RBC Bearings: Patria Case Study Repurposing Aerospace Bearings in Military Vehicles
Former Account Manager at RBC Bearings
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RBC Bearings: Patria Case Study Repurposing Aerospace Bearings in Military Vehicles(July 9, 2025)
Former Account Manager at RBC Bearings
Interview Transcript
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You mentioned SKF has a big portfolio, and some bearings are more commoditized with more competition. Perhaps some of the RBC portfolio has more niche applications. In your experience, what factors determine whether a bearing is considered more of a commoditized product versus a mission-critical component?
They are two very different businesses. If you remove Dodge from the RBC product portfolio, RBC specializes in unique design bearings for specific applications, like aerospace or vehicle applications. Their factories are smaller, and they rarely produce stock, except for cam followers. Everything else is designed and sold directly to the end customer as a unique solution, often where commodity bearings fail. SKF, on the other hand, produces hundreds of thousands of bearings a year as multi-purpose products. For example, a 213 spherical roller bearing can be used in various applications, whereas Dodge bearings are unique to one or two.
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Why is that?
Because the bearing is pre-designed. To increase load, the bearing itself needs to be modified. For example, SKF has a version called CARB that can take more load and fit into those housings. Dodge uses standard SRBs, and the only change they can make is the sealing arrangement, like switching from a labyrinth seal to a double lip seal, or modifying lubrication. Since the housing is designed for a purchased bearing, customization is limited.
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What do you mean by the fact that they don't make their own bearings?
Let's take a look. Imagine this is the housing. The insert is the actual bearing. A spherical roller bearing goes in there, but they don't make that part. They manufacture the housing and grease lubrication ports, but the bearing itself is someone else's technology.
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