets susceptible to the risks of buying these low-quality products. As a leading manufacturer of premium-quality bearings, NSK is focused on eliminating fakes to protect customers from safety risks, reduced reliability, and higher lifecycle costs.
Inconsistent quality is assured when buying fake bearings. Fake bearings may last long enough to pass pre-production trials, but often experience premature failure in the field, threatening operational stability and potentially causing unplanned downtime at great cost. This eventuality can compromise brand reputation and damage sales and profitability.
NSK Ltd. first released the “NSK Verify” app in 2017 to help customers assess the authenticity of machine tool bearings. The performance and reliability of machine tool bearings are essential to securing stable operation without unplanned downtime and are a critical factor in keeping customers profitable by reducing maintenance and total lifecycle costs. NSK's machine tool bearings have a reputation of world-class performance and top reliability — a reputation which nefarious counterfeiters have been trying to exploit by selling fake bearings labeled as “NSK.”
To further enhance customer safety and confidence in NSK products, NSK has expanded the lineup of products that can be scanned by the NSK Verify app; a wide range of large-size bearings are becoming compatible.
Moving forward, NSK will continue the fight against fake bearings through initiatives targeting every step of the supply chain to continue to deliver quality customers can rely on.