As we are all aware, in the food and beverage industry, uptime and reliability are everything. Production equipment requires food-grade certification, and any breakdown will cause costly repairs and production stops. To further strengthen its support to the industry, NW based bearings firm Bearings & Drives Ltd, has become the sole distributor of the industry leading CeramicSpeed Insulate ball bearings, introducing to the UK market the latest technology in operational efficiency, allowing UK customers day to day direct access to these products from their warehousing facilities.

Constantly at the forefront of technological development and innovation, CeramicSpeed is a dedicated and leading supplier of hybrid ball bearings. With a strong presence in the European market, they are rapidly becoming the industry’s most trusted supplier of advanced bearing solutions. CeramicSpeed Insulate ball bearings are custom-made for electrical motors and a guarantee against damage caused by stray currents.

Steve Bacon,Sales Director at Bearings & Drives, explains the significance of the supply arrangements for the UK food and drink industry: “We are thrilled to become the UK distributor for such a ground-breaking product. CeramicSpeed Insulate Hybrid ball bearings are the future across all industries, including manufacturers of electrical motors. The demand for stronger, more durable and longer-lasting bearings for electrical motors is on the rise – and in many applications, conventional steel balls in motor bearings simply can’t compare.

“When we reviewed CeramicSpeed Insulate in action in Denmark we saw the immediate benefits that we can bring to our manufacturing clients here in the UK. Taking for example how the product range brought significant efficiencies to a leading Danish dairy products manufacturer. The manufacturer faced sizeable issues with the durability of steel bearings they were using in a specific motor. The products manufactured by the dairy contain many small particles that penetrate the bearings subsequently reducing  the bearing life. Along with high bearing temperatures this led to many control shutdowns and became detrimental to efficient operation.

“CeramicSpeed Insulate bearings are non-conductive as the ceramic balls in the bearing have a resistivity of 15 kV per mm. The Insulate series is the best defence against damage caused by stray currents. In addition to being protected from the passage of electrical currents, the operating temperature in hybrid bearings is approximately 10-20 °C lower than conventional bearings. By using these, the dairy has now reduced the bearing temperature with 15ºC increasing lubricant life and decreasing production shutdown considerably. The CeramicSpeed bearings with their higher resistance towards corrosion and contamination, increased the bearing life of the bearings by 400%.”

Anders Thormann, Managing Director at CeramicSpeed explains why they chose Bearings & Drives as their exclusive partner for CeramicSpeed Insulate: “Bearings & Drives helped us to break through in the UK food and beverage category in 2017, and the knowledge gained on our products by their team since then puts them in a unique position to take the next step in distributing CeramicSpeed products in the UK.”

From their base in Congleton, Cheshire Bearings and Drives serves its national client base with industrial Maintenance, Repair and Operations products from globally recognised manufacturers of Bearings, Power Transmission, Industrial Gearboxes, Motors, Tools & Consumables. Drawing on their vast experience of customer requirements, their products and services have been developed for all types of industries including Food, Paper, Recycling, Distribution, Quarrying and Plastics.

The business offers single source supply, including managed inventory services, to streamline your ordering process, reduce downtime and improve production efficiency – creating considerable cost savings. Their industry leading Repair Services cover Motors, Gearboxes & Pumps. Available 24/7, the team of highly skilful engineers is on hand to deliver advice and engineering solutions.