Industry Analysis & Industry Trends
The Bearing and Gear Manufacturing industry manufactures a wide range of ball bearings, gearboxes, clutches, transmission shafts, flywheels, pulleys and a variety of related parts. These products are generally sold to machinery and equipment manufacturers across the world. Trends in exports and imports have a significant influence on industry performance, as exports account for a major share of revenue (94.2% in 2012-13) and imports satisfy a bulk of domestic demand.
The past five years have not been easy on industry participants, as the financial crisis and the bleak economic conditions that have followed brought down domestic demand... purchase to read more
Industry Report - Industry Investment Chapter
The industry has a low level of capital intensity with an estimated capital-to-labour ratio of 1:15.56 in 2012-13. This indicates that for every pound spent on capital, £15.6 will be spent on labour.
Capital costs consist mainly of expenditure on machinery that is used to manufacture products. Operators held back domestic capital investment over the past five years for two main reasons: strong import competition and reduced demand during the recession. Strong import competition led to operators curtailing domestic investment while moving manufacturing to developing economies to remain cost competitive.
Labour costs are high in the industry, as skilled staff are required to manufacture the products... purchase to read more