The Poland branch of NSK Needle Roller Bearings won the Toyota Motor Europe Supplier Award for Quality Achievement in 2017. The award was presented at the 2018 Toyota Motor Europe Annual Business Conference held on March 27 at the Autoworld Museum of Vintage Cars in Brussels, Belgium.
Every year, senior management from Toyota Motor Europe and European suppliers review the previous fiscal year. The Supplier Award for Quality Achievement in 2017 is the third Toyota Motor Europe Award presented to the Poland branch of NSK Needle Roller Bearings, following the awards in 2008 and 2014.
The basis for winning the award is a number of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), including PPM (Parts Per Million), which many OEMs use to measure the number of defective parts among one million parts. Warranty claims and claim management are key performance indicators that are further reviewed for this award.
After an in-depth review process, the 2017 award was granted to NSK Needle Roller Bearings. Together with other NSK manufacturing plants, it has been supplying products (mainly needle roller bearings) to Toyota Motor Europe since 2005.
NSK produces a variety of needle roller bearing products for automotive applications, including those for engine rocker arms. The low friction and high durability of NSK needle roller bearings make them ideal for rocker arms, which must utilize the force of the cam to open and close engine valves efficiently and reliably.
NSK's European manufacturing plants also produce cages and needle roller assemblies for transmission applications. Since there is no inner ring or outer ring, the low cross-section of these products provides maximum load-carrying capacity within a small housing. With proper lubrication, they can operate at high speeds and provide precise roller guidance due to the unique cage design.
In addition, the controlled profile rollers in the cage and needle roller assemblies have an optimal profile, which reduces stress, allows operation under moderate misalignment, and extends the bearing life.
