Alongside the NSK plant in Peterlee, which manufactures automotive products such as wheel hub bearings and steering columns, NSK makes bearings at its advanced production facility in Newark, from where NSK supply a number of products to HAYLEY DEXIS for UK-wide distribution. This ‘super-precision’
plant is a model of excellence in terms of its manufacturing capabilities and quality control measures.
Based In Newark Since 1900
The Newark plant can trace its origins back to 1900, when Ransome & Co relocated its manufacturing facilities for woodworking and cooperage machinery from Chelsea in London. Newark had much to offer with its central geographical location and excellent transportation network, comprising of road, rail and navigable waterway links to the entire country. The new plant was christened the ‘Stanley Works’ in memory of the previous factory in Chelsea. Built across 10 acres, the new site was so large that it featured a network of tramways to move materials around. The brick-built machine shop was the largest in the Midlands at the time. Just as now, the company worked hard on systemising, organising and developing its manufacturing methods, creating a revolutionary ‘U’ flow line to enhance production efficiency. Major diversification arrived when Ransome & Co decided to make bearings for its woodworking machines, rather than import them from Germany. The company could not anticipate the immensity of this decision, for the manufacture of rolling bearings was soon to outstrip all other products.
The First Ball Bearing 1906
An employee, Henry Marles, designed and developed the company’s first ball bearing in 1906. The outbreak of war in 1914 generated a sudden and huge demand for rolling bearings, spurred on by the development of transportation, including trucks, tractors and tanks. In fact, such was demand that it led to the creation of a new company: Ransome and Marles Bearing Co Ltd (R&M).
The Birth Of RHP. 1968
Growth continued apace through the following decades, leading to merger in 1968 with two other bearing manufacturers: The Hoffman Manufacturing Company and Pollard Ball and Rolling Bearing Company. Ransome Hoffman Pollard (RHP Bearings) was born, a brand that was to become synonymous with British bearing manufacture throughout the ensuing decades. In 1987, RHP began a close working relationship with NSK through an interchange of technologies and factory visits. The following year, RHP changed ownership, with United Precision Industries (UPI) taking the helm. NSK acquired UPI in 1990, with RHP retained as an autonomous company operating under its established banner. The NSK-RHP name reverted to simply ‘NSK’ in November 2000.
"The Manufacture Of Rolling Bearings Was Soon To Outstrip All Other Products."
Newark In The Present Day
Today, manufacturing at the Newark plant centres on NSK Super Precision Bearings, including angular contact ball bearings and ball screw support bearings. As a super precision plant, the Newark facility controls bearings to tolerances as tight as 1 μm. The assembly area is akin to a cleanroom environment, NSK have to ensure that only precise and clean bearings leave the plant. In addition, all of the products are subject to 100% inspection, while each bearing also has a unique serial number and a laser marked QR code that provides traceability to the dimensions and tolerances, as well as the bearing’s authenticity via the NSK Verify app. Further products manufactured in Newark include mounted bearing units, such as the popular Self-Lube® and J-Line series. Newark also produces certain conventional ball and roller bearings in imperial sizes to meet demand for servicing older machines, as well as for machine builders in countries where imperial remains the main unit of measurement, such as the USA. Another active segment for Newark is linear technology, with the plant producing the NH/NS series of high-precision, high-load linear guides. NSK manufacture several thousand units every day at Newark, supported by ongoing investment in the latest production technologies to further improve output quality and ensure long product life for HAYLEY DEXIS customers. The Newark site is also home to a large technology centre, where engineers conduct extensive tests to develop new NSK products and improve existing ones.