Always follow the Roadmap for eligibility criteria for the procurement process of technological bearings.

Always formally define representations and warranties to avoid incurring fraudulent cases, including misleading or deceiving conduct with regard to corporate consistency and reliability.

As a matter of transparency, always request suppliers to show the scientific background (quantitative and qualitative) and technical conformity to related International Standards of the data provided during the process of technical evaluation and compliance.

Never mix RKB rolling bearings with not eligible products on the same equipment or machine.

The manufacturing knowledge, technology, procedures and processes for big size (in particular heavy series and extra-thin series from 260 mm bore on) and technological bearings are extremely complex and critical compared to smaller sizes. In fact from designing and engineering to raw material selection, forging, heat-treatments, machinings, assembling and all related multilevel quality controls, it is state-of-the-art to manufacture a conventional qualified rolling bearing that meets performance requirements and International Standards. Once again RKB suggests, particularly in the procurement process of the above mentioned products, to strictly follow an efficient and reliable homologation roadmap.

Always investigate and formally define the level of integration (in-house operations) of bearing manufacturers to avoid the risk of selecting spurious sources.

Always refer to the Bearing Industry Matrix to better understand the actual positioning of a bearing manufacturer and, consequently, select the most appropriate bearing source according to your specific needs.

In case a bearing producer does not provide any consistent and certain background information for the calculation of C, use only basic C0 for a fair comparison between different bearing manufacturers. In fact, in presence of similar values of C0 (with same bearing type and boundary dimensions), the corresponding dynamic load ratings (basic or not) cannot noticeably differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.

For the bearing rating life calculation, strictly follow the ISO method and use only the accordingly calculated values of both C0 and C.

Regularly check and verify the correct lubrication of both OEM and MRO applications, since this process plays a crucial role in the bearing performance. Besides, beware that the lubrication points of interchangeable bearings, especially multi-row bearings, from diverse sources are often in different positions, depending on the execution and internal design.

Always ask for order confirmation with written declaration that the origin and in-house operations of purchased bearings are in compliance with previously released certifications (for our Group Made in RKB and RKB Affidavit of origin). This will make sure that the products you are going to receive are genuine and consistent with what you ordered and paid for.

Always be sure that the inspections carried out by the bearing manufacturer and the related technical reports are in accordance with EN 10204:2004 standard. Moreover, this standard clearly defines the criteria to distinguish genuine manufacturers from simple intermediaries.

Always be sure to purchase RKB bearings only from authorized sources that can exhibit the official Certificate of Appointment released by the main branch of the RKB Group of Switzerland. This document was thought as a valid support to help you avoid purchasing fake bearings.