ZNL: Driving A Friction-Free Revolution In The Global Bearing Market
ZNL Bearings, established in 1996 and headquartered in Ahmedabad, India, is a prominent manufacturer and exporter of high-quality ball and roller bearings. With over 30 years of industry expertise, ZNL has continually evolved to meet the ever-changing demands of its global clientele, serving over 45 countries. The company offers a broad portfolio of products, including cylindrical roller bearings, spherical roller bearings, taper roller bearings, and deep groove ball bearings, with an impressive range of more than 2,100 types. ZNL is committed to innovation and excellence, investing heavily in research and development to ensure the production of cutting-edge, superior-quality bearings. Their state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and sophisticated engineering practices have earned them a solid reputation in sectors like power transmission, defence, railways, automotive, construction, and agriculture. The company’s commitment to customer satisfaction is reflected in its round-the-clock support and customized product offerings. By staying at the forefront of technology and maintaining the highest quality standards, ZNL continues to drive a friction-free revolution in the global bearing market, discovers Bearing Review in an interview with Dhrumil Shah, Chief Executive Officer, ZNL Bearings. Excerpts:
Dhrumil Shah
Chief Executive Officer
Q. Can you share the journey of your company since its inception in 1996 and the major milestones achieved along the way?
ZNL Bearings, founded in 1996, has grown from a small manufacturer to a global supplier of bearings, achieving several milestones along the way. Its major milestones run like this:
Milestones:
1996 – ZNL Bearing was founded in Gujarat and began its operations with a capacity of 108,000 pieces with just 16 machines.
Early Years: Achieved ISO 9001 certification and made their first export to the UK. We expanded our production facility to 700 Sq. Yards of land to 1500 Sq. Yard, from 16 machines to 30 machines. Our annual capacity increased.
Breakthroughs: Successfully commenced with combat vehicles and supplying to the Indian Air Force. ZNL doubled its annual production capacity with more than 120 machines.
Expansion and Certifications: ZNL has received OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001 environmental certificates, as well as the IATF 16949:2016 quality certificate. The company has also added auto spherical roller filling machines and implemented the “RABBIT” automatic production line for ball bearing and roller bearing ring grinding, along with the “R&S” automatic assembly line for ball bearing and taper roller bearing.
Recent Achievements: ZNL has continued with innovation, supply, and new developments in customer growth by marking its presence in 45+ countries across the globe—also participating with key OEM & distribution networks in the domestic market.
Q. How has your quality obsession and standards impacted your operations & customer satisfaction?
Our consistent “Commitment to Quality, The Commitment to Growth” stringent standards have been the foundation of our success and have profoundly impacted our operations and customer satisfaction. High-quality customer behaviour/Feedback data allows us and enables us to process information and respond to our clients more efficiently and identify the areas where we can improve. Consistent accuracy creates a positive user experience impact and helps to build trust with our customers.
Q. What innovative approaches do you employ to ensure the quality and reliability of your bearings?
We at ZNL Bearings adopt the approach of innovation for customer benefits by contentiously implementing the best practice from the industry.
We are using regularly 7 QC tools (Histogram, Pareto analysis, Cause and effect diagram), SPC tool (X-Bar, R-Chart, etc. to ensure the consistency in quality and reliability of our bearings.
Development of application specific solutions as the need is the success mantra for ZNL Bearings.
Q. Can you elaborate on the range of bearings you manufacture and their specific applications in various industries?
ZNL, an Indian manufacturer of bearings, offers over 3000 different variants in spherical, taper, cylindrical, taper thrust, angular contact, deep grove ball bearings, self-aligning ball bearings, pillow block units, and many types of bearings.in a variety of applications like construction, mining, material handling equipment, farm machinery,gearboxes, mechanical power transmission equipment, crusher, oil field equipment, woodworking machinery, crane & hoist, rolling mill machinery, textile machinery, paper machinery, printing machinery, fan & blower, automatic axle, railways and a wide range of other industrial machinery.
Our products cater to industries such as power transmission, railways, automotive, construction, mining, and agriculture, with advanced manufacturing and quality control.
ZNL meets ISO/TS – 16949 – 2009 and the ISO 9001:2008 standards. We continuously expand our portfolio based on customer demands.
Q. With a presence in over 45 countries, how do you manage to meet the diverse demands and standards of different markets?
At present, we have our presence in over 45+ countries across the globe meeting the demands of our different clients from different regions. As part of a leading manufacturer, we understand effective communication is key to responding to our clients’ feedback in multiple languages, on digital platforms. Our in-depth knowledge of bearings make this process easier and helps us to understand and address better to our customers’ queries, feedback, and responses. Also, we are always focused and flexible in adopting new technologies and software to make this process easier.
Q. How has your company adapted to the technological advancements in the bearing manufacturing industry over the years?
We have established Life testing machines for checking the actual L10 Life of the bearing which helps us to improve on our bearing performance. There are very few Indian bearing manufactures who are having such facilities. We have established the fully Auto line for our Taper Roller Bearings and Ball bearings. We have spectromax machine for checking chemical composition of materials in-house. This gives us the leverage against many bearing manufacturers in India in terms of quality adherence of bearing steel which is the main raw material for manufacturing of bearings.
Q. What are the key challenges you face in the sectors you serve, such as power transmission, defence, and automotive, and how do you address them?
We are carrying out SORT analysis for our self as well as for our customers for addressing the key challenges coming from the segment / industry.
Optimizing the maintenance cost is one of the major requirements coming from process industries like cement, steel, and power. We are addressing this by providing products as per the application requirements. We also provide application engineering services to improve MTTR and MTBF in industrial segments by enhancing the bearing performance. We are continuously striving to provide “Value for money” by offering effective bearing solutions.
Q. Can you discuss any recent product innovations or developments that have set your company apart from competitors?
We have developed the unique bearing for our Export customer in Taper roller bearings which could not be developed by renowned bearing manufacturers in India.
Our unique offering of Sealed Spherical Roller bearings “made in India” makes us a Solution provider in Industrial segments. Our Plain Spherical Bearings offered to Indian Railways sets us apart from many competitors. We have come up with several such innovations and technological breakthroughs in our bearing manufacturing facility, thus making an impact in the user industry.
Q. How do you ensure continuous improvement to stay ahead of competition in such a dynamic industry?
Our continued efforts towards implementing quality management system, rendering customer services, after-market services and problem-solving approach of our clients help us to remain customer-centric and understand customer needs and challenges. Ensuring a skilled workforce is crucial for successfully adapting to new technologies and implementing best practices. We are also adept in following current market trends and new analysing techniques. This helps us to identify areas where we could improve to stay ahead of the competition.
Q. What are your future plans for expansion and growth, both in terms of product offerings and market reach?
As an industry-leading Indian manufacturer, our primary objective is to strengthen and diversify our dealer distribution network to ensure widespread market coverage. In addition to expanding our global presence, we are dedicated to implementing segment-specific strategies for effective problem-solving and market analysis. Through this approach, we aim to gain comprehensive insights into various market segments and tailor our offerings to meet specific consumer needs.We are a top Indian manufacturer. Our main goals are to expand our network of distributors & OEM Presence, increase our presence in the global market, and solve problems and analyse the market for each specific group to better understand their needs.
For more information,
www.znlbearings.com
