Rollway (R) Bearings: A Century Of Excellence

On Jun 28, 2022

Engineering industries all over the world, particularly in Europe and United States, are quite familiar with the Rollway brand of Rolling Bearing for more than a century. The Rollway company started in the year 1908 in Syracuse, New York, USA, when Trolley Car 764 first rolled down the tracks of the Syracuse Rapid Transit Line. The Trolley Car was fitted with a set of bearings supplied by Railway Roller Bearing Company. This eventually set the stage for a century of innovation and rapid expansion by the company, whose name was changed to Rollway Roller Bearing Company in 1923.

Since then, Rollway has developed a vast array of bearings – and solutions – to meet the demands of industries and applications as diverse as oil and gas, material handling, steel mills, agriculture, mining and construction etc. The range includes more than 7000 types of Ball and Roller Bearings – both radial as well as thrust types. In the year 1996, Rollway brand found a perfect match for the innovation that it represents in Emerson Power Transmission – a part of Emerson Industrial Automation, a world leader in production of mechanical power transmission drives, bearings and components. In the year 2015, Regal Beloit Corporation (NYSE:RBC) acquired Emerson’s Power Transmission business unit including the Rollway brand. The other PTS brands acquired include McGill(R), Sealmaster(R), Browning(R), Jaure(R), Kopflex(R), Morse(R) and System Plast(R). Regal Beloit Corporation is a leading manufacturer of electric motors and controls, power generation products and power transmission products – serving customers throughout the world. Regal is comprised of three operating segments – Commercial and Industrial Systems, Climate Solutions and Power Transmission Solutions. Regal has it’s Headquarters in Beloit, Wisconsin, USA and has manufacturing, sales and service facilities worldwide.

Backed by extraordinary technological capabilities and resources, Regal delivers customized and competitively valuable solutions that meet the unique needs of each of it’s customers. The offerings from Regal represents time-tested reliability and proven performance results. These products are designed to increase both uptime as well as productivity. In addition to premium quality products, Regal offers superior technical support and an outstanding logistics specially tailored to suit customers. The global sales, marketing, customer service and distribution centre for Rollway products is located in Belgium. A benefit of the central location in Europe close to the seaport of Antwerp and the international airport of Brussels is that transit time for sea and air shipments are minimised.

Rollway(R) bearings are not strangers to India. Oil and Gas Industry, Power Generation and Minig and Construction industries are regiular users of this brand of bearings. However, in order to reach the vast distribution market of India, Regal has now appointed Primeroll International Private Limited, Kolkata, as the Autorized Exclusive Distributor of Rollway Products and an Authorized Distributor of McGill and Sealmaster range of products for the territory of Republic of India. Primeroll’s founder Directors have been involved in the bearing distribution business in India since 1975 and are the top bearing distributors in India. This unique association between Regal and primeroll brings to Indian customers field expertise, market knowledge and quality products and technical services that are used by industries all over the world.

Primeroll International Private Limited has its Head Office and Central Warehouse in Kolkata. With representative offices in Kolkata, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Chennai and a network of Dealers strategically situated all over India, Primeroll International has now donned the mantle of provider of a unique service to the Engineering Industry – “The Complete Shaft Solution”. A good quality bearing alone cannot ensure trouble-free operation of the machine, unless several other factors associated with its functioning are taken care of.

These are :

Careful handling and storage
Quality sleeves and housings in which the bearings are fitted
Proper removal of the used bearings and careful installation of the replacement bearing.
Correct lubrication
Protection from Contamination

In other words, the users will have to ensure that the bearing does not fail on account of any factor, other than metal fatigue. According to a study conducted sometime back, incidences of premature failure of a Rolling Bearing, due to load related metal fatigue, are absolutely negligible. The most of the premature failures occur on account of issues related to the above factors – in other words, due to lapses during use.

Primeroll International’s concept of “Complete Shaft Solution” offers to its customers all the ingredients that are needed for trouble-free operation of a rotary machine. That is not all. To ensure that the bearing users get only genuine Rollway bearings, each Rollway bearing of bore diameter of 40mm or more, supplied by Primeroll International either directly, or through its network of Authorized Dealers, carries with two “Pilfer proof Holograms” as a proof of Genuinity. Each pair of these Holograms carries unique numbers that are serially controlled. Records of these Holograms are maintained by Primeroll International for tracking.

Smooth-running rotary machines minimize downtime-costs and contribute to the profitability of the company. Not only that, defect-free running of the machines also result in less power consumption and help in keeping our planet green in a very big way. Primeroll International views its task of providing the customers “Complete Shaft Solution” as a humble contribution towards achievement these goals.