Schaeffler has destroyed 26 tonnes of counterfeit bearings with a 'street' value of more than one million euros.
The action follows a similar operation in 2007 in which 40 tonnes of fake rolling bearings were seized,
On this occasion, the bearings were destroyed at Interseroh Franken Rohstoff, a metal recycling company based in Schweinfurt, Germany.
Ingrid Bichelmeir-Böhn, who leads Schaeffler's global brand protection team, says that a large proportion of the fake bearings were seized in raids on distributors premises across Europe, including Italy, Germany and the UK.
"Brand and product piracy are not something that is limited to China or South East Europe. It also takes place right on our doorstep," comments Bichelmeir-Böhn.
"The German and European markets are no longer flooded with just counterfeit luxury and consumer goods. There has also been an increase in counterfeit safety-critical industrial products such as rolling bearings," she adds.
And Bichelmeir-Böhn explains that spindle bearings, spherical roller bearings, ball bearings and needle roller bearings scrapped during this operation were part of a much larger seizure of confiscated counterfeit products.
She says that while the economic losses caused by counterfeit products are difficult to estimate, there is also the potential for damage to companies that install counterfeit components – and to their customers.
A recent case in Switzerland, for example, involved a counterfeit cylindrical rolling bearing fitted during the repair of one of its machines. Despite regular maintenance, hot running of the bearings occurred after just six months, resulting in repair costs of around 17,000 euros, which far exceeded the value of the bearings.
